Organizational and Methodological Challenges of Student Surveys and How to Deal With Them Using the Example of Two Projects Run by the Criminological Research Institute of Lower Saxony

Abstract

Student surveys have been used for several decades as a suitable method to shed light on the occurrence of crime among adolescents. Different items are surveyed in order to identify correlations. The implementation depends on the approval of the responsible authority, the participation of the schools and the motivation of the students. These and other situations may arise as challenges during such projects. This paper will present the organizational and methodological challenges of two conducted student surveys and their possible solutions to assist researchers in conducting further surveys. Afterwards, the future of the traditional student survey and alternative survey methods will be discussed.