Lower Saxony starts a large question panel: Your opinions count!

Lower Saxony starts a large question panel: Your opinions count!

150,000 households in Lower Saxony received mail in the first week of August to confirm their participation in the newly launched “Lower Saxony Panel”. The goal of this project is to comprehensively examine social factors that influence political compromises. The research aims to gain insights into topics such as willingness to donate and recycling behavior. This important initiative is led by Prof. Dr. Jan Sauermann from the Institute for Social Sciences. A large and representative pool of respondents is essential for valid and reliable results uol.de reported.

The Lower Saxony Panel will conduct regular surveys to measure changes in participants' opinions and behavior. The main topics are climate change, digitalization, migration, war and demographic change. Particular attention is paid to the polarization of society and the conditions under which social extremes can become stronger. The first surveys are already planned for before, during and after the planned state elections in 2027. Participants who provide information about their behavior and opinions are paid an average allowance of 13 euros per hour, and their data is collected anonymously. This ensures that no conclusions can be drawn about individuals, even if interested parties who have not received an invitation can also register.

Goals and methodology

The Lower Saxony Panel is part of a broader scientific concept that deals with behavioral economics and social transformations. This research is carried out by an interdisciplinary team made up of seven universities in Lower Saxony, including the Clausthal University of Technology, the Georg-August University of Göttingen and the Leuphana University of Lüneburg. The cooperation also extends to the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Information Technology, which underlines the interdisciplinary orientation of the research projects Niedersachsenpanel.de presented in detail.

Another important aspect of the study is the empirical analysis of the behavior of heterogeneous actors. Dimensions such as urban-rural differences, income, gender and social and cultural diversity are taken into account. The central coordination office is located at the Leuphana University of Lüneburg, where numerous doctoral studies are offered, which enable doctoral students to present their ideas in academic networks at an early stage and to take interdisciplinary modules in which topics such as Experimental Methods and Quantitative Methods for Behavioral Economics are covered leuphana.de shows.

The combination of different disciplines and university institutions in the Lower Saxony panel as well as the methodological diversity of data analysis should help to draw a holistic picture of the social dynamics in Lower Saxony. With a clear focus on social transformation and its impact on individual behavior, this research project will make a significant contribution to political and social research.