Table 4 Key factors shaping rationales
Theme/ Code | Subtheme | Respondent characteristics | Quotes | Relevant intersections |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Wanting to make a contribution | Experiences of marginalisation or discrimination | Participant, f, 55 | ‘Oh absolutely. During the time of the reunification, for example. As an East German. I’m actually a trained teacher. Worked in adult education. Had a diploma from [renowned university in Germany] and, this time, retrospectively, speaking of social disadvantage, this was a really, really awful time for us East Germans… I tried to remain in my profession, right? How some people were treating me!’ | Geographical/cultural origin; age |
Experiences of marginalisation or discrimination | Participant, m, 70 | ‘Well I experienced this very actively, and I was really standing on the street and thought “what will become of you?”…You cannot imagine this. You’re sitting at your desk and someone, anyone, this was an awful time, someone who doesn’t understand anything…, comes in and says "get out of this room”’ | Geographical/cultural origin; age | |
Experiences of marginalisation or discrimination | Participant, f, 60 | ‘I was really curious…when I realised that this is not only about the indigenous German population but also about groups that have migrated to Germany… It’s clear that my fellow countrymen would need more treatment [than indigenous Germans], so I found the study really interesting’ | Citizenship; social class; sex/gender; ethnicity | |
Wanting to make a contribution – advancing science | Positive evaluation of science, scientific literacy | Participant, f, 44 | ‘Every fairly educated person who went to college knows how difficult it is when the response rate is only 3%’ | Social class; education; cultural capital |
Positive evaluation of science, scientific literacy | Participant, f, 45 | ‘Well, I think it’s always nice to have some participants, right? I think, during my studies, I also worked in market research and it’s always annoying to not have any, right?’ | Social class; education; cultural capital | |
Adverse experiences with science | Non-participant, f, 64 | ‘Well I have to start with the primordial soup. The primordial soup, for me, means, many years ago … simply to explain why I did say “oh no, not a study! Then they’ll find something again”’ | Cultural capital, sex/gender, geographical/cultural origin | |
Seeking personalised health information | Care responsibilities | Participant, m, 54 | ‘Perhaps also due to my own children, I am more conscious about this [a healthy lifestyle]’ | Sex/gender; age, marital status |
Care responsibilities | Participant, f, 39 | ‘Now that I have children, I think I also have a certain responsibility for being fit in the future’ | Sex/gender; age, marital status | |
Care responsibilities | Non-participant, f, 35 | ‘It was simply a question of time. At the time I was breastfeeding my son, he was about 5 months old… It was simply not an option to stay away for, I think it would have lasted about four hours’ | Sex/gender; age, marital status | |
Family responsibility | Participant, m, 65 | ‘Well, about a year and a half ago, I just spontaneously said ‘no, I won’t participate in this, what is this supposed to be?’ And then my wife said “oh, if I would get such an invitation, I would participate immediately”’ | Sex/gender; age; marital status | |
Family responsibility | ||||
Perceived vulnerability, biographical disruption | Participant, m, 65 | ‘I have always ruled this out. I have always said, “I’ll definitely stay healthy until I’m 85. Before I’m 85 I’m not going to the hospital, no way”. I’m still in top shape! And because I had this opinion of myself or this attitude, this diagnosis [prostate cancer] was really difficult for me’ | Age; sex/gender, experiences of illness | |
Perceived vulnerability, biographical disruption | Participant, f, 48 | ‘Well, perhaps this is associated with age, if you’re approaching 50… Previously, I had an image of myself, I had very few health-related problems, and now I had a few, smaller health problems, and then, when I was asked to participate in the study for the second time, well, I thought this is actually quite interesting’ | Age; sex/gender, experiences of illness | |
Using the study as a source of social recognition | Juggling career and motherhood | Participant, f, 39 | So this recognition from a second perspective, somehow. If I do this for myself, I’ll see “OK, it was good, it was bad”. But there [at the study centre] it’s written down somewhere or someone else says it… Maybe I also want to say that at the moment, while on parental leave, it is not always that easy to have these small, visible or acknowledged successes, or a sense of achievement…’ | Gender; age; social class; marital status; sexuality |