German Survey on Volunteering (FWS)
The German Survey on Volunteering (FWS) is a representative survey on voluntary engagement in Germany. It is aimed at individuals aged 14 and older and has been conducted via telephone interviews every five years since 1999. It is funded by the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women, and Youth (BMFSFJ).
The survey years 2014 and 2019 were scientifically managed by the DZA. Verian Group is responsible for the conceptualisation and implementation of the 2024 survey.
The Scientific Use Files of the FWS as well as all documentation objects, prepared by the FDZ-DZA, are now only available at the GESIS Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences. The FDZ-DZA no longer offers user support for the FWS.
We kindly ask all users to cite the following paper (freely available in open access) in FWS publications for the description of the data source:
Nicole Hameister, Nadiya Kelle, Corinna Kausmann, Nora Karnick, Céline Arriagada & Julia Simonson (2023). Monitoring Civil Society. The German Survey on Volunteering 1999–2019. Soziale Welt, 74(2), 294-314. DOI: 10.5771/0038-6073-2023-2-294
The SUFs, along with all documentation materials, are provided at GESIS for scientific use under the following study numbers and DOIs:
- ZA3350: German Survey on Volunteering 1999, dx.doi.org/10.4232/1.14128
- ZA4331: German Survey on Volunteering 2004, dx.doi.org/10.4232/1.14129
- ZA5433: German Survey on Volunteering 2009, dx.doi.org/10.4232/1.14130
- ZA5713: German Survey on Volunteering 2014, dx.doi.org/10.4232/1.14131
- ZA5714: German Survey on Volunteering 2019, dx.doi.org/10.4232/1.14132
- ZA5715: German Survey on Volunteering Trend 1999–2014, dx.doi.org/10.4232/1.14133
We have compiled a list of all known publications based on the FWS from 2010 to 2023.
For further information on the completed FWS project at the DZA, please refer to this link.