Public Opinion Research : Germany

In addition to the opinions published in the media and direct contact with the country’s citizens, public opinion research is an important instrument for ascertaining the basic attitudes, expectations, hopes and wishes of the public at large. Its advantage lies in the general validity of its findings, provided the surveys use a sufficiently large and representative sample. Its limitations lie in the short-lived nature of its findings: These reflect current moods and trends which can change very quickly.

Public opinion research in Germany is conducted exclusively by private institutes. The Federal Government, the state governments and the political parties work together with these institutes on their surveys. Plurality is important in order to obtain an objective picture of public opinion, for experience has shown that the results of surveys are strongly influenced by the wording of questions and the manner in which they are posed.Here the public opinion research institutes go their own different ways.In the case of political opinion research, it has proved particularly informative to ask identically worded questions again and again at regular intervals. These are reliable indicators of trends because they reveal changes in the public mood over time and thus permit relatively accurate evaluation of current data. Such questions and methods are above all used to assess the basic attitudes and values of the public at large.