Hi, I'm Gerhard and since I remember I always wanted to find out "what makes people tick".

This is also my personal motivation for my position at the Austrian Institute of Economic Research where I'm in charge with survey and questionnaire research: how can I motivate businessmen and businesswomen to tell me what they think and plan so that the information they give us can be analyzed scientifically by my colleagues.

For mastering the challenge of persuading people to participate in surveys in a more and more competitive environment I'm increasingly leaning on results from social psychology and behavioral economics. So, even after more than 20 years in the field of survey research there's a lot to learn.

In case you wonder at whom I'm shouting on my portrait photo above: this photo was taken at a concert of my punkband "The Westerwaves" and though my microphone was broken I was perfectly audible in the auditorium ... so, yes, I can make myself heard if necessary. If you're interested in punk music why not have a look at the website of my band and introduce yourself to the groundbreaking concept of European Central Punkt: http://www.westerwaves.com (you can download our record for free there).

And what's even more important than my work and my band? Yeah, right, my family! I have a wonderful son, Erik, who's already a teenager and who's becoming "strong on his wings" as we say in german, meaning he's turning into a man nowadays. And I have a wonderful girlfriend, Ursi, who isn't only a great person, but also helps me structuring my life as I tend to be a bit chaotic every now and then. And of course there are our two cats, Diego and his sister Twiggy.

So, if you happen to have a question on survey research (or punk music), don't hesitate to ask me. I'm happy to help and I'd be pleased to meet you, be it in real life or via the internet.