As of: March 17, 2024, 8:35 p.m
By: Bettina Menzel
Comments
Press
Split
Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) in the Bundestag.
The data from the RKI study can be taken into account in future health policy decisions.
© IMAGO/dts news agency
Five euros for doing nothing?
The Robert Koch Institute wants to encourage people to take part in an important health study.
The Taxpayers' Association finds the method questionable.
Berlin – “If you receive an invitation, take part,” says the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) in a press release on the “Health in Germany” study series.
The study is about the mental and general health of the population.
180,000 people now receive mail from the institute.
Included in the envelope: A QR code that leads to the survey questionnaire.
And: a five-euro note, as the
editorial network Germany (RND)
reported.
This should motivate people to participate.
The institute sends almost a million euros this way.
But that is not the real controversy.
What the German Taxpayers Association criticizes about the RKI invitation
Five euros to 180,000 people results in a total of 900,000 euros.
Since fewer and fewer people are taking part in studies and surveys, financial incentives – also known as incentives – are common practice in science.
According to its own information, the RKI was able to increase the participation rate in surveys by 13 percentage points with the help of incentives in a test before the start of the campaign.
According to RND
, the institute hopes
that 35 percent of all people who receive an invitation will take part in the survey.
Conversely, 65 percent do not fill out the questionnaire.
Accordingly, 117,000 people received five euros without having to do anything for it.
A windfall of 585,000 euros simply ended up in various mailboxes across the Federal Republic.
The Association of German Taxpayers (BdSt) has a problem with this.
“Apparently all taxpayers are spending money on a select group of people,” commented Reiner Holznagel, the President of the Taxpayers’ Association, in an interview with
RND
.
His demand: “Because public funds are flowing, detailed explanations are definitely due - until then the survey should be stopped.” A request from the editorial network
IPPEN.MEDIA
to the RKI initially went unanswered.
The Robert Koch Institute (RKI) wants to encourage people to take part in a survey and is apparently sending five euros by post as an incentive (symbolic image).
© IMAGO / imagebroker
Cash rewards sent by post: Deutsche Post finds this unsafe
The people are selected based on a random sample.
According to RND
, anyone who takes part in the survey will receive
an additional ten euros.
The RKI also wants to send this money by post – instead of transferring it.
“Not all participants have online access – these people would be systematically excluded,” said the RKI in response to an
RND
request.
Whether these people can easily use a QR code or an online survey remains to be seen.
In order to make a transfer, you would also have to collect account details, it said.
That would violate data economy, a basic principle of data protection - and would probably also increase the effort.
Deutsche Post, however, criticized the RKI's unsafe approach, as
RND
reported.
The RKI itself provides alternatives.
According to information on the study's homepage, anyone who has collected 500 points by participating in additional surveys will receive a voucher - for example from MediaMarkt or Kaufland - worth five euros.
It can be easily accessed online.
My news
28 mins ago
Election in Russia ended: Putin achieves historic result - Zelensky speaks of election fraud
Preliminary polls and voter turnout: Russia election is not going well for Putinread
Taurus detonations in the middle of the traffic lights – but even the Union is probably getting cold feet
Survey: Wagenknecht party in decline - AfD ahead of all traffic light parties
Weapons deliveries to Ukraine: “Russia will step up attacks” – ex-CIA chief sees further problem reading
Taurus surprise from Pistorius?
Bundeswehr should prepare cruise missiles
That's why the RKI spends money on surveys: what happens to the study's data
The “Health in Germany” study is designed as a panel.
This involves questioning a group of people over and over again over a longer period of time.
The more people participate, the more accurate the results will be.
The statistical data determined in this way “can, for example, be taken into account in future health policy decisions,” the RKI announced on the study’s homepage.
Even in a crisis, the panel will have the infrastructure in place to get answers to health questions very quickly, explained RKI President Lars Schaade.
“The panel is an important instrument for improving the health of people in the country,” continued Schaade.
Starting in May, participants must fill out a questionnaire on various topics every three months.