Main panel
Questionnaire overview
The SHARE main questionnaire consists of around twenty modules. All data are collected by face-to-face, computer-aided personal interviews (CAPI), supplemented by a self-completion paper and pencil questionnaire. Not all respondents have to answer all modules of the questionnaire. The questionnaire modules that rather refer to the household than to the individual are only answered by a designated financial, family, or housing respondent.
The SHARE Questionnaire is the instrument to get valid data. SHARE follows the ex-ante harmonization approach for the design of the questionnaire. It is developed starting from the English version, translated in 39 country-specific languages and adapted to the national institutional framework. The questionnaire consists of a set of core modules and wave specific add-ons.
At the SHARE data portal you can find the generic and language versions of all questionnaires.
Data documentation is cumulatively available in the official Release Guide after each wave and each data release.
SHARE Methodology Volumes contain detailed information on single survey waves and corresponding methodological background.
Cross Wave Comparison
For questionnaire correspondence across waves the basic rule holds that questions are identically named if the content has not changed.
As changes sometimes have to be conducted due to societal changes (eg. new communication tools) or due to flaws found in the previous waves (e.g. ambiguous understanding of question wording) you will find an overview of the generic versions of the questionnaires in all waves where you can track the deviations between waves.
In order to compare the items across different waves easier, we provide the following two documents:
- the comparison of question texts, response options and interviewer instructions in the main questionnaires of the regular SHARE items
- the comparison of question texts, response options and interviewer instructions in the main questionnaires of the SHARELIFE items of Wave 3 and Wave 7
For a wave N, questions are coded in the following way:
| WN_Question_Text | Question texts |
|---|---|
| WN_Response_Options | Response options |
| WN_Interviewer_Instruction | Interviewer instructions |
| . | Question has not been asked at all in corresponding wave |
| [none] | Question has been asked in corresponding wave but no interviewer instruction, response option or in some cases question text (e.g. interviewer observation) was given |
Respondent types
Each household consists of the main sampled respondent aged 50+ and his or her partner (who might be younger). Some modules must be answered by each respondent while depending on questionnaire and module content, questions can be answered only by a family, household or financial respondent. Some modules can be answered by a proxy respondent on behalf of a respondent who is unable to answer the questions.
