.. _Comparison of Different Measurements of Volunteering:

Comparison of Different Measurements of Volunteering
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**Short Description:** The definition and measurement of volunteering has implications for estimating prevalence rates of volunteers in a population. The SOEP-IS module allows to compare different measures of volunteering rates by using an experimental approach. Specifically, the module allows to estimate and to compare the volunteer rates with unspecified and specified time frames by using original and modified SOEP and FWS questions.
 
**Experimental Details:** The SOEP and the German Survey on Volunteering (Freiwilligensurvey, FWS) use different questions for assessing volunteering behavior. The experiment tested how the specification of a time frame may affect volunteering estimates. Participants were randomly allocated to one of four conditions:

1) FWS – time frame unspecified (currently)  (approx. 25%)
2) SOEP – time frame unspecified (no time frame) (approx. 25%)
3) FWS – time frame specified  (12 months) (approx. 25%)
4) SOEP – time frame specified (12 months) (approx. 25%)

Each person was asked both the SOEP and the FWS question (with variation of the order).

.. csv-table::
    :file: csv/Comparison of Different Measurements of Volunteering.csv
    :header-rows: 1