Views of the population on the 5G mobile communications standard and its communicative presentation

The topic of “mobile communications and health” has been attracting increased media and public interest for some time. This interest is primarily focused on the introduction of the new 5G mobile communications standard (hereinafter “5G”). It is therefore of particular interest to classify the importance of mobile communications for society and to survey the level of knowledge and the opinion of the population on 5G.

Objective

The aim of the present project was to survey the views of the population on mobile communications in general and on 5G in particular. For this purpose, on the one hand, a qualitative approach was used to investigate how citizens understand and interpret various aspects of mobile communications and 5G. On the other hand, a survey representative of the German population was conducted.

The results of the project provide the BfS with insights into

• the need for information of the general public
• their level of knowledge and
• their views regarding 5G, or mobile communications, and health.

Moreover, the project examines changing perceptions of mobile communications as a whole and related health aspects over time.

Methodology and implementation

The study included three methodological steps that build upon one another:

Literature search

As part of the literature search, the latest qualitative research on the topic of “mobile communications or electromagnetic fields and health” was compiled, and the available sources relating to the methods applied were evaluated. The insights obtained in the literature search were utilised directly in order to confirm and supplement the sampling criteria for the qualitative survey. Moreover, the results of the literature search provided methodological confirmation of the choice of the slot model.

Qualitative primary data acquisition

Qualitative primary data acquisition was carried out using the slot method, which included two-stage data acquisition in the form of individual interviews followed by mini group discussions. Data acquisition was carried out digitally via video conference in order to satisfy the official rules in place at the time with regard to contact limitation as well as with a view to the principles of ethical research. First, a pre-test was carried out. Minor changes were then made to the topic guides before data were collected. Finally, all interviewers involved were debriefed. Two study directors for the representative population survey of WP 2 as well as the BfS were present at the debriefing.

Quantitative representative population survey

The quantitative study was designed as a computer-assisted telephone interview (CATI), and the survey instrument was developed according to the requirements of a CATI survey. In order to check the comprehensibility of the newly developed survey section on 5G in particular, a pre-test was carried out in advance of the main survey. This involved conducting 30 telephone interviews. For the main survey, 2,000 interviews were carried out with an average survey length of around 22 minutes. Primary surveys can suffer from slight skewing in the representation of sociodemographic distributions over the course of the survey process because of interviews that are not carried out (refusals, the target person cannot be reached during the study period), and the data were therefore subjected to design and redressement weighting after the field phase. The current microcensus was used to obtain reference data on the demographic and sociostructural distribution.

Results

Although the term 5G is quite well known, there is considerable variation in the level of knowledge, risk perception, and perceived benefit as well as in the corresponding need for information. In total, four significant statistically representative segments emerged:

• “Indifferent”
• “Informed and concerned”
• “Moderately interested”
• “Informed but unconcerned”

A comparison over time reveals that concerns around electromagnetic fields in connection with mobile communications are generally abating. With regard to 5G as a new mobile communications standard, however, it is clear that the proportion of people who are worried about health is slightly higher and that over a third of people consider information on the topic to be (very) important.