Assessing the FAIRness of survey data collected during the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany
- 1GESIS Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences, Data and Research on Society, Mannheim, Germany
- 2Heidelberg University, Max Weber Institute of Sociology, Heidelberg, Germany
Abstract
This study investigates the FAIRness (Findability, Accessibility, Interoperability, and Reusability) of survey data collected during the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany. During the pandemic, surveys played a crucial role in capturing public attitudes and health-related behaviors, but researchers often faced a trade-off between rapid data collection and implementing high-quality survey designs. Using metadata from the “Survey Data Collection during the COVID-19 Pandemic” (SDCCP) project, which documents 717 surveys conducted in Germany, we assessed the FAIRness of surveys published with a persistent identifier or project website using the F-UJI assessment tool. Our results show substantial variation in FAIRness scores. Surveys can be divided into two groups, with one group achieving around 88.46% FAIRness and the other averaging around 65.38%. These differences are correlated with survey design. Surveys using fast and cost-efficient designs also exhibit lower FAIRness. The findings highlight that the trade-off between rapid data production and methodological rigor during the pandemic also affected the availability and reusability of survey data.
Related
- The COVID-19 Pandemic Experience of Families With Children With Developmental Disorders in Northeastern Germany.
- Healthcare experiences of the Chinese patients before and during the COVID-19 pandemic: findings from a national survey study
- Global public perceptions of participation in pandemic and non-pandemic trials in the intensive care unit: a cross-sectional survey across 13 countries
- Assessing food consumption discrepancy between food balance sheet and survey dietary data in Europe
- Assessing the performance of Hungary’s primary health care system during the COVID-19 pandemic: findings from the cross-sectional PRICOV-19 study
BibTeX
@article{gummer2026assessing,
title = {{Assessing the FAIRness of survey data collected during the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany}},
author = {Tobias Gummer and Ko-Hsuan Lu and Karolina von Glasenapp},
journal = {PLOS One},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1371/journal.pone.0358755},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0358755},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Assessing the FAIRness of survey data collected during the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany
AU - Tobias Gummer
AU - Ko-Hsuan Lu
AU - Karolina von Glasenapp
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/09
JO - PLOS One
DO - 10.1371/journal.pone.0358755
UR - https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0358755
AB - This study investigates the FAIRness (Findability, Accessibility, Interoperability, and Reusability) of survey data collected during the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany. During the pandemic, surveys played a crucial role in capturing public attitudes and health-related behaviors, but researchers often faced a trade-off between rapid data collection and implementing high-quality survey designs. Using metadata from the “Survey Data Collection during the COVID-19 Pandemic” (SDCCP) project, which documents 717 surveys conducted in Germany, we assessed the FAIRness of surveys published with a persistent identifier or project website using the F-UJI assessment tool. Our results show substantial variation in FAIRness scores. Surveys can be divided into two groups, with one group achieving around 88.46% FAIRness and the other averaging around 65.38%. These differences are correlated with survey design. Surveys using fast and cost-efficient designs also exhibit lower FAIRness. The findings highlight that the trade-off between rapid data production and methodological rigor during the pandemic also affected the availability and reusability of survey data.
SN - 1932-6203
ER -