Research Focus

The department of Applied Statistics and Economics undertakes methodological research in the following areas:

Statistical methods and their properties, especially non-parametric procedures
In multivariate analysis, more flexible analytical tools for hypotheses testing would be desirable. Non-parametric procedures such as permutation tests could combine features of explorative approaches (data mining) with rigorous hypotheses testing. The limitations of the current inventory have become evident to us when trying to analyze the effects of shares of subpopulations on PISA performance.

Another focus lies on forecasting methodology, especially regarding forecasts in tourism, and in the application of meta-analytic techniques in the context of the effects of environmental conditions.

The assessment of living conditions, well-being and the quality of life and its connection to social sustainability
Well-being does not only depend on so-called objective conditions, but on subjective ones as well. Therefore, subjective indicators are involved in official statistics in the meantime (subjective well-being, life satisfaction), e.g. in the Eurobarometer where a quite simple question has to be responded to. Current knowledge states that the reliability/validity of those indicators is sufficient to apply those indicators, but still full of problems. The research activities planned shall improve the quality of satisfaction or well-being-indicators and help to establish them in societal monitoring.

Educational studies, especially regarding evaluation studies of national systems such as PISA or PIRLS
The complex methodology of international comparison studies of students' achievements give reason to analysing the fundamental properties of the measurement instruments, especially regarding issues such as the dimensionality of the item pools administered.

Another area of interest are birthday effects which have been found in the context of the level of education in official statistics' population data.