As of: March 18, 2024, 10:53 p.m
By: Bettina Menzel
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Five euros for doing nothing?
The Robert Koch Institute wants to encourage people to take part in an important health study.
The Taxpayers' Association finds the method questionable.
Berlin – “If you receive an invitation, take part,” says the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) in a statement on the “Health in Germany” study series.
The study is about the mental and general health of the population.
180,000 people now receive mail from the institute.
Included in the envelope: A QR code that leads to the survey questionnaire.
And: A five-euro note, as the
editorial network Germany (RND)
reported.
This should motivate people to participate.
The institute sends almost a million euros this way.
But that is not the real controversy.
Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) in the Bundestag.
The data from the RKI study can be taken into account in future health policy decisions.
© IMAGO/dts news agency
A monetary gift is intended to motivate people to take part in the RKI survey
Five euros to 180,000 people results in a total of 900,000 euros.
Since fewer and fewer people are taking part in studies and surveys, financial incentives – also known as incentives – are common practice in science.
According to its own information, the RKI was able to increase the participation rate in surveys by 13 percentage points with the help of incentives in a test before the start of the campaign.
These included people “who would otherwise be difficult to recruit for surveys,” said the RKI in response to a query from
IPPEN.MEDIA.
The RKI hopes that 35 percent of all people who receive an invitation will take part in the survey.
Conversely, 65 percent probably do not fill out the questionnaire despite the gift of money.
Accordingly, 117,000 people received five euros without having to do anything for it.
A windfall of 585,000 euros simply ended up in various mailboxes across the Federal Republic.
Taxpayers’ Association criticizes RKI cash gift – “Detailed explanations are due”
The Association of German Taxpayers (BdSt) has a problem with this.
“Apparently all taxpayers are spending money on a select group of people,” commented Reiner Holznagel, the President of the Taxpayers’ Association, in an interview with
RND
.
His demand: “Because public funds are flowing, detailed explanations are definitely due – until then the survey should be stopped.”
In response to an
IPPEN.MEDIA
query, the RKI simply said: “We generally do not comment on statements made by individuals.” However, the use of so-called incentives to promote study participation is common practice and has been extensively examined in methodological research.
The Robert Koch Institute (RKI) wants to encourage people to take part in a survey and is apparently sending five euros by post as an incentive (symbolic image).
© IMAGO / imagebroker
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The people are selected based on a random sample.
According to RND
, anyone who takes part in the survey will receive
an additional ten euros.
The RKI also wants to send this money by post – instead of transferring it.
In response to an IPPEN.MEDIA
request , the RKI said about the letter
: “Not all participants have online access – these people would be systematically excluded.” But the survey should also reach people without internet access.
“The surveys take place online, but participation with paper questionnaires is also possible,” the RKI continues.
Another argument for sending by post: You would have to collect account details for a transfer.
That would violate data economy, a basic principle of data protection - and would probably also increase the effort.
“It was therefore decided that the incentive would not be made available online via bank transfer or similar, as otherwise the relevant data would have to be collected from the participants,” said the institute about this solution.
Deutsche Post, however, criticized the unsafe approach, as
RND
reported.
The RKI itself provides alternatives.
According to information on the study's homepage, anyone who has collected 500 points by participating in additional surveys will receive a voucher - for example from MediaMarkt or Kaufland - worth five euros.
It can be easily accessed online.
Data from the RKI study “can be taken into account in future health policy decisions”
The “Health in Germany” study is designed as a panel.
This involves questioning a group of people over and over again over a longer period of time.
The more people participate, the more accurate the results will be.
The statistical data determined in this way “can, for example, be taken into account in future health policy decisions,” the RKI announced on the study’s homepage.
Even in a crisis, the panel will have the infrastructure in place to get answers to health questions very quickly, explained RKI President Lars Schaade.
“The panel is an important instrument for improving the health of people in the country,” continued Schaade.
From May onwards, participants will have to fill out a questionnaire on various topics every three months.
Transparency note: The RKI's answers to IPPEN.MEDIA's request were not yet available at the time the article was first published and were subsequently added.