Version 17.0.0
doi:10.5157/NEPS:SC5:17.0.0
The information on this site refers to version 17.0.0. Here you find information on the former versions 16.0.0, 15.0.0, 14.1.0, 14.0.0, 13.0.0, 12.0.0, 11.0.0, 10.0.0, 9.0.0, 8.0.0, 6.0.0, 4.0.0, 3.1.0 and 3.0.0.
Date of Release
Summary
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German universities face a number of challenges and developments that raise new issues for research. To name but a few, there is the introduction of a two-stage structure in university education, a growing demand for outcome orientation, the evolution of universities towards institutions for lifelong learning, an increase of (international) competitiveness, and the emerging shortage of highly qualified professionals. At the same time, key issues of the last decades are still current, such as student dropout, social selectivity in university entrance, and the relationship between university and working life. In order to answer research questions associated with these issues, a cohort of first-year students will be followed through their years of study, including their entrance into working life. Central issues to be studied are educational choices, competence development, the benefits of university education, and entry into the jobs market.
The main focus is on
- students' competencies and competence development during the course of studies: Which subject-based and general competencies do students possess? To what extent do they correspond to the demands of the employment system? To what extent is the acquisition of competencies dependent on the type of university and the field of studies? In what way do different learning environments and individual learning strategies influence competence development?
- educational choices during the course of studies and success in studies: What are the determinants of educational decisions and success in studies while studying at university—such as dropout, change of subject, studying abroad, and pursuing a Master’s degree? What is the importance of competencies and social factors, such as social background, gender, or migration experiences in this process? Which consequences do decisions have for subsequent education and working life?
- entrance into working life and professional success: How important are acquired competencies on the one hand and formal qualifications (diplomas), social background, gender, and social and cultural capital on the other hand for entrance into working life and professional success (e.g., occupational position, income, employment security)? What role do general competencies play compared to subject-specific competencies?
Principal Investigator
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Cordula Artelt, Leibniz Institute for Educational Trajectories, Bamberg (Germany)
Citation
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Researchers working with data from the National Educational Panel Study are obliged to indicate the use of the data in their publications by citing the data version (DOI) as follows:
NEPS Network. (2022). National Educational Panel Study, Scientific Use File of Starting Cohort First-Year Students. Leibniz Institute for Educational Trajectories (LIfBi), Bamberg. https://doi.org/10.5157/NEPS:SC5:17.0.0
In addition, the NEPS study is to be referred to at an appropriate place and the reference article to be listed in the bibliography:
This paper uses data from the National Educational Panel Study (NEPS; see Blossfeld & Roßbach, 2019). The NEPS is carried out by the Leibniz Institute for Educational Trajectories (LIfBi, Germany) in cooperation with a nationwide network.
Blossfeld, H.-P. & Roßbach, H.-G. (Eds.). (2019). Education as a lifelong process: The German National Educational Panel Study (NEPS). Edition ZfE (2nd ed.). Springer VS.
According to the NEPS data usage contract (§9), an immediate, unsolicited notification regarding every type of publication based on NEPS data is required to be sent to LIfBi via e-mail at fdz@lifbi.de. If possible, a link to or an electronic version of the publication is to be provided as part of this notification.
Availability
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Data and documents are released for academic research. This release is uniquely identified by one DOI. All data sets of this release are available in different languages (English, German), formats (Stata, SPSS), and degrees of anynomization (download, remote access, and on-site).
Documentation
Below you will find detailed additional information regarding the surveys, instruments and data from the Starting Cohort Firts-Year Students. This documentation refers to the version 17.0.0. In case of questions, simply contact the Research Data Center.
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| Data Manual (more) |
PDF-en |
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The data manual is intended to assist your work with the Scientific Use Files.
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| Variable for non-traditional students (more) |
PDF-de |
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Documentation of the variable tg24150_g2 "NTS" (Non-traditional Students) by Gunther Dahm [in German]
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| Notes on context data (more) |
PDF-en |
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Documentation of context variables by Anne Weber
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| Release Notes (more) |
TXT-en |
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The release notes entail any main changes in comparison to prior versions. Herein, known bugs and possible solutions regarding the most current data version are noted.
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| Survey Instruments (more) |
ZIP |
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The survey instruments are made available to you in the form of SUF and field versions. The field versions consist of the originally deployed PAPI questionnaires as well as the programming templates for CATI and CAPI interviews. The SUF versions entail additional information, such as the variable names and labels found in the Scientific Use Files as well as the corresponding scheme options. We recommend the SUF version, when working with the data. The ZIP archive contains all of the documents listed below.
| Wave |
SUF Version |
Field Version |
| 1 - 3 |
PDF-de, PDF-en |
PDF-de |
| 4 |
PDF-de, PDF-en |
PDF-de |
| 5 - 6 |
PDF-de, PDF-en |
PDF-de |
| 7 - 8 |
PDF-de, PDF-en |
PDF-de |
| 9 |
PDF-de, PDF-en |
PDF-de |
| 10 |
PDF-de, PDF-en |
PDF-de |
| 11 |
PDF-de, PDF-en |
PDF-de |
| 12 |
PDF-de, PDF-en |
PDF-de |
| 13 |
PDF-de, PDF-en |
PDF-de |
| 14 |
PDF-de, PDF-en |
PDF-de |
| 15 |
PDF-de, PDF-en |
PDF-de |
| 16 |
PDF-de, PDF-en |
PDF-de |
| 17 |
PDF-de, PDF-en |
PDF-de |
In our Downloadcenter you can also view other survey instruments that don't yet have a published Scientific Use File. In order to access the instruments, logging in to the webstie is required. If you are not registered as a NEPS data user and therefore don't have the necessary login credentials, simply contact the Research Data Center.
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| Information on Competence Tests (more) |
ZIP |
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General overviews and information:
- Competence measures in Starting Cohorts 1 to 6 and variable naming conventions (PDF-en)
- Scaling model and notes on using data from competence tests (PDF-en)
- Linking the data of competence tests across different measurement occasions (PDF-en)
Wave-specific descriptions:
Usually, there is a brief description of the construct for each domain with sample items, a description of the data, and of the psychometric properties of the test. In the table you will find each of the documents that can be downloaded. (The ZIP archive contains all of the documents listed below. Therein documents in regard to the competence domains as well as overview documents can be found.)
| Domains |
Constructs, test processes and sample items |
Data, psychometric properties and scaling |
| Domain-overlapping competences |
| General cognitive basic skills |
PDF-en |
| Domain-specific competences |
| German-language competence: Reading (RE) |
PDF-en* |
W1: PDF-en,
W12: PDF-en |
| German-language competence: Reading speed (RS) |
PDF-en |
| Mathematical competence (MA) |
PDF-en |
W1: PDF-en,
W12: PDF-en |
| Scientific competences (SC) |
PDF-en |
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| Metacompetences |
| Procedural metacognition (MP) |
PDF-en |
| Technological and information literacy (IC) |
PDF-en |
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| Stage-specific competences |
| Buisiness Administration and Economics (BA) |
PDF-de |
| English Reading Competence (EF) |
PDF-de |
* Until the materials for Starting Cohort 5 (First-Year Students) are published, the documents of Starting Cohorts 3 and 4 are available here. The description is cohort-overlapping, only the examples are cohort-specific.
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| Semantic Data Structure File (more) |
ZIP |
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The semantic data structure file does not contain data. It does, however, contain the metadata found in the Scientific Use Files (e.g., variable names,variable labels and scheme options). It is useful for exploring the data structure without needing any actual data. The ZIP-File contains German and English versions for Stata and SPSS.
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| Codebook (more) |
PDF-de, PDF-en |
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Sorted by data sets, the codebook entails frequency counts of all the variables including the corresponding labels. The on-site version of the SUF serves as the basis for the codebook.
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| Glossary (more) |
PDF-en |
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The NEPS Glossary provides information about special terminology related to the German educational and occupational system as well as the NEPS-specific terms and abbreviations that are frequently used throughout the NEPS study.
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| Samples, Weights, Nonresponse (more) |
ZIP |
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The documents for weighting and sample stratification include information regarding the sampling process and the construct principles of weighting variables. It also provides insight towards a correct use of the weights found in the Scientific Use Files.
The NEPS Survey Paper No. 89 documents the relevant sample parameters for the Corona survey from May/June 2020, describes details on selectivity and presents the response propensity models for participation in this additional survey and the weighting procedure including post-stratification: PDF-en
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| Regional data (more) |
PDF-de PDF-en |
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Regional structural information can be merged to our data on-site. Regional data is available from Microm. This documentation describes all regional levels, structural characteristics, and how to use the data.
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| Merging Matrix (more) |
XLX |
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The Merging Matrix provides an overview of how to link information from different datasets noting the respective relevant identificator variables.
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| Anonymization Procedures (more) |
PDF-en |
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This document describes the used anonymization procedures of the respective data. Here you are also given an overview regarding the opportunity to access sensitive data (Download, Remote, On-Site). The provided document refers to the data version 14.1.0. An updated version will be made available to you in the near future.
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| Field Reports (more) |
ZIP |
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The field reports document the overall data-collection process executed by the survey institute, including the preparation and execution of the survey, the interviewer selection and deployment, tracking and providing incentives to the target persons, the intial contact and the realization of the interviews and tests, etc. The field reports are suppied by the respective survey institutes and are only available in German.
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| Interviewer Manuals (more) |
ZIP |
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The interview manuals is the basis for the interviewers' training before the computed-supported interviews were conducted. In particular, it describes the interview process as well as the content of each of the questionnaire modules.
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