Random Sampling Based on the Central Register for Foreigners

Abstract

A population of approximately 15 million people with migration background is currently living in Germany. In order to be able to describe this population of migrants and foreigners, samples drawn on a random basis are the preferable approach. The Central Register for Foreigners holds a database which, as yet, has not been used for drawing a partial sample of persons with a migration background. For the first time a sample was drawn from the Central Register for Foreigners for the representative survey ”Selected Groups of Migrants in Germany 2006/2007”, operated by the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees, Nuremberg, in co-operation with TNS Infratest Sozialforschung, Munich. Within the framework of this survey, 1,544 Turks, 972 people from former Yugoslavia, 746 Italians, 677 Greeks and 637 people from Poland were interviewed. Even though the drawing from this database required a good deal of time and work in advance, it shows that the additional work is worth the effort, since it offers a more detailed focus than similar studies for reaching the targeted group of foreigners in Germany. The divergence between realized selection and the sample of the population based on the attributes sex, age and Federal Länder can be considered as minor. Furthermore, it becomes apparent that for interviews with foreigners, translated questionnaires are essential.