The variable is designed to provide information on the type of tertiary degree (e.g., Diploma, Bachelor, Master) which adds details to the information recorded in the variable PGBBIL02. While the latter variable records if a person holds a degree PGDEGREE contains more detailed information on the type of the degree. The data of the generated variable PGDEGREE stem from two sources: 1. Person questionnaire: Each year since 1985 respondents are asked if they have left education since the beginning of the year prior to the survey and which degrees they have obtained. This part of the questionnaire contains an open question on the type and the field of newly obtained tertiary degrees. This information is coded and used for the generation of the variables PGDEGREE. 2. Biography questionnaire: Since 2001 similar information is collected from respondents who fill in the biography questionnaire (usually during the first two years of participation in the panel). In contrast to the information from the person questionnaire the questions do not refer to currently obtained degrees but to degrees obtained during the time before being part of the SOEP sample.
In the variable PGDEGREE we combine these two types of information. However, since the retrospective information was not collected before 2001 the variable covers until 2000 only persons for whom we have prospectively observed the end of study. This explains why the number of valid observations is rather small in these years.
Each year the variable contains the most recently collected information. If you want to take into account that a person holds two degrees you have to combine the information from all available years. However, only a minority of the population holds more than one tertiary degree. In very few cases we encounter the problem that a respondent provides information on two different degrees in one survey year. This only happens in years when respondents fill in the person as well as the biography questionnaire. In these cases we prioritize the information from the person questionnaire as it refers to the current situation while the biography questionnaire contains retrospective information. Furthermore, there are cases who report an applied university degree and a university degree in the biography questionnaire. In these cases, the variables contain information on the university degree only.
The variable is coded according to a slightly collapsed version of the classification on types of tertiary degrees (“Prüfungsgruppen und Abschlussprüfungen”) provided by the Statistisches Bundesamt (2009). Since 2010 the data were coded according to the classification presented here. In the variable PGDEGREE we recoded the original values from years 2009 and earlier. As the newer version is more precise this could be done with hardly any loss of information. Some categories are collapsed. Category 16 was mostly likely coded as 15 in earlier years, 34 as 35 and 43 as 44. The original values of the data collected from the person questionnaire of 2009 are stored in the respective variables in the dataset P.
Because detailed information on the type of tertiary degree is not assessed in the Questionnaire of the SOEP Innovation Sample, PGDEGREE is not generated for Sample E (since 2012), I (since 2011) and the supplementary samples (since 2012). For this purpose, PGDEGREE is coded to “-5” (not contained in questionnaire).
The variable is designed to provide information on the type of tertiary degree (e.g., Diploma, Bachelor, Master) which adds details to the information recorded in the variable PGBBIL02. While the latter variable records if a person holds a degree PGDEGREE contains more detailed information on the type of the degree. The data of the generated variable PGDEGREE stem from two sources: 1. Person questionnaire: Each year since 1985 respondents are asked if they have left education since the beginning of the year prior to the survey and which degrees they have obtained. This part of the questionnaire contains an open question on the type and the field of newly obtained tertiary degrees. This information is coded and used for the generation of the variables PGDEGREE. 2. Biography questionnaire: Since 2001 similar information is collected from respondents who fill in the biography questionnaire (usually during the first two years of participation in the panel). In contrast to the information from the person questionnaire the questions do not refer to currently obtained degrees but to degrees obtained during the time before being part of the SOEP sample.
In the variable PGDEGREE we combine these two types of information. However, since the retrospective information was not collected before 2001 the variable covers until 2000 only persons for whom we have prospectively observed the end of study. This explains why the number of valid observations is rather small in these years.
Each year the variable contains the most recently collected information. If you want to take into account that a person holds two degrees you have to combine the information from all available years. However, only a minority of the population holds more than one tertiary degree. In very few cases we encounter the problem that a respondent provides information on two different degrees in one survey year. This only happens in years when respondents fill in the person as well as the biography questionnaire. In these cases we prioritize the information from the person questionnaire as it refers to the current situation while the biography questionnaire contains retrospective information. Furthermore, there are cases who report an applied university degree and a university degree in the biography questionnaire. In these cases, the variables contain information on the university degree only.
The variable is coded according to a slightly collapsed version of the classification on types of tertiary degrees (“Prüfungsgruppen und Abschlussprüfungen”) provided by the Statistisches Bundesamt (2009). Since 2010 the data were coded according to the classification presented here. In the variable PGDEGREE we recoded the original values from years 2009 and earlier. As the newer version is more precise this could be done with hardly any loss of information. Some categories are collapsed. Category 16 was mostly likely coded as 15 in earlier years, 34 as 35 and 43 as 44. The original values of the data collected from the person questionnaire of 2009 are stored in the respective variables in the dataset P.
Because detailed information on the type of tertiary degree is not assessed in the Questionnaire of the SOEP Innovation Sample, PGDEGREE is not generated for Sample E (since 2012), I (since 2011) and the supplementary samples (since 2012). For this purpose, PGDEGREE is coded to “-5” (not contained in questionnaire).