Research Data and Methods
With the "Research Data and Methods" focus area, the IAB combines methodological basic research with application-oriented labour market and occupational research. This includes the collection and processing of various data and making them available to the international research community. The IAB uses the register data generated through administrative processes which are stored and edited in the Federal Employment Agency's statistics data warehouse. This includes information on labour market policy benefits, measures such as job-counselling and -preparation, as well as employment subject to social security contributions. At the IAB, these data are adapted to research requirements and developed into research data.
Furthermore, data from quantitative (panel) surveys and qualitative interviews on employers, individuals, households, and Jobcenters are used. Based on data protection regulations, these data can be linked by record linkage methods. In addition, external data sources are harnessed, especially large, partly unstructured data volumes (big data). The data products generated in this way are made available internally for research and political consulting, processed further and made accessible to the national and international research community via various access routes through the Research Data Centre.
In order to increase the quality and usability of the data products for research, quality assurance has a high priority throughout the entire data life cycle and is accompanied by research projects. To this end, the IAB develops and evaluates new procedures for data collection, correction, and analysis. Experimental methods and statistical models are used, as are increasingly, artificial intelligence methods.
