Generations and Gender Survey 2020 Czechia Wave 1

Mixed mode design using the combination of CAPI and CAWI, with online data collection as the main mode (due to limitations related to the covid-19 pandemic). CAWI was the default when the respondent was recruited via mail or telephone (CAPI was offered to these respondents only in the last reminder; no respondent asked to switch to CAPI at that stage). Both CAPI and CAWI were offered when the respondent was recruited at his/her home by a fieldworker (most fieldworkers were not trained to conduct CAPI interviews, so a trained interviewer was sent instead). By the end of the filedwork, 98 % of all interviewers were collected via CAWI (n=5,534) and only 2 % via CAPI (n=133).

Conditional financial incentives. Reminders. Letter by the principal investigator sent to individuals who agreed to participate but did not complete the questionnaire. Popularization of the project via media presence, project website, press releases, facebook posts, facebook ads, online ads incl. municipality websites, printed ads, leaflets and articles in newspapers. Various fieldwork modifications, which included transformations of the payment scheme for interviewers/fieldworkers (to increase performance bonuses) and modifications in the methods of assigning fieldworkers to primary sampling units to secure even distribution of contacted addresses/completed interviews across strata (which included higher compensation for travel and lodging costs.

1.Dealing with non-response 1.1 Screening This only occured in the sample of household addresses. Trained fieldworkers visited all address points and coded result of the visit. Special codes were reserved for non-household addresses and vacant houses/apartments as well as for households with only out-of-the-age-range residents.

1.2. Refusal conversion All interviewers/ fieldworkers received guidelines on dealing with respodent reluctance and typical types of soft refusal. These were: hesitance ragarding the goals of the survey, time constraints, privacy concerns, safety concerns, concerns about reasons for one's inclusion into the survey, and a lack of interest. There were no specially trained interviewers who would deal with refusals separately. The guidelines could be describes a set of clarifying statements to be used in reaction to particular kinds of refusal/hesitation/concern. Interviewers were also instructed to try and establish rapport and trust with their selected respondents, to be honest and open, and not to be discouraged by initial (soft) refusals. Emphasis was put on good undestanding of aims, contents, and goals of the GGP project so that this information could be passed on to potential respondents in a clear, natural, and trustworthy manner.

1.3. Incentives All respondnets were offered a conditional financial incentive worth 500 CZK.Approx. 80 % of respondents received the payment.

2. Tracking of sampled units 2.1. Respondent contact information Yes

2.2. Other contact information No contact information was collected.

2.3. Cards During December 2021, respondents who completed their questionnaire were sent a New Year's greeting via email.

2.4. Additional surveys No

2.5. Administrative records No

1. Questionnaire localization 1.1. Validation The questionnaire was pre-tested in October 2020 as a normal survey via pilot testing on two different groups of respondents: (1) bachelor's and master's degree students at the Faculty of Science, Charles University, and (2) respondents identified by SC&C interviewers.

1.2. Pre-test The questionnaire was pre-tested in October 2020 as a normal survey via pilot testing on two groups of respondents: (1) bachelor's and master's degree students at the Faculty of Science, Charles University, and (2) respondents identified by SC&C interviewers.

1.3. Pilot No, fieldwork procedures were not pre-tested.

1.4. Deviations from the baseline questionnaire Addition of country-specific items, 57 items in total (covid and work related questions). Included thoughout the questionnaire depending on where they fit substantivelly. In partcular: 5 items were added to HOUSEHOLD module, 42 items were added to WORK module, 2 items were added to FERTILITY module, and 8 items were added to ATTITUDES module. No additional country-specific module has been created.

1.5. Interview length Information not available

1.6. Breaks-off Information not available

2. Interviewers 2.1. Total interviewers: To facilitate recruitment, there were two groups of personnel working in the field: (1) interviewers who would both recruit and interview respondents and (2) fieldworkers who were solely tasked with scouting the selected addresses/ households for eligibility and willingness to participate. The SC&C agency trained a total of 72 interviewers and 167 fieldworkers; some interviewers did eventually become fieldworkers (recruitment for CAWI). Numbers of both significantly declined over the collection period (fatigue, low morale, insuficient involvement, time consuming work with low pay). Additionally, 26 CATI operators were employed to recruit respondents via telephone.

2.2. Total interviewers in the field Information not available

2.3. Network Organization Central coordination by SC&C agency (fieldwork manager, fieldwork supervisor), with input from the national team.

2.4. Working arrangement of Interviewers Both interviewers and fieldworkers were contracted.

2.5. Payment of interviewers Interviewers: Paid per interview + additional motivational payment to travel outside one's area of residence (rate was dependent upon distance travelled); Fieldworkers: per locality + per number of housholds successfully recruited, later per number of respondents/email addresses + per distance travelled

3. Interviewer training 3.1. General Interviewer training Yes, interviewers were introduced to key tasks and trained to: select and contact households, code household eligibility, comunicate with household members and deal with soft refusals, select respondents within households, and use CAPI software to collect data. Switch from in-person to online training due to pandemic restrictions. Interviewers were also instructed on the use of PPEs. Fieldworkers received training similar to interviewers with the exception of CAPI training.

3.2. Survey Specific training Interviewers were introduced to the focus and scope of the GGS survey, its substantive and policy-relevant importance, and its funding. They were also informed of the PR and media activities of the central team to be able to pass that information onto potential respondents.

3.3. Length of training Due to the covid restrictions, some training sessions had to be moved online. Duration of in-person interviewer training was approx. 1 day; duration of online training was shorter but training in the methods of data collection was of the same duration in both modes. Training of fieldworkers was exclusively carried out online and took about 3 hours. CATI operators employed later in the project run to recruit respondents via telephone (RDD) were also trained. General and GGS-related training were not separate; we do not have an exact information on specific durations.

3.4. Control of Performance (i.e. testing) Telephone checks by the data collection agency of (some) respondents to see whether the interview did take place. Regular weekly reporting back to fieldwork supervisor. Coding results of household visit into online form. Uploading CAPI questionnaires online upon completion (checks of progress in real time).

3.5. Interviewer Survey There was no survey among interviewers/fieldworkers. There were regular online meetings of intervewers/fieldworkers with their supervisor to report progress, boost morale, and share experiences from the field.

4. Contact protocols 4.1. Advance Letter Information No, there were no advance letters in neither recruitment method.

4.2 Cold Contacts Initially, face-to-face (interviewer/fieldworker visit at selected address); later (in 2021, 2022) cold contacts/ recruitment via telephone (random digit dialling).

4.3 Scheduling / scattering Yes, diferent times throughout the day and different days of the week, both work days and weekends

4.4 Contact History Contact history filled to online form via mobile phone. The form contained date of the visit and code of the visit outcome. Coded for each visit in the household.

4.5 Min number of contacts 3

4.6 Max number of contact Unlimited, based on interviewer assessment of eligibility/willingness potential of selected address/household.

5. Noteworthy characteristics of the data collection situation The prolonged period of the pandemic, the related restrictions to movement and contact, and wide-spread popular annoyance, fatigue, and anger (partially fuelled by online disinformation) probably significantly contributed to a deterioration of the field. This manifested in high rates of refusals to participate in the survey (this is not just the case of GGS filedwork but was experienced by other researchers and data collection agencies) which resulted in the need to extent the fieldwork well into 2022. This situation had a detrimental effect on the morale and performance of interviewers and fieldworkers who were discouraged by the sharp increase in unsuccessful recruitment visits - often to the point when they ended their participation on the project or had to be let go for inactivity (interviewer mortality about 70 %). Of note is also the switch of design to CAWI as the primary mode to facilitate data collection under lockdowns. Related is an addition of recruitment for CAWI via telephone (random digit dialling) introduced to counteract unfavourable in-person recruitment rates. Both changes did have positive effect on the number of completed questionnaires.

6. Context 2020, 2021: Covid-19 pandemic and government-introduced measures limiting movement outside of one's home and contact between people. 2022: The war in Ukraine and resultant uncertainties, including the energy crisis. Entire period: Spread of online disinformation causing some segments of population to become suspicious and uncooperative.

The first covid case was confirmed on the 1st of March, 2020; the initial reaction of the Czech government (nation-wide lockdown in spring 2020) is generally regarded as swift and effective, leading many Czechs to believe that the pandemic was over by June 2020. However, the situation started to worsen during autumn 2020 (second lockdown in October-November) and by the end of the year, CR had the highest number of daily confirmed infections in the world, with covid becoming the dominant cause of death. After some brief decline in January 2021, the number of cases started to increase again in February, leading to another nation-wide lockdown (instituted on March 1, 2021) characerized by the strictest set of restrictions to date (school, restaurant, and non-essential shop closures, and a ban to cross district lines). These restrictions remained in place until early April. Covid numbers were low during June-October 2021, but shot up in November with the spread of the Omicron variant. Still, as vaccines became widely available and testing was commonplace, no lockdown was introduced - the official response mainly rested on vaccination certificates and negative tests (to access non-esential services) and limitations to the size of gatherings. At the start of 2022, antigen testing was mandatory at most workplaces. Gradually, covid took a back seat to the situation in Ukraine and the resultant energy crisis and inflation. Overall, government covid measures tended to be nation-wide rather than localized, with a handful of exceptions (such as the closure of three districts in Western Bohemia in January 2021).

Start of the fieldwork planned for October/November 2020 was to a significant degree affected by the worsening pandemic situation which resulted in a nation-wide lockdown and the introduction of a number of restrictions by the Czech government (restrictions of movement, restriction of contact between people, closure of schools, non-esential shops and services incl. restaurants); these restrictions made it virtually impossible to implement face-to-face recruitment and data collection. The national team therefore had to: (1) put CAPI collection on hold, (2) prioratize CAWI, (3) temoprarily recruit respondent via mail, (4) abandon methodological experiments with mixed mode. Pandemic situation continued to be unfavourable during December-February (schools, shops, and services closures; restrictions to movement).The filedwork was hindered even further during March-April (another nation-wide lockdown) and could only get fully underway in May 2021. Even so, the chages to the field (dwindling willingness to participate) were such that CAWI still had to be prioritized (CAPI only where respondents refused online questionnaire). There were no lockdowns for the remaining part of 2021 but unvaccinated people were limited in their use of some non-esential services (such as restaurants). In November 2021, opening hours of pubs and restaurants were shortened; Christmas markets were banned. These restrictions were generally nation-wide rather than localized. No more covid restrictions were in place in 2022.

Severe limitations of face-to-face interviewing with a need to use PPEs. As there were periods when filedwork was not possible at all (restrictions to movement and contact), the original design of the data collection gradually changed to more heavily rely on CAWI mode and telephone (RDD) recruitment. Some of the selected households (non-eligibles, non-contacts, and later refusals) could be replaced by different household in close proximity (interviewers and filedworkers received a special set of instructions on how to choose these replacements). The "pandemic" field notably differed from the pre-pandemic situation by significant increase in refusals (no time, no interest, no contact). High rate of refusals erroded interviewer committment and involvement and increased the cost of single completed questionnaire. These hindrances (hight rate of refusals coupled with significant interviewer drop-outs) also lead to the extention of the filedwork well into 2022.

Yes.These were questions focusing on help with childcare during covid, work-related changes, changes in contraceptive habits, and attitudes to vaccines and possible impacts of the pandemic on society.