ABSTRACT
On 17 September 2005 the Austrian newspaper Die Presse reported on a strange event in Germany. In front of a Berlin theatre, a three-metre-high ‘depression barometer’ had been installed that informed the German people about its current emotional state. A red liquid in a cylinder made of plastic provided an indicator to show the emotional state of Germans. The average the value indicated for July 2005 was 33.1 points out of a possible 100. If Germans had been in the best possible mood, the depression barometer would have recorded zero. The ‘depression index’ is re-computed every day and based on a standing Internet survey. The aim of those who created this depression barometer is ambitious. They would like to see their barometer gain equal worth to current business cycle indicators and the Geschäftsklimaindex. 2 However, we do not believe that this aim can be reached in the foreseeable future. The explanation for our scepticism about the likely success of opinion research like the depression barometer, psephology, social survey research – or, in short, applied social research – in comparison with business cycle research is the topic of the argument which follows.
