2.1. Study Design and Procedure

The present study “Examining Physical Activity and Sports Behavior in the Face of COVID-19 Pandemic” (SPOVID) is based on a large-scale, cross-sectional survey design. A sample, representing the German population (>14 years), was questioned using computer-assisted web interviewing (CAWI). The sample represents the German population according to age (M = 48.8; SD = 18.6), gender (49% males, 51% females), educational level (27% lower, 32% medium, and 41% upper secondary degree) and residency in the 16 German Federal States.

The survey was integrated into FORSA Omninet, an existing nation-wide online panel. FORSA is among the leading organizations in public opinion polling in Germany, able to provide timely, reliable, and representative public opinion data. A specific feature of this panel is that panel recruitment takes place solely offline via telephone surveys which make use of random digit dialing procedures. Thus, the online panel also represents those population groups adequately who have a greater distance to internet services. Initial recruitment procedures were in line with all legal requirements as well as the guidelines of the Association of German Market and Social Research Institutes for online surveys and interviews with minors. All participants provided written consent to be contacted via email for online surveys and they took part in each survey voluntarily.

Data collection took place from 16 October to 3 November 2020. Regarding Germany, sports infrastructure closed on 1 November 2020 due to an accelerated spread of the Coronavirus. Hence, this survey took place right before the second nationwide lockdown of sports and leisure facilities. Respondents were invited via email to participate in the survey and were able to answer the survey on their computer, tablet, or mobile phone. Overall, 1508 individuals completed the survey and were included into this analysis. All participants gave informed consent to participate in this study and the study procedures received approval from the ethics commission of the Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-Nuremberg (Reg. 387_20B).