MIGINFO indicates the quality of information given in MIGBACK. MIGINFO provides information about the usage of (grand-)parents’ migration histories in the SOEP. Overall, MIGINFO can take on two different codes: “(1) No (grand-)parental information” or “(2) At least 1 (grand-)parental information available”. The (grand-)parental information refers to any information on the migration background of the respondents’ mother, father or grandparents. This includes information on the country of birth (for more information, see Table 1 under sub-heading “family information”) and auxiliary citizenship variables (for more information, see Table 1 under sub-heading “citizenship and legal status” and sub-heading “family information”).
Please note that the MIGINFO coding from 2015 (v32) is further differentiated between the availability of direct and proxy information on respondents. We changed the MIGINFO coding due to the introduction of the GERMBORNINFO variable in 2016 (v33). The quality of information given in MIGBACK can thus only be assessed by combining the GERMBORNINFO and MIGINFO variables. MIGBACK information is considered to be highly reliable in cases coded (2) “At least 1 (grand-)parental information available” on MIGINFO and (1) “Consistent information” on GERMBORNINFO (around half of the PPATH cases). In contrast, the quality of information given on MIGBACK is considered relatively uncertain in cases where parental information ((1) “No (grand-)parental information” on MIGINFO) and respondents’ information was missing ((3) “No information” on GERMBORNINFO)).
MIGINFO indicates the quality of information given in MIGBACK. MIGINFO provides information about the usage of (grand-)parents’ migration histories in the SOEP. Overall, MIGINFO can take on two different codes: “(1) No (grand-)parental information” or “(2) At least 1 (grand-)parental information available”. The (grand-)parental information refers to any information on the migration background of the respondents’ mother, father or grandparents. This includes information on the country of birth (for more information, see Table 1 under sub-heading “family information”) and auxiliary citizenship variables (for more information, see Table 1 under sub-heading “citizenship and legal status” and sub-heading “family information”).
Please note that the MIGINFO coding from 2015 (v32) is further differentiated between the availability of direct and proxy information on respondents. We changed the MIGINFO coding due to the introduction of the GERMBORNINFO variable in 2016 (v33). The quality of information given in MIGBACK can thus only be assessed by combining the GERMBORNINFO and MIGINFO variables. MIGBACK information is considered to be highly reliable in cases coded (2) “At least 1 (grand-)parental information available” on MIGINFO and (1) “Consistent information” on GERMBORNINFO (around half of the PPATH cases). In contrast, the quality of information given on MIGBACK is considered relatively uncertain in cases where parental information ((1) “No (grand-)parental information” on MIGINFO) and respondents’ information was missing ((3) “No information” on GERMBORNINFO)).