Analytical Potentials of the German Socio-Economic Panel (GSOEP) for Empirical Educational Research (Analysepotenziale des Sozio-oekonomischen Panels (SOEP) fuer die empirische Bildungsforschung)

Abstract

In Germany, researchers dealing with questions of empirical educational research rely mainly on cross-sectional data. In addition, there are region- and group-specific longitudinal studies. This paper demonstrates the possibilities for using educationally relevant information from long-running household studies like the Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) to address questions of sociological and economic interest in empirical educational research. Following an in-depth description of the educational information provided in SOEP, we cite selected examples of how these data can be used and also discuss the SOEP's current limitations. We show that the information on social origins and family background in SOEP offers a particularly rich source for empirical study. Through the SOEP's long duration of almost 25 years and its wide coverage of all of Germany, while still allowing for regional differentiations, the survey allows observation of educational processes in different social and economic contexts. Its currently existing limitations lie in measuring competency development and in collecting data on the characteristics of educational institutions.