How Late Reporters Effect Data Quality in Longitudinal Surveys – Experiences From the German Mobility Panel

Survey design always has a significant influence on the outcomes. Therefore, this paper investigates how follow-up campaigns affect survey outcomes and response rates in longitudinal surveys. Furthermore, it is assessed how late reports in the fall affect survey outcomes. The analyses are based on the unique data of the German Mobility Panel. Overall, this paper paints a broad picture of the methodological aspects and overlapping effects that should be considered before starting the fieldwork of longitudinal surveys. The results indicate that people who are reminded to participate positively influence the survey outcomes - even when the report is belated

Minimal disturbance : in defence of pragmatic reasons of the right kind

Funding: UK Arts and Humanities Research Council 1796583.This paper draws attention to an important methodological shortcoming in debates about what counts as a reason for belief. An extremely influential distinction in this literature is between reasons of the ‘right kind’ and the ‘wrong kind’. However, as I will demonstrate, arguments making use of this distinction often rely on a specific (and not explicitly stated) conception of epistemic rationality. Shifting focus to a reasonable alternative, namely a coherentist conception, can lead to surprising consequences—in particular, pragmatic reasons can, against orthodoxy, indeed be reasons of the right kind for belief.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Wer hat hier das Sagen? Zur Legitimität von Volksreferenda am Beispiel Großbritannien und Schottland

Wenn die Legitimität von Volksentscheiden diskutiert wird, erhitzen sich die Gemüter immer schnell. Die einen sehen in solchen Referenden eine der größten Gefahren für die Demokratie, die anderen ihre Urform und Essenz. Welche Schlüsse können wir ziehen, wenn wir uns der Thematik aus der Perspektive der politischen Philosophie nähern, und versuchen, die Legitimität von Volksentscheiden unabhängig von ihren Ergebnissen zu betrachten

Metabolic labelling of DNA in cells by means of the “photoclick” reaction triggered by visible light

Two pyrene-tetrazole conjugates were synthesized as photoreactive chromophores that allow for the first time the combination of metabolic labelling of DNA in cells and subsequent bioorthogonal “photoclick” modification triggered by visible light. Two strained alkenes and three alkene-modified nucleosides were used as reactive counterparts and revealed no major differences in their “photoclick” reactivity. This is a significant advantage because it allows 5-vinyl-2′-deoxyuridine to be applied as the smallest possible alkene-modified nucleoside for metabolic labelling of DNA in cells. Both pyrene-tetrazole conjugates show fluorogenicity during the “photoclick” reactions, which is a second advantage for cellular imaging. Living HeLa cells were incubated with 5-vinyl-2′-deoxyuridine for 48 h to ensure one cell division. After fixation, the newly synthesized genomic DNA was successfully labelled by irradiation with visible light at 405 nm and 450 nm. This method is an attractive tool for the visualization of genomic DNA in cells with full spatiotemporal control by the use of visible light as a reaction trigger

Workshop Synthesis: How to Collect and Use Longitudinal Data?

This paper is based on the presentations, papers and discussions of workshop “Longitudinal data” at the ISCTSC conference in Porto Novo in March 2022. The presentations and discussions are primarily based on three different panel surveys that represent different approaches and designations. All these surveys have to struggle with typical challenges. The paper discusses the analytical characteristics and the designation of longitudinal surveys, addresses the problems and challenges of longitudinal surveys and will sum up the discussed strategies, in which a long-term continuity of such surveys can be secured

How the COVID-19 pandemic changes daily commuting routines – Insights from the German Mobility Panel

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a major impact on everyday travel and, by extension, everyday commuting. During the pandemic, some people were able to work from home while others continued commuting. This study examines how commuting behavior changed between 2019 and 2020. In this study, we analyze panel data of the German Mobility Panel, a national household travel survey. We paint a broad picture of the characteristics and behavior of those who commuted during the pandemic. The analyses focus on the intra- and interpersonal differences and are presented in a mostly descriptive way. The results show that people with low income and a low level of education are primarily those who cannot work from home and do not have flexible working hours. The results further show that especially public transport has lost importance in daily commuting. However, those who commuted in 2019 and 2020 did not significantly change their commuting behavior regarding commuting time and commuting mode

Home Deliveries and Their Impacts on Travel: Capturing Shopping Behavior and Attitudes towards Shopping in a Travel Behavior Skeleton Approach

Attractive options such as home delivery services (e-commerce) may shift the travel for shopping purposes to a more voluntary activity. Research is faced with the question which (latent) characteristics of people might indicate a higher potential to use home delivery services as a substitute for individual travel. Therefore, an appropriate survey instrument is needed which in its function fully depicts both individual travel and particular shopping behavior. Further, it should be supplemented by psychological aspects relating to shopping behavior and shopping-relevant relevant transport modes. This work presents an extensive literature review and a survey approach which has been exploratively tested

Revealing Motives for Car Use in Modern Cities - A Case Study from Berlin and San Francisco

Car use in modern cities with a well-developed public transit is more sophisticated to explain only through hard factors such as sociodemographic characteristics. In cities, it is especially important to consider motives for car use. Therefore, we examined two modern cities with a high modal share of non-motorized modes and public transit to answer the question: How do the affective and instrumental motives influence car use in such cities? The used data set was collected in Berlin and San Francisco. To investigate the role of motives, we applied an ordered hybrid choice model (OHCM) with a probit kernel. Based on the OHCM we explained more than 14% of the overall heterogeneity and gave further insights to the decision-making process. The affective motive had a strong influence on car use frequency, whereby the instrumental aspects did not matter. Furthermore, an effect resulting from age could not be determined for the affective motives in these cities. Results suggest people are more likely to use cars for affective motives despite the city’s adversities. For these people it is difficult to achieve a shift to alternative means of transport. The only way to intervene here is through regulatory intervention

Methodological Challenges for Measuring Behavioral Changes in a Longitudinal Travel Survey Under Pandemic Conditions

The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has had an enormous impact on everyday life. In an attempt to stop the virus spread, unprecedented containment measures are being taken worldwide. These preventive measures are consequently affecting everyone\u27s life and how we move. Equally remarkable is the speed at which these observed and massive changes occur and the lack of statistical evidence. In the annual cycle, the German Mobility Panel (MOP) launched an additional questionnaire for the general population, containing approximately 4,000 respondents. This paper provides insights into the MOP data quality issues and changes in daily travel under pandemic conditions

Formation of nitrous oxide over Pt-Pd oxidation catalysts: Secondary emissions by interaction of hydrocarbons and nitric oxide

The interaction of hydrocarbons (HC) and nitric oxide (NO) over noble metal catalysts for exhaust gas after-treatment of lean-operated combustion engines can lead to secondary emissions, namely the formation of nitrous oxide (N$_2$O), which is a strong greenhouse gas calling for N$_2$O reduction concepts. By means of a series of light-off tests over state-of-the-art Pt-Pd oxidation catalysts, this study identifies the most critical catalyst operation regimes that should be avoided in order to minimize N$_2$O levels. Especially unsaturated HCs react with NO to form significant amounts of N$_2$O between 150 °C and 350 °C; an increasing HC/NOx ratio generally promotes N$_2$O formation, whereas the NO oxidation reaction is increasingly inhibited. Since low space velocities and fast catalyst heating allow for minimizing N$_2$O levels, active heating of catalytic converters during cold start and phases of low exhaust gas temperatures may efficiently reduce the formation of N$_2$O in real-world applications