Table 1
Overview of all waves, used modes, target age of the child, participating families and childcare institution.
| WAVE | INTERVIEW-MODE | DIRECT ASSESSMENTS OF CHILD AND HOME LEARNING ENVIRONMENT (HLE) | YEAR | CHILD (TARGET) AGE | PARTICIPATING FAMILIES | CHILDCARE | SUF RELEASE | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EDUCATOR | INSTITUTION MANAGER | CHILD-MINDER | |||||||
| 1 | CAPI | Standardized and semi-standardized observational measures (incl. HLE) | Aug-2012–Mar 2013 | 7 months | 3,481 | 2015 | |||
| 2 | CATI, PAPI | Apr–Oct 2013 | 14 months | 2,862 | 171 | 73 | 2015 | ||
| CAPI (half sample) | Standardized and semi-standardized observational measures (incl. HLE) | July–Dec 2013 | 17 months | 1,510 | 2015 | ||||
| 3 | CAPI, PAPI | Semi-standardized observational measures (incl. HLE) | Apr–Nov 2014 | 25 months | 2,609 | 449 | 110 | 2016 | |
| 4 | CAPI, PAPI | Tabled-based competence tests | Apr–Nov 2015 | 3 years | 2,478 | 625 | 571 | 2017 | |
| 5 | CAPI, PAPI | Tabled-based competence tests | Apr–Sep 2016 | 4 years | 2,381 | 628 | 521 | 2018 | |
| 6 | CAPI, PAPI | Tabled-based competence tests | Mar–Aug 2017 | 5 years | 2,209 | 683 | 543 | 2019 | |
| 7 | CAPI, PAPI | Tabled-based competence tests | Apr–Sep 2018 | 6 years | 2,116 | 546 | 444 | 2020 | |
| 8 | CAPI, PAPI | Tabled-based competence tests | Mar–Aug 2019 | 7 years (mainly grade 1) | 2,070 | 2021 | |||
| 9 | CATI-Remote1/CAPI by phone2,3 | Online Tests | June3–Sep 2020 | 8 years (mainly grade 2) | 1,848 | 2022 | |||
[i] Notes: CAPI = Computer-assisted personal interview; CATI = Computer-assisted telephone interview; PAPI = Paper-and-pencil-Questionnaire; SUF = Scientific use file; HLE = Home learning environment; Each year, beginning with wave 3, there was also a small CATI –field for all families who did not take part in the CAPI. 1 Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, in wave 9 nearly all interviews with the parents were administered via telephone from the regular CAPI-interviewers from their homes. 2 The competence tests for the children were administered online with support of an interviewer by telephone. 3 The field of the original CAPI started in March 2020 before it stopped due to the pandemic. The field was re-opened in June 2020 with telephone interviews and the online testing.
Table 2
Sample description (child and respondent).
| WAVE | YEAR | PANEL COHORT (n)1 | PARTICIPANTS: FAMILIES (n)2 | PARTICIPATION RATE | AGE CHILD, MONTHS (m/sd) | SEX CHILD (FEMALE) | AGE RESPONDENT, YEARS (m/ds) | SEX RESPONDENT(FEMALE) | EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND RESPONDENT, YEARS (m/sd) | HISEI, (m/sd) | MIGRATION |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wave 1 | 2012/2013 | – | 3,481 | 41% | 7.02 (0.76) | 49% | 32.37 (5.21) | 98% | 14.53 (2.65) | 60.20 (20.90) | 34% |
| Wave 2 | 2013 | 3,431 | 2,849 (CATI) 1,510 (CAPI) | 83% (CATI) 80% (CAPI) | 17.09 (0.61) | 49% | 33.34 (5.04) | 98% | 14.84 (2.54) | 62.55 (19.90) | 31% |
| Wave 3 | 2014 | 3,281 | 2,609 | 80% | 26.63 (1.22) | 49% | 34.61 (5.03) | 97% | 14.98 (2.48) | 59.81 (20.45) | 29% |
| Wave 4 | 2015 | 3,143 | 2,478 | 79% | 38.60 (1.08) | 49% | 35.64 (4.97) | 97% | 15.04 (2.48) | 58.68 (21.25) | 28% |
| Wave 5 | 2016 | 2,872 | 2,381 | 83% | 50.34 (1.70) | 49% | 36.75 (4.94) | 97% | 15.14 (2.43) | 59.10 (20.99) | 27% |
| Wave 6 | 2017 | 2,665 | 2,209 | 83% | 61.41 (1.80) | 50% | 37.72 (4.81) | 97% | 15.21 (2.39) | 59.34 (20.53) | 26% |
| Wave 7 | 2018 | 2,504 | 2,116 | 85% | 74.07 (1.60) | 50% | 38.85 (4.78) | 97% | 15.26 (2.37) | 59.59 (20.32) | 25% |
| Wave 8 | 2019 | 2,380 | 2,070 | 87% | 85.17 (1.79) | 50% | 39.85 (4.77) | 97% | 15.30 (2.39) | 59.93 (20.03) | 26% |
| Wave 9 | 2020 | 2,257 | 1,848 | 82% | 99.52 (1.56) | 49% | 41.05 (4.68) | 97% | 15.42 (2.29) | 60.65 (19.41) | 24% |
[i] Notes: 1 Panel cohort = Number of families who agreed to take part in the NEPS. 2 Participants = Number of families that actually participated in the respective wave. Sex = Percentage of female children/interview respondents, Age (m, sd) = Mean age and standard deviation of children/interview respondents. Educational background (m, sd) = mean and standard deviation years of education of interview respondents. HISEI (m, sd) = Mean highest parental international socio-economic index of occupational status (Ganzeboom et al., 2010) and standard deviation. Migration = Percentage of families with interview respondent and/or partner born abroad.
Table 3
Overview of available data sets of the NEPS SC1 (version NEPS:SC1:9.1.0).
| NAME | SHORT DESCRIPTION | FILE STRUCTURE | ACCESS (ON-SITE, REMOTE, DOWNLOAD) |
|---|---|---|---|
| SC1_CohortProfile | Basic information on target persons in initial cohort panel sample | long | Download Remote On-site |
| SC1_EditonBackups | Generated file; original data on values changed in data edition process | long | Download Remote On-site |
| SC1_Weights | Generated file; sample weights | wide | Download Remote On-site |
| SC1_pParentMicrom | Small scale regional indicators and respondent’s place of residence | panel format; long | On-site |
| SC1_xTargetCompetencies | Competencies: domain and stage specific | wide | Download Remote On-site |
| SC1_xPlausibleValues | Competencies: measurement error adjusted for group level description | wide | Download Remote On-site |
| SC1_xDirectMeasures | Competencies: coded from observation at home | wide | Download Remote On-site |
| SC1_MethodsDirectMeasures | Competencies: information on data collection of direct measures | long | Download Remote On-site |
| SC1_pEducator | Context Person: questionnaire data from educators in day-care institutions | long | Remote On-site |
| SC1_pEducatorChildminder | Context Person: questionnaire data from childminders | long | Remote On-site |
| SC1_pInstitution | Context Person: questionnaire data from heads of institutions | long | Remote On-site |
| SC1_pParent | Context Person: interview data from parent (usually mother) | long | Download Remote On-site |
| SC1_pParentCORONA* | Context Person: interview data from parent on the COVID-19 pandemic | Download Remote On-site | |
| SC1_MethodsCAPI | Context Person: information on data collection during parents’ CAPI | long | Download Remote On-site |
| SC1_MethodsCATI | Context Person: information on data collection during parents’ CATI | long | Download Remote On-site |
| SC1_spSibling | Entity spells: information on siblings of target person | entity format: 1row = 1 sibling of 1 respondent | Download Remote On-site |
| SC1_spChildCare | Episode spells: information on all child care episodes | spell | Download Remote On-site |
| SC1_spEmp | Episode spells: information on parent’s employment episodes | spell | Download Remote On-site |
| SC1_spPartnerEmp | Episode spells: information on parent’s partner’s employment episodes | spell | Download Remote On-site |
| SC1_spParLeave | Episode spells: information on parent’s parental leave episodes | spell | Download Remote On-site |
| SC1_spPartnerParLeave | Episode spells: information on parent’s partner’s parental leave episodes | spell | Download Remote On-site |
| SC1_spParentGap | Episode spells: gap episodes in target child’s lifecourse | spell | Download Remote On-site |
| SC1_psParentSchool | Episode spells: episodes of target child’s schooling | spell | Download Remote On-site |
[i] Note: Prefixes of the data sets: x = cross-sectional structure, p = panel structure, sp = spell file; Suffixes of the data set: _O = On-site, _R = Remote, _D = Download; wave, major and minor Updates (e.g. current SUF = _9-1-0).