Coverage of the migrant population in large‑scale assessment surveys: experiences from PIAAC in Germany

Abstract

European countries, and especially Germany, are currently very much affected by human migration flows, with the result that the task of integration has become a challenge. Only very little empirical evidence on topics such as labor market participation and processes of social integration of migrant subpopulations is available to date from large-scale population surveys. The present paper provides an overview of the representation of the migrant population in the German Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) sample and evaluates reasons for the under-coverage of this population. We examine outcome rates and reasons for nonresponse among the migrant population based on sampling frame data, and we also examine para data from the interviewers’ contact protocols to evaluate time patterns for the successful contacting of migrants. This is the first time that results of this kind have been presented for a large-scale assessment in educational research. These results are also discussed in the context of future PIAAC cycles. Overall, they confirm the expectations in the literature that factors such as language problems result in lower contact and response rates among migrants.