SHARE Wave 9 – New items on financial decision making, successful ageing, eating habits, sleep, long-term care insurance, and long-term care expectations (English Version)

During the past 3 months did you use the Internet for...

[Haben Sie während der letzten 3 Monate das Internet für folgende Tätigkeiten genutzt...]

Interviewer: Read out each option and code all that apply.

[Interviewer: Alle Antwortoptionen einzeln vorlesen und alle zutreffenden angeben.]

Sending and receiving emails [Senden und Empfangen von E-Mails]
Calling or chatting with family and friends (e.g., with WhatsApp or Skype) [Anrufen oder Chatten mit Familie und Freunden (z. B. mit WhatsApp oder Skype)]
Participating in social media (e.g., Facebook, Twitter, Instagram) [Teilnahme an sozialen Medien (z. B. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram)]
Purchasing or selling goods or services [Kauf oder Verkauf von Waren oder Dienstleistungen]
Paying bills or using Internet banking [Rechnungen bezahlen oder Internet-Banking nutzen]
Watching TV or videos, listening to the radio or music [Fernsehen oder Videos ansehen, Radio oder Musik hören]
Playing games [Spiele spielen]
Searching or reading news [Suchen oder Lesen von Nachrichten]
Searching for health-related information [Nach gesundheitsbezogenen Informationen suchen]
Searching for other information [Nach anderen Informationen suchen]
Taking part in a forum or online community [Teilnahme an einem Forum oder einer Online-Community]
Accessing online dating services [Zugriff auf Online-Dating-Dienste]

Question: Since both a single and multiple answers can occur, we recommend adding "one or more of the" to the question:

"Have you used the Internet in the last 3 months for one or more of the following activities?". [„Haben Sie während der letzten 3 Monate das Internet für eine oder mehrere der folgenden Tätigkeiten genutzt?“.]

Response Options: The answer options should be supplemented by the category "I do not use the Internet" [“Ich nutze das Internet nicht“]. In addition, we recommend making a modification to the last answer option in the German translation [("Nutzung von Onlinedating-Diensten")].

Cognitive Techniques:

Specific Probing

1. Is an answer category missing?

The probe whether the test persons had used the Internet for other activities not mentioned in the question was answered in the affirmative only by test person 02, who runs her own website: "I run my own website and am my own webmaster. I do that every day. I set up a server with a friend of mine, yes, the usual. Nothing special." (TP 02)
Two test persons (TP 03, 04) interrupted the test leaders before they could read out the answer options and explained that they had no Internet:

• "I don't have Internet. I do not need it. I don't even have a smartphone." (TP 03)
• "I don't have Internet." (TP 04)

In order to clearly distinguish the answers of such respondents from "don't know" answers, refusals or even interviewer errors (when not noting down the respondents' answers), we recommend adding an additional answer option such as "I do not use the Internet".

2. Are all answer categories understandable?

All eight test persons using the Internet found the answer categories "rather understandable" (n = 2) or "very understandable" (n = 6). Accordingly, none of the test persons stated that they were unclear or unfamiliar with any of the activities.

Digitalization/ Use of digital systems

Online activities