DOI: 10.3886/icpsr02860.v1
title: German Election Study, 1994: Post-Election Study
title: Version 1

description: This data collection is part of an omnibus study on German political attitudes and behavior, with a focus on the 1994 German Federal Parliament election. The series consists of two pre-election studies (GERMAN ELECTION STUDY, 1994: PRE-ELECTION STUDY [TREND INVESTIGATIONS] [ICPSR 2862] and GERMAN ELECTION STUDY, 1994: PRE-ELECTION STUDY [POLICY AND PARTY PREFERENCE] [ICPSR 2861]), the Politbarometer West (GERMAN ELECTION STUDY, 1994 [POLITBAROMETER WEST] [ICPSR 2843]), the Politbarometer East (GERMAN ELECTION STUDY, 1994 [POLITBAROMETER EAST] [ICPSR 2842]), and this post-election study. In this study, German citizens were asked to give their opinions of German political parties, politicians, and media sources, as well as on political participation and German unity. Among the topics covered were the following, derived from the summary appearing on the website of the Zentralarchiv fuer Empirische Sozialforschung an der Universitaet zu Koeln (English translation) at http://www.za.uni-koeln.de/: assessment of the current economic situation in Germany, and expectations for further development in the next year. - respondent's interest in politics. - participation in the last two Federal Parliament elections. - respondent's party preference, inclination, and identification. - when respondents made their vote decisions. - sympathy scale for the SPD (Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands or Social Democratic Party), CDU/CSU (Christlich Demokratischen Union Deutschlands or Democratic Christian Party/Christlich Soziale Union in Bayern or Bavarian Social Christian Union), FDP (Freie Demokratische Partei or Liberal Democratic Party), Alliance 90/Greens, Republicans, and PDS (Partei des Demokratischen Sozialismus or Democratic Socialist Party), as well as for selected top politicians. - assessment of the capability of the various political parties to handle economic questions, to reduce unemployment and crime, to improve the housing market, to protect the environment, to find a suitable role for Germany in world politics, and to regulate the influx of foreigners. - opinions on nuclear energy, stimulation of the economy, participation of the German Armed Forces in military missions of the United Nations (UN) or NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization), the influx of foreigners, and participation by Germany in world politics. - attitude toward integration of foreigners and policies toward foreigners. - reading, and extent of use, of tabloids and daily newspapers. - whether the respondent watched television news, and which network. - whether the daily newspaper or television was the most important source of information about the positions of parties and of top candidates. - identity of parties whose informational materials, brochures, and election advertising on television the respondent had seen. - election meetings or election events in which the respondent participated. - frequency of political conversations with friends and family. - whether the respondent noticed election predictions before the Federal Parliament election, and the influence of these predictions on the respondent's vote decision. - self-classification on a left-right political continuum. - opinion of postmaterialism. - satisfaction with democracy. - opinion of the political system. - satisfaction with the achievements of the federal government. - what the government's priorities should be regarding spending on environmental protection, criminal prosecution, military defense, pensions, and art and culture. - opinion of socialism as an idea. - attitude toward obedience and discipline, as well as toward law and order. - future prospects and political effectiveness of the individual. - opinion of the relationship between East and West Germans after reunification. - personal participation in selected forms of politics. - national pride. - achievements one can feel pride in as a German. - assessment of the respondent's personal economic situation and future prospects. - opinion on living alone, versus with a partner. - self-classification of social class. - religious beliefs. - strength of religious ties. - frequency of prayer. - union membership in household.
description: The data are provided as an SPSS portable file only.
This collection has not been processed by ICPSR staff. ICPSR is distributing the data and documentation for this collection in essentially the same form in which they were received. When appropriate, hardcopy documentation has been converted to machine-readable form and variables have been recoded to ensure respondents' anonymity.
The codebook is in German only.
The codebook is provided as a Portable Document Format (PDF) file. The PDF file format was developed by Adobe Systems Incorporated and can be accessed using PDF reader software, such as the Adobe Acrobat Reader. Information on how to obtain a copy of the Acrobat Reader is provided through the ICPSR Website on the Internet.