FAQ

Where we live and who we meet can have a significant impact on our lives. The COVID-19 pandemic, for example, clearly demonstrated how important neighbors are in times of crisis: If groceries or help with daily activities in the household need to be organized, short distances are crucial. But neighborhoods and residential context partially determine theoptions are open to us even in normal times. If the nearest grammar school is half a day's journey away, it is hardly a reasonable alternative for so many households. Such influences are discussed under the term of "neighborhood effects" and are, with few exceptions, still largely unexplored for Switzerland. The project addresses this research gap and will hopefully add to a more comprehensive picture of life in different Swiss regions.

The research project addresses the overarching question of how socio-spatial structures - from the region to the neighborhood - shape the life chances of people in Switzerland. We investigate how neighborhood networks are formed and through which mechanisms the educational opportunities of children as well as the employment and participation opportunities of adults are influenced by spatial networks and structures. In addition, for the first time, we examine the extent to which such socio-spatial networks also manifest themselves online and how these in turn have an impact on people's lives and interpersonal contacts.

The research project is supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) within the framework of an Ambizione grant. Ambizione supports promising young researchers with great potential for a scientific career and enables them to independently carry out a large research project. Another side project on the dynamics of residential segregation in Switzerland over the last 50 years is supported by the Research Foundation of the University of Bern.

We contacted a total of 9,000 people for the survey. For this purpose, a total of 300 addresses were randomly drawn in 86 communities and the 30 households closest to them were invited to participate. This allows us to examine the social relations between direct neighbors.

The corresponding contact data was provided by the residents' offices of the respective municipalities and cities. We only use these data for contact purposes and subsequently destroy them irrevocably. See: What happens with my data?

In order for the findings obtained to be as representative as possible, we are dependent on the one hand on as many people as possible taking part in the survey. On the other hand, only the people and households contacted by us should do so. Otherwise the results could be distorted. We would like to thank you very much for your valuable collaboration.

We will treat your data confidentially and in accordance with the applicable data protection regulations. The collected data will be scientifically evaluated in an anonymous form. In doing so, no conclusions can be drawn about individual people. Our aim is to establish generalizable correlations on the basis of the data obtained in this way and not to make statements about individual persons.

During the survey period, your answers as well as contact data are stored encrypted and separated from each other on a secure local network of the University of Bern, to which only the project team has access. Your contact data will only be stored for the time of the survey (2 months) and will be destroyed afterwards. After the follow-up survey, the contact data of the persons participating in it will also be destroyed permanently and without possibility of recovery. After the completion of the survey, a fully anonymized version of the data without any identifying characteristics will be made publicly available to the scientific community (www.swissubase.ch).

You can find detailed information on data protection here.

You can easily withdraw your consent at any time during as well as after the completion of the survey. To do so, you can contact us either via the contact form on the website, by mail or by phone:

The results will be published in various scientific journals and they will be integrated into the interactive online application of a previous SNSF AGORA project (www.geographies-of-opportunity.ch). Also, respondents - if they wish - will receive a leaflet with initial results, which we will also uploaded to this webpage.