Within the Preparation Module for the Einstein Center for Population Diversity (ECPD), diverse research institutions came together to provide new survey instruments for the innovation sample in the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP-IS). With the goal of collecting insightful information about future narratives and family care, central topics of the ECPD research endeavor, factorial survey was chosen as a suitable method. A preliminary set of vignettes was designed conjointly, and before proceeding with the large-scale survey, a series of cognitive pretests were conducted to examine comprehensibility and context effects. In this study we describe the design and analysis of these cognitive pretests, with a special focus on the process of designing the final survey informed by the pretests’ feedback.
A number of European initiatives aim to create a European educational space, including vocational training and higher education. Following the logic of difference, we ask whether, despite their different institutionalization, these two sectors in France and Germany react similarly to the Europe-wide Copenhagen and Bologna processes. We compare the relationship between vocational education and training (VET) and higher education (HE), contrasting a number of influential typologies. Analyzing the current situation, we ask whether these differences in postsecondary education and training systems continue to exist.