For the past two years, a dataset is freely accessible in PsychArchives that depicts the lockdown measures in Germany. Now the 6th update with new figures is available.
As a result of the COVID 19 pandemic, a large number of government-imposed measures were introduced since March 2020, which restrict a range of individual behaviors and in some cases still do so today. The measures range from recommendations such as social distancing to the closure of shops and the prohibition of meetings and demonstrations. The Federal States of Germany implemented the recommendations in very different ways.
"As the pandemic evolved, new variables were added, such as for restrictions on travel or restaurants. Due to ongoing changes in the law and pandemic events, the coding scheme is adapted and constantly updated to reflect these developments. That's why it's important to pay attention to the regular updates when using the database," says Julian Scherhag, who has maintained the database since its inception.
"The mapping of the measures is of great scientific interest - whether as a dedicated research topic, e.g. the role of the measures for human experience and behavior, or as control variables in studies conducted during this period," says Dr. Tanja Burgard, interim head of research syntheses at ZPID. The dataset itself has been cited more than 30 times in the literature.
ZPID presents the scientific community a longitudinal dataset that maps the lockdown measures on a daily basis for individual 16 Federal States. Compared to other existing datasets, this is a day-level time series that tracks the day of introduction, extension, or expiration of the respective measure - over the entire pandemic period.
The project is an open-source, ongoing project with planned continued updates in regular, approximately quarterly, intervals.
PsychArchives
The Leibniz Institute of Psychology (ZPID) provides PsychArchives. PsychArchives is a disciplinary repository for psychological science and neighboring disciplines. Accommodating many different digital research object (DRO) types, including articles, preprints, research data, code, supplements, preregistrations, tests and multimedia objects, PsychArchives provides a digital space that integrates all research-related content relevant to psychology.
Download
The Lockdown Measures dataset is freely available here: https://doi.org/10.23668/psycharchives.6676
Documentation
https://doi.org/10.23668/psycharchives.6679
Contact
Julian Scherhag B.Sc.
Leibniz-Institut für Psychologie (ZPID)
Tel. +49 (0)651 201-2150
julian(at)leibniz-psychology.org
Dr. Tanja Burgard
Leibniz-Institut für Psychologie (ZPID)
Kommissarische Leiterin Forschungssynthesen
Tel. +49 (0)651 201-2875
tb(at)leibniz-psychology.org