a.) In Germany, international corporations are increasingly harming local companies. [In Deutschland schaden internationale Konzerne zunehmend den Firmen vor Ort.]
-
Item Text:
a.) In Germany, international corporations are increasingly harming local companies. [In Deutschland schaden internationale Konzerne zunehmend den Firmen vor Ort.]
-
Recommendations:
To clarify the focus of the item and ideally reduce the number of "Don't know" answers, the item should be reworded:
“Large international corporations are increasingly harming small companies in Germany."
[„Große internationale Konzerne schaden zunehmend den kleinen Unternehmen in Deutschland.“]
-
Findings:
A total of six test persons, spontaneously or when asked, stated that they did not have sufficient information or knowledge to answer this statement. Four of these test persons answer "Don't know" (TP 01, TP 03, TP 07, TP 13), two test persons (TP 09, TP 20) "Neither". For these last two subjects, the middle category acts as a hidden "Don't know" option.
Another test person (TP 06) spontaneously comments that it is unclear to her whether the statement refers to international corporations that also (i.e. additionally) operate in Germany or only to international corporations that are based abroad.
-
Question Topic:
Politics/ Attitudes, appraisals, & ideologies
-
Construct:
Globalization/Trade
|
Yes
|
|
b.) Free world trade means that better products are available in Germany. [Der freie Welthandel bedeutet, dass in Deutschland bessere Produkte erhältlich sind.]
|
No
|
|
c.) Germany, as a member of international organizations, should generally comply with their decisions, even if the German government does not consider the decision to be correct. [Deutschland sollte im Allgemeinen als Mitglied internationaler Organisationen deren Entscheidungen befolgen, selbst wenn die deutsche Regierung die Entscheidung nicht für richtig hält.]
|
No
|
d.) International organizations take too much power away from the German government. [Internationale Organisationen nehmen der deutschen Regierung zu viel Macht weg.]
-
Item Text:
d.) International organizations take too much power away from the German government. [Internationale Organisationen nehmen der deutschen Regierung zu viel Macht weg.]
-
Recommendations:
The term 'international organizations’ could be specified by listing examples (e.g. United Nations, World Trade Organization, European Union, European Central Bank):
“International organizations like [...] are taking too much power away from the German government.”
[„Internationale Organisationen wie die […] nehmen der deutschen Regierung zu viel Macht weg.“]
-
Findings:
Four test subjects answer "Don't know" in this statement. Of these, two test persons (TP 01, TP 11) state that they do not have the knowledge to answer this question. The other two subjects (TP 09, TP 10) justify their answer by stating that it is unclear to them which organizations are meant in the statement:
- „Which organisations are being considered here? The European Community can also be seen as an organisation and I think that Germany has gained power.“ (TP 09)
- „Because simply 'international organisations' is too vague. International organisations can be the ECB, the UN, and I cannot grasp what is behind them. When it comes to Europeanisation, I would say 'agree completely', but that is not defined here.“ (TP 10)
-
Question Topic:
Politics/ Attitudes, appraisals, & ideologies
-
Construct:
Globalization/Trade
|
Yes
|
e.) I feel more like a citizen of the world and thus connected to the world at large and less like a citizen of a particular country. [Ich fühle mich eher als Weltbürger und somit verbunden mit der Welt insgesamt und weniger als Bürger eines bestimmten Landes.]
-
Item Text:
e.) I feel more like a citizen of the world and thus connected to the world at large and less like a citizen of a particular country. [Ich fühle mich eher als Weltbürger und somit verbunden mit der Welt insgesamt und weniger als Bürger eines bestimmten Landes.]
-
Recommendations:
Reformulate into:
"I feel more connected to the world at large and less like a citizen of a particular country."
[„Ich fühle mich eher mit der Welt insgesamt verbunden und weniger als Bürger eines bestimmten Landes.“]
-
Findings:
The test persons use the full range of scales.
The term "citizen of the world" is misinterpreted by three test persons in the sense of "multicultural society" or "world population" or understood as if one had a responsibility as a German to inform oneself about world events and to engage in civic engagement:
- „The world has become our guest and part of our lives in so many different ways that I think I can see myself more connected to the world.“ (TP 12)
- „All people on planet earth, everyone who lives here on earth is a citizen of the world.“ (TP 18)
- „All in all, I think that here in Germany I am also part of a whole, i.e. part of the whole world and therefore also responsible for the whole world. All in all, as a German I feel an obligation to the whole world and I'm not sitting here and I don't care what happens in Timbuktu.“ (TP 20)
With three other test persons it remains unclear whether they understood the term "citizen of the world" in the intended, i.e. cosmopolitan, sense or not. Two of these test persons (TP 06, TP 13) associate the term with a geographical rather than an emotional connection. Moreover, they feel the term to be too vague or too broad and reinterpret the statement for themselves by replacing the term "citizen of the world" with "European:
- „I have transferred it to the EU for me because I think it is even more tangible. In any case, I feel as a European and would not say that German interests are above everything. As a citizen of the world it is of course more difficult, because there are already great cultural differences [...].“ (TP 06)
- „I feel like a European. Citizen of the world is a great concept. I don't feel like African, Chinese or Indian.“ (TP 13)
The third respondent (TP 03) justifies her answer ("Agree") with her migrant background, which means that she is to a certain extent always between two countries and does not feel connected to only one country.
Since five of the six test persons who misinterpret the statement or with whom it remains unclear whether they have understood the item in the intended sense agree with the statement or answer "neither nor", there is a risk that this misinterpretation leads to a distortion of the answers and that the proportion of those who actually feel like "citizens of the world" is overestimated.
-
Question Topic:
Politics/ Attitudes, appraisals, & ideologies
-
Construct:
Globalization/Trade
|
Yes
|
Deutsch
Contact
General Probing, Comprehension Probing, Specific Probing
Pretest Database
