Results of the online surveys
Which data have been collected?
A central feature of this website is the presentation of data that have been collected in the surveys of the Wahl-O-Mat users. As there have been onsite surveys for almost all versions of the Wahl-O-Mat, we can present findings concerning the following questions:
- What is known about the user (Age, gender, level of education, political interest)?
- How did the users find out about the Wahl-O-Mat?
- What are the reasons for using the Wahl-O-Mat?
- Do the Wahl-O-Mat results match the users’ party preferences?
- Which effect does the use of the Wahl-O-Mat have?
Vote Match Europe
Presentations
- Respondents declaring that “it was fun playing the Wahl-O-Mat” (percent)
- Basic Information on the 2005 Bundestag election Wahl-O-Mat survey
- Overview of Wahl-O-Mat online surveys
- Territorial Distribution of Survey Sample and Population
- Age groups (percent)
- Formal education (percent)
- Extent of political interest and participation of Wahl-O-Mat users (percent)
- Mobilization (in percent)
- “I will probably talk about the result with friends and family” (percent)
- “The Wahl-O-Mat has motivated me to collect further political information” (percent)
- “Actually I did not want to vote. The Wahl-O-Mat has motivated me to vote” (percent)
- Formal education attainment – mobilization to vote (percent)
- Low participating – strongly mobilized, percentage of this user type within sub-groups of the sample compared to the sample’s total (percent)
Presentation of results (in German)
Elections National Level (Bundestagswahlen)
German Bundestag Elections (September 2009)
German Bundestag Elections (September 2005)
Elections European Level (Wahlen zum Europäischen Parlament)
European Election (June 2009)
European Election (June 2004)
Elections State Level (Wahlen in den Bundesländern)
Landtagswahl North Rhine-Westphalia (May 2012)
Landtagswahl Schleswig-Holstein (May 2012)
Landtagswahl Saarland (March 2012)
Abgeordnetenhauswahl Berlin (September 2011)
Bürgerschaftswahl Bremen (May 2011)
Landtagswahl Baden-Wuerttemberg (March 2011)
Landtagswahl Rhineland-Palatinate (March 2011)
Bürgerschaftswahl Hamburg (February 2011)
Landtagswahl North Rhine-Westphalia (May 2010)
Bürgerschaftswahl Hamburg (February 2008)
Landtagswahl Lower Saxony (January 2008)
Bürgerschaftswahl Bremen (May 2007)
Abgeordnetenhauswahl Berlin (September 2006)
Landtagswahlen Baden-Wuerttemberg und Rhineland-Palatinate (March 2006)
Landtagswahl Saxony-Anhalt (March 2006)
Landtagswahl North Rhine-Westphalia (May 2005)
Landtagswahl Schleswig-Holstein (February 2005)
North Rhine-Westphalia and Schleswig-Holstein compared (2005)
Landtagswahl Saxony (September 2004)
How have the data been collected?
When leaving the Wahl-O-Mat site, a pop-up window invited the users to participate in an on-site survey. Not each single user was asked, but only a random sample (every fourth, sixth, tenth). And e.g. in North Rhine-Westphalia 2010 about 25% of the people asked actually participated in the survey.
By using this method, the representativeness of the sample for the total of all Wahl-o-Mat users could be assured.
Additionally the representativeness of the sample was checked along several variables.
Why have these data been collected?
The Wahl-o-mat takes an important part in the German pre-election period.
As a matter of fact, prior to the German federal elections in 2009, the Wahl-O-Mat has been played about 6.7 million times. This shows that this tool has become an important and - probably - effective part of civic education and political communication, especially among young people.
The German Federal Agency for Civic Education has commissioned the collection of data and the scientific analysis in order to improve the effectiveness of the tool for the democratic culture in Germany.
