General Information:
*Note: This item was tested in German, Arabic and Turkish. This is an English translation of the original German wording.*
Question Text:
How has your relationship with Germans without a migration background developed over the last two years?
[Wie hat sich Ihr Verhältnis zu Deutschen ohne Migrationshintergrund in den letzten zwei Jahren entwickelt?]
Answer Categories:
It has improved overall. [Es hat sich insgesamt verbessert.]
It has remained the same. [Es ist gleich geblieben.]
It has gotten worse. [Es ist schlimmer geworden.]
Recommendations:
Question: We recommend having the Turkish question wording checked.
Response Options: No changes recommended.
General Probing, Comprehension Probing, Specific Probing.
Findings for Question:
About half of the test persons answered the question with "it has improved overall" (n=6) and "it has remained the same" (n=8). No one stated that the relationship with Germans without a migration background had worsened. There are no differences in response behaviour or in the reasons for the choice of answers between the language versions.
The test persons who state that their relationship to Germans without a migrant background has improved are justified, among other things, by a change of school to a school attended by more German children (DE01), increasing acceptance of German classmates over time (DE05, AR11) and new social contacts, such as the football club (AR14).
In the case of two Turkish test persons, it is clear that they have reinterpreted the question for themselves. One of them states that she referred to the fact that her attitude towards Germans without a migration background had improved (TR09). The other refers to the number of their contacts with Germans without a migrant background, not the quality of the contact (TR10). Possibly this misunderstanding would not have arisen if the test person had also been presented with question 16, which specifically asks about the number of contacts.
All eight test persons who responded that their relationship to Germans without a migration background had remained the same stated suitable reasons for their choice of answers. It should be emphasized that they all correctly refer to whether their relationship to Germans had changed, regardless of whether they have many (DE03, TR06) or few (AR12) contacts with Germans without a migration background. One respondent notes that she judged the change in the political climate in the past two years differently, but that her personal environment did not change during this period (DE02).
Translation of the term "Germans without migration background"
Two test persons had problems understanding the Turkish words "göçmen kökenli ol-mayan", which are supposed to mean "without migration background". Both test persons had to have the question read out in German in order to understand it. One of the test persons attributes the lack of understanding to linguistic differences within Turkey, as she herself comes from the east of the country and may therefore not be familiar with this combination of words (TR09). The other test person regards the formulation simply as pedantic and would use other words (TR10). It is noticeable that the same test persons who have problems with the Turkish formulation are also those who understood the question differently (TR09, TR10).
In Arabic, one respondent noted that the wording was not "Germans without a migration background" but "natives" (AR13). However, the test person understands and answers the question correctly.
Understanding of "migration background"
All test persons understand the term migration background as a description of a person whose parents immigrated to Germany. Some also include immigrants themselves (DE02, DE03, TR09). In addition to terms such as immigration, or "came to Germany", several test persons use the term "roots" to refer to the family background. One test person refers mainly to their cultural background (TR10).
People without a migration background are correctly understood as people who themselves and their parents were born in Germany. Individual test persons explicitly state that the third generation (people whose grandparents immigrated) is also to be understood as "without a migration background" (DE01, DE05). DE05 notes, however, that these people often still feel that they have a migration background.
Question Topic:
Society & social affairs/ Attitudes to social groups
Construct:
Relationship to persons without migration background
