to Pretest Database Pretest Database
Project Title:Islamist attitudes among young Muslims in Germany (English Version)
  1. General Information: *Note: This item was tested in German, Arabic and Turkish. This is an English translation of the original German wording.*
  2. Question Text: Have you ever come across Islamist-Salafist content online (Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, etc.)?
    [Sind Sie online (Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, etc.) schon einmal auf islamistisch-salafistische Inhalte gestoßen?]
  3. Answer Categories Yes [ja]

    no [ja]


    1. Recommendations: Question: We recommend explaining the word Islamist-Salafist and providing examples if necessary.
      Response Options: Distinguish according to content that one has seen on one's own device or has only been shown by others.

      Have you ever come across Islamist-Salafist content online (Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, etc.)? [Sind Sie online (Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, etc.) schon einmal auf islamistisch-salafistische Inhalte gestoßen?]

      Have you ever been shown Islamist-Salafist content by others? [Wurden Ihnen schon einmal von anderen islamistisch-salsfistische Inhalte gezeigt?]
  1. Cognitive Techniques:Information image/link to cognitive pretesting Difficulty Probing, Comprehension Probing, Specific Probing.
  2. Findings for Question: All test persons answer the question without showing any externally visible signs of discomfort. Approximately half of the test persons state that they have encountered such content in the past. With one exception, all test persons describe the question as very easy or rather easy to answer.
    A test person spontaneously asks whether it is only about content that he has searched or found on his mobile phone or also about content that has been shown to him by others. She decides that it is only about herself and answers "no" (DE01).

    The term "Islamist-Salafist"
    The terms Islamist and Salafist are not perceived separately from each other by most test persons, they cannot distinguish the terms (AR14) or consider them synonyms ("it's the same for me", TR10). Three of the Turkish test persons ask to hear the question in German because they are not familiar with the Turkish term for "Islamist-Salafist". A test person waits to answer until he or she has heard the German translation and explains that he or she did not answer in Turkish due to uncertainty because he or she did not know these words (TR09).
    The definition of Islamist includes "people who are extreme" (DE01), radical (TR06) or right-wing radical (DE01). One test person said that the word Islamist is an exaggerated, negative term for Muslims (DE04). Two test persons understand Islamism as a strict interpretation of faith, often with the desire to convince other people of a more literal interpretation:
    • People who literally practice Islam.“ (DE02)
    • Someone who is a very strict believer, who wants to educate his fellow men just as strictly.“ (TR07)
    Several test persons do not know the word Salafistic or cannot define it (DE02, DE03, TR08). One test person understands Salafi "terrorist content, for example murder" (DE05), another one a word for radical (TR06). One Arab test person defines Salafists as the "people who have their machinations in Syria", for another test person they are a "point of contention in Islam" (AR12). In former times, however, "friends of the prophet" would have been called Salafists (AR13).

    The term "contents"
    Videos are mentioned above all (DE01, DE03, DE05, TR09, TR10), but also pictures and contributions in social media are considered. The most important ones are Facebook (DE01, DE04, AR12, AR13), Instagram (DE01, DE03, DE04, TR09) and Snapchat (DE03, TR07, TR10). Others, however, also mention news reports on Islamism ("Publication of newspaper articles after attacks in which "Islamists" are described as perpetrators", TR07). Another test person mentions videos of the terrorist attack in New Zealand that took place in a mosque (DE01), and another "when someone posts an educational video about Islam on YouTube" (DE03). An Arabic test person does not know the word used in Arabic for "content" and recommends using a different word. Nevertheless, she understands the question correctly and thinks of calls to jihad (AR13) in the content.
  1. Question Topic: Digitalization/ Use of digital systems
  2. Construct: Experience with extremism