Data Sharing in the Social Sciences

In social science research there is a push towards open research and open data. Open Data implies that researchers make their data available to other researchers so that the data can be re-used. This Guide describes the requirements and provides researchers with guidance on how and where to share social science research data with focus on the Swiss research environment

Pre-registration and registered reports

Pre-registration and registered reports are increasingly advocated to improve the credibility and rigor of empirical research. Pre-registration and more strongly registered reports are expected to reduce reporting and publication bias because they request researchers to define a detailed research plan before the data are collected and before the research outcome is known. Thereby, confirmatory and exploratory research can clearly be distinguished

Work-Family Arrangement and Conflict: Do Individual Gender Role Attitudes and National Gender Culture Matter?

This article examines the relationship between couples' work-family arrangement and individuals' perceived work–family conflict (WFC), considering individuals’ attitudes towards gender roles and national gender culture in 37 countries (N = 15,114). Previous research has shown that WFC depends on work and family demands and has mostly accounted for absolute time spent in paid and domestic work. We hypothesize that WFC depends on couples' work-family arrangement in terms of time spent in paid, domestic and care work. We further expect that the relationship between couples' work-family arrangement and WFC depends on individuals' gender attitudes and national gender culture. To test these assumptions, we use the ISSP-2012 data and apply multilevel linear regression analyses. The findings indicate that an egalitarian work-family arrangement - that is, sharing paid, domestic and care work equally with one's partner - is associated with lower levels of WFC. Moreover, individuals with egalitarian gender attitudes and an egalitarian work-family arrangement experience less WFC than individuals with inconsistent attitudes and behaviours. Individuals with consistent traditional attitudes and behaviours experience the most conflict. Finally, a more egalitarian gender culture relates to less WFC. Cross-level interactions indicate that the relationship between work-family arrangement and WFC is not mediated by countries' gender culture

Attitudes Toward Immigration in Europe. Understanding the Links Between Pronatalism and Voluntary Childlessness

Many European societies follow pronatalist family policies; nevertheless, in all countries, the total fertility rate is below replacement level and the rate of childless people is growing. Meanwhile, among demographers and policymakers, immigration is discussed as a way to increase the labor force and recently also to maintain the population size. This study contributes to a better understanding of individuals’ attitudes on these issues by examining the factors that influence the acceptance of immigration from the prism of attitudes toward voluntary childlessness. Attitudes toward immigrants as well as attitudes toward voluntary childlessness vary across and within European societies. From a selective pronatalist perspective, both factors might threaten the survival of the nation. Therefore, in this study, we assess the extent to which attitudes toward voluntary childlessness relate to attitudes toward immigrants. We differentiate attitudes toward immigrants as an economic and as a cultural threat. We use data from the European Social Survey (Round 9) and apply multilevel linear regression models. Our results show that there is a strong association between the acceptance of immigrants and voluntary childlessness at the individual level. At the country level, the female childlessness rate is associated with attitudes toward immigration: higher female childlessness rates are associated with more favorable attitudes toward immigration

Educational Aspirations of Migrant Parents and the Relationship With Educational Success

Adding to the strand of research which shows that when taking into account accumulated disadvantages, descendants from migrant families succeed to a higher amount in education than natives, this paper analyses if and how parental educational aspirations act as a protective factor for educational success. Based on the Swiss longitudinal TREE data (Transition from Education to Employment, n= 7,971) of the second cohort we answer this question using a multinomial logistic regression analysis. Our results show that some migrant groups have higher parental aspirations and that these aspirations serve as a pushing factor for several second-generation groups to take up higher education at upper secondary level. To have a closer look at the underlying mechanisms we assess the definition of success by taking into account qualitative data chosen by a criterial-based sample of TREE respondents. The inductive definition of success, based on a content analysis with n=119 young adults and their parents from migrant and Swiss families will add to the existing theoretical reflection on the narrow definition of success and its interplay with parental aspirations

Jeunesse (non)mobile ? Les facteurs influençant la mobilité temporaire des jeunes adultes suisses

Les mobilités temporaires, à but éducatif, professionnel ou culturel, gagnent en popularité depuis une vingtaine d’années. Les études sur le sujet se sont princi- palement concentrées sur les étudiants universitaires, négligeant ainsi une grande partie des jeunes. Cet article comble cette lacune en analysant une base de données importante de jeunes Suisses afin de mesurer la prévalence des mobilités temporaires. Il recourt à une approche inspirée du parcours de vie ainsi qu’à des dimen- sions psychologiques afin de comprendre les facteurs influençant la propension à la mobilité temporaire. Différents critères de sélectivité sont identifiés, tels que la classe sociale et le cursus éducationnel, mais aussi le genre, l’entourage, les caractéristiques psychologiques, ainsi que la constitution d’un capital de mobilité, représentant l’accumulation des précédentes expériences de mobilité

Parental Investment in Children’s Education. A TREE2 mixed methods study. Technical Report

PICE is an in-depth study of TREE that deals with the educational pathways of young adults and is particularly interested in how they are accompanied by their families on their way to professional life: PICE analyses what educational aspirations young people in Switzerland have and how they are supported by their parents. This technical report provides an overview of the theoretical framework of PICE, the research questions, and the study design of the mixed method study PICE: It documents the data collection and processing, the structure of the data, and the relationship to the TREE study (Transitions from Education to Employment)

Data sharing and re-use: Researcher practices, attitudes and needs FORS survey of social science researchers in Switzerland

Between November 2016 and February 2017 FORS conducted a brief survey to better understand researchers’ attitudes, practices, and needs specifically regarding data sharing and re-use. The insight gained from this survey will be used to improve existing services and prioritize new ones