Bielefeld University launches online survey

How do football fans show their love for their club? Researchers at the Institute for In-terdisciplinary Research on Conflict and Violence at Bielefeld University are trying to find that out. The Institute’s new nationwide project called “Bielefeld football fans survey” (BiFans), led by Prof. Dr. Andreas Zick, investigates fan cultures and how fans identify with football clubs from the First to Third German Leagues. For this study, the researchers are looking for football fans who attend stadium games played by teams in these Leagues to complete an online survey. The German Football League and the German Football Association are supporting the project, but it remains scientifically independent. The online survey is now open.

A new initiative by Ralf Jäger, Minister of the Interior of North Rhine Westphalia, has re-sparked public debate on the subject of football fans. Jäger wants to reduce police presence at stadium games played by First through Third German League teams, especially at matches that went off smoothly in the past. While such debates inspire many discussions of football fans and their team identifications, little is known about fan’s motives. The nationwide online survey, called “Bielefeld football fans survey” (BiFans) will help to provide new insights into what drives football fans.

 “Despite numerous changes in the German football fan scene, scientific research on football fans and their identifications are rare,” say research project team members Andreas Grau and Martin Winands. “Football has become modern and diverse. It is normal that this may lead to conflicts. But we know too little about different fan cultures,” explains project leader Professor Dr. Andreas Zick. The researcher team is hoping that their new study will contribute to a fuller, scientifically grounded understanding of fan cultures.
All football fans who attend stadium games of teams from the First through Third German Leagues are invited to take part in the online survey, whether they go to games on a regular basis or more sporadically. The point of the survey is to gather perspectives from many different kinds of fans. This data, in turn, will help researchers to precisely represent reality in the stadium. The online survey is available at: www.unipark.de/uc/bifans.

The Center for Football and Conflict at the Institute for Interdisciplinary Research on Conflict and Violence is responsible for the study. The unique Center for Football and Conflict advises on fan projects and football club research nationwide in order to help prevent and overcome conflict at the football stadium and on the field.

Further information is available online:
www.unipark.de/uc/bifans (Online survey) (in German)
www.uni-bielefeld.de/ikg/fussball.html (Center for Football and Conflict) (in German)

Kontakt:
Prof. Dr. Andreas Zick, Bielefeld University
Institute for Interdisciplinary Research on Conflict and Violence
Telephone: 0521 106-2442
Email: zick@uni-bielefeld.de

Andreas Grau, Bielefeld University
Institute for Interdisciplinary Research on Conflict and Violence
Telephone: 0521 106-3195
Email: andreas.grau@uni-bielefeld.de

Martin Winands, Bielefeld University
Institute for Interdisciplinary Research on Conflict and Violence
Telephone: 0521 106-3105
Email: martin.winands@uni-bielefeld.de