Topics for theses / bachelor

Do people with high vs. low structural car dependency differ in their political attitudes (party preference, left-right self-classification, environmental attitudes)?
Answering the research question using the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP). The SOEP contains both relevant mobility variables (car availability in the household, driver's license ownership, public transport use, room type/BIK class) and political attitude variables (left-right, party preference, environmental attitudes).
The concept of the MOX (Mobility Options Index) will serve as a theoretical framework for the theoretical derivation and operationalization of structural car dependency in the SOEP.

Guided interviews with municipal decision-makers based on the concept of mobility biographies (Lanzendorf (2003), Scheiner & Holz-Rau). Evaluation by means of content analysis.

Conduct a survey study with the help of existing scales (e.g. Walker-Motonormativity Scale or Steg's Symbolic Automotive Scale). Analyze correlation with party preference, level of education and economic situation. Format: Bachelor's thesis for two students or Master's thesis; sample: general population or direct access to local politicians, council members and committee members or parties or similar.

Qualitative (possibly quantifying) content analysis of plenary minutes of the Bundestag for language patterns that presuppose the car as a self-evident model of mobility (= motor normativity). Walker & te Brömmelstroet (2025), for example, serve as a theoretical basis, on the basis of which a separate coding scheme (a systematic category system for text analysis) is developed.

The department has access to booking data for the "Schaddel" ridepooling service offered by Kasseler Verkehrs-Gesellschaft (KVG), which can be used for final theses. The data allows you to analyze the use and demand of the service as well as spatial and temporal patterns or operational issues. On this basis, you can develop your own research questions and work on them as part of your thesis.

Extensive data on the volume of bicycle traffic is available for the state of Hesse, which is systematically and continuously recorded via permanent counting stations(https://www.nahmobil-hessen.de/unterstuetzung/daten-fuer-den-radverkehr/dauerzaehlstellen/). In addition, data from the STADTRADELN campaign can be used, in which participants cycle as many distances as possible for their municipality over a set period of time.

The aim of this study is to investigate whether and to what extent such campaigns lead to changes in the volume of cycling. For this purpose, periods of the campaign are analyzed with the data from the permanent counting stations and compared with suitable reference periods. The aim is to identify and classify possible effects of the campaign on cycling based on data.

Extensive data on the volume of bicycle traffic is available for the state of Hesse, which is systematically and continuously recorded via permanent counting stations(https://www.nahmobil-hessen.de/unterstuetzung/daten-fuer-den-radverkehr/dauerzaehlstellen/). This data will be used to investigate whether and to what extent local public transport strikes have an impact on cycling. To this end, time series of count data are analyzed and periods with public transport strikes are compared with suitable reference periods. The aim of the work is to identify and quantify possible changes in the volume of bicycle traffic based on data.

Infection protection in public transport was an important topic during the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to regulations on wearing masks, this also included ventilation systems in public transport vehicles. Several years after the pandemic, the standard and handling of ventilation systems in the public transport industry is now to be recorded.

The aim of the bachelor's thesis is to develop a standardized survey that can be used to record the state of practice in infection protection in public transport. The basis for the development of this online survey should be several expert interviews with people from the industry. Appropriate interview partners would be, for example, persons responsible for infection control and people who are familiar with the maintenance and handling of ventilation systems.

Numerous federal states are currently planning to reactivate railroad lines for local rail passenger transport (SPNV). For lines whose reactivation is not planned until a later date, the question arises as to how the ongoing maintenance of the infrastructure can be financed without significant traffic in the meantime, particularly in view of the decline in single wagonload traffic.

One possible interim solution is the ordering of seasonal leisure and tourism services as regional rail services by the federal states or the responsible authorities. On the one hand, these services can contribute to the financing of basic operations and, on the other hand, strengthen acceptance among the population for later reactivation. Initial approaches in federal states such as Baden-Württemberg or Rhineland-Palatinate show that such models are already being tested in practice.

The following questions will therefore be examined as part of the bachelor thesis:

1. What financing options exist in principle for the maintenance and operation of railroad infrastructure in the interim period until reactivation?
2. How high is the concrete financing requirement, either on the basis of standardized cost rates or on the basis of selected case studies?
3. Which federal states or regional rail transport authorities are already relying on tourist regional rail transport services as bridge financing, and what experience has been gained there?
4. To what extent do these models succeed in generating a relevant contribution margin for maintaining the infrastructure?

The aim of the work is to systematically analyze existing approaches, evaluate their effectiveness and derive recommendations for the design of transitional financing in the context of future reactivations.

In March 2025, the results of the current "Mobility in Germany" survey (MiD 2023/24) were published, which provides representative data on the mobility behavior of the German population. The MiD 2023/24 provides interesting comparisons with the 2017 survey, for example, as well as insights into the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and current measures such as the Deutschlandticket. We want to offer them the opportunity to analyze this data as part of their final theses, whereby they can work on the following questions as well as their own proposed topics. It is also possible to combine the MiD data with other panels (e.g. SOEP or SrV).

Question: How do mobility restrictions affect transport behavior and social participation? What different reasons for mobility restrictions (financial, health-related, supply-related) can be identified?

In March 2025, the results of the current "Mobility in Germany" survey (MiD 2023/24) were published, which provides representative data on the mobility behavior of the German population. The MiD 2023/24 provides interesting comparisons with the 2017 survey, for example, as well as insights into the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and current measures such as the Deutschlandticket. We want to offer them the opportunity to analyze this data as part of their final theses, whereby both the following question and their own topic suggestions can be worked on. A combination of MiD data with other panels (e.g. SOEP or SrV) is also possible.

Research question: A behavioral-psychological analysis of the discrepancy between availability of means of transport and actual use as an indicator of preference structures. How can implicit preferences and decision heuristics be derived from usage patterns (frequency, regularity, situation specificity)?

In March 2025, the results of the current "Mobility in Germany" survey (MiD 2023/24) were published, which provides representative data on the mobility behavior of the German population. The MiD 2023/24 provides interesting comparisons with the 2017 survey, for example, as well as insights into the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and current measures such as the Deutschlandticket. We want to offer them the opportunity to analyze this data as part of their final theses, whereby both the following question and their own topic suggestions can be worked on. It is also possible to combine the MiD data with other panels (e.g. SOEP or SrV).

Research question: How do accompanying persons and household constellations influence gender-specific mobility patterns? An analysis of trip chains, accompanying patterns (number/type of accompanying persons) and their connection with trip purposes such as 'bringing/picking up people', taking into account household type and employment status.

In March 2025, the results of the current "Mobility in Germany" survey (MiD 2023/24) were published, which provides representative data on the mobility behavior of the German population. The MiD 2023/24 provides interesting comparisons with the 2017 survey, for example, as well as insights into the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and current measures such as the Deutschlandticket. We want to offer them the opportunity to analyze this data as part of their final theses, whereby they can work on the following questions as well as their own proposed topics. It is also possible to combine the MiD data with other panels (e.g. SOEP or SrV).

Question: What gender-specific differences can be seen in the choice of means of transport, trip lengths and trip purposes, and how do these vary according to household type and employment status? Have these differences changed since the last MiD survey?

In March 2025, the results of the current "Mobility in Germany" survey (MiD 2023/24) were published, which provides representative data on the mobility behavior of the German population. The MiD 2023/24 provides interesting comparisons with the 2017 survey, for example, as well as insights into the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and current measures such as the Deutschlandticket. We want to offer them the opportunity to analyze this data as part of their final theses, whereby they can work on the following questions as well as their own proposed topics. It is also possible to combine the MiD data with other panels (e.g. SOEP or SrV).

Question: How has the mobility behavior of 18-29 year olds changed between the MiD surveys? Can the often-discussed loss of importance of the car be empirically confirmed on the basis of reduced daily use while availability remains the same?

The number of cars in a household is heavily dependent on the size of the household. This household size changes in certain situations (birth of a child, a child moving out, death of a parent requiring care). In this thesis, the existing literature on the relationship between household size and car ownership will be presented. A regression analysis with data from the MiD will be used to quantify the influence of the age of household members. Subsequently, structured interviews will be conducted with exemplary selected households after a change in household size (1-2 households/situation).

In cooperation with the VDV, key decision-makers in the public transport sector are to be interviewed about their choice of transport. The focus is on their everyday lives, their strategies and how they deal with cognitive dissonance.

On the basis of a comprehensibly justified selection of prime-time television programs (such as Tatort etc.), the aim is to examine how the choice of means of transport of the respective protagonists is staged, which characteristics of the means of transport are portrayed and how, and what conclusions can be drawn from this for social narratives.

The large commercial car-sharing providers continue to concentrate on the big cities. Nevertheless, cars are also lent to each other and shared in rural areas. However, these lending processes are not recognizable as such by outsiders and have hardly been researched scientifically. In the context of this work, the example of a rural community will be used to investigate how often, due to which circumstances, according to which decision criteria and for which purposes private cars are currently informally lent between households.

For this purpose a questionnaire is to be developed on the basis of a literature research, which determines the everyday practices and attitudes to informal car sharing with differently familiar groups of persons. With this questionnaire a pretest is to be carried out and evaluated with simple statistical procedures. On the basis of the response behavior, the suitability of the questionnaire for the research objective is to be reflected, including concrete suggestions for changes. The questionnaire can be filled out by the target group in presence or online.

Similar to car sharing, the large commercial ridesharing providers also concentrate on the big cities. Nevertheless, even in rural areas, people are given rides in their private cars or something is brought to them on demand. However, these ridesharing and bring-along practices are not recognizable as such by outsiders and have hardly been researched scientifically. In the context of this work it is to be examined on the example of a rural municipality, how often, due to which circumstances, after which decision criteria and for which purposes at present informally private people take others or bring them certain goods.

For this, a questionnaire is to be developed on the basis of a literature research, which determines the everyday practices and attitudes to the informal taking along and bringing along with differently familiar groups of persons. A pretest is to be conducted with this questionnaire and evaluated with simple statistical methods. On the basis of the response behavior, the suitability of the questionnaire for the research objective is to be reflected, including concrete suggestions for changes. The questionnaire can be filled out by the target group in presence or online.