Results of the online surveys
What was examined?
A central feature of this website is the presentation of findings, which were collected by surveying the Wahl-O-Mat-users. As there have been onsite surveys at almost every Wahl-O-Mat, we can present to you findings concerning the following questions:
- What is known about the user? (Age, gender, level of education, political interest)
- How do users know the Wahl-O-Mat?
- Why do users use the Wahl-O-Mat?
- Do the Wahl-O-Mat results match the party preferences of the users?
- Which effect has the use of the Wahl-O-Mat?
Some 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
Extent of political interest and participation of Wahl-O-Mat users (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)
Presentation of results (in german)
How were the data collected?
By leaving the Wahl-O-Mat site, a pop-up window invited the users to take part in an onsite survey. Not every user were asked, only a random sample (every fourth, sixth, tenth). E.g. in North Rhine-Westphalia about 25% of the asked people took part in the survey. That is every fourth person who were asked. We checked for the representativity of the sample referring to several variables.
Why has this research be done?
In the German federal elections in 2005, the Wahl-O-Mat were played about 5 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. This results help to improve the effectiveness of the tool for the democratic culture in Germany.