FSD3288 Social Distinctions in Modern Russia 2015

The dataset is (B) available for research, teaching and study.

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Study description in other languages

in Finnish

Related files

Study title

Social Distinctions in Modern Russia 2015

Dataset ID Number

FSD3288

Persistent identifiers

https://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD3288
https://doi.org/10.60686/t-fsd3288

Data Type

Quantitative

Authors

Nikula, Jouko (University of Helsinki. Aleksanteri Institute)

Abstract

This study is part of a survey series that charts various issues characterising social differentiation in contemporary Russian society. The surveys in the series have been conducted in 1990, 1998, 2006 and 2015, facilitating research on temporal change. Social differentiation in this study was mainly considered in terms of occupation, social mobility, property and income, but attitudes, politics and religion were also examined. The study aimed to survey the respondents' conditions in life together with their values in order to examine the interaction between the two.

Many questions in the survey concerned the respondents' working life and employment history. The respondents' education history was also surveyed. Questions focused on, for example, how the respondents had gotten their current job, what kind of responsibilities, obligations and independence the respondents had in their work, and whether the respondents were in a decision-making position at work. The respondents were asked whether they had been unemployed since 2008 and if yes, how they had managed economically at the time (e.g. whether they received benefits from the employer or state or support from family or friends). Additionally, the respondents were asked if they were self-employed at present and whether they had a second job. The influence of trade unions in the respondents' workplace was also charted.

The survey also included questions on the respondents' family, leisure time, access to medical care, Internet use, political and social activity, and language competence. The most important sources of income for the respondents' family as well as the benefits they received from the state or from employers were examined. Access to medical care was charted with questions on where the respondents and their family received medical care (e.g. local hospitals or private clinics) and whether various factors restricted their access to medical care (e.g. doctor services being too expensive or clinics being too far away). The respondents were also asked about their Internet use, for example, where they usually connected to the Internet and how often they used it for various purposes.

The respondents' political activity was charted with questions on, for example, whether they had signed a petition or taken part in a strike in 2013 or 2014. Questions on social participation focused on whether the respondents took part in the activities of, for example, religious, ecological or youth organisations. The respondents' trust in various institutions (e.g. the President, Government, Russian army, and Russian orthodox church) and satisfaction with the work of several organisations and individuals were examined. Opinions on the significance of different conditions in providing advancement in society were surveyed. The respondents were asked to evaluate the importance of, for example, coming from a rich family, good education, hard work, contacts abroad, and luck. Finally, the respondents' views on the main reasons for poverty (e.g. being unlucky or lacking talent) and threats to Russia (e.g. differences between the rich and poor or between men and women) were surveyed.

Background variables included, among others, the respondent's employment history, status in employment, working hours, education, marital status, number of children, household size, income, owned household durable goods, religious affiliation, nationality, gender, age, and type of municipality of residence.

Keywords

educational background; family environment; family life; interpersonal relations; labour and employment; occupational life; political action; political attitudes; socio-economic status; standard of living; workers participation

Topic Classification

Social sciences (Fields of Science Classification)
Economic systems and development (CESSDA Topic Classification)
Working conditions (CESSDA Topic Classification)
Language and linguistics (CESSDA Topic Classification)
Political behaviour and attitudes (CESSDA Topic Classification)
Political ideology (CESSDA Topic Classification)
Information technology (CESSDA Topic Classification)
Equality, inequality and social exclusion (CESSDA Topic Classification)
Family life and marriage (CESSDA Topic Classification)
Occupational health (CESSDA Topic Classification)
Religion and values (CESSDA Topic Classification)
Housing (CESSDA Topic Classification)

Series

Social Distinctions in Modern Russia

Distributor

Finnish Social Science Data Archive

Access

The dataset is (B) available for research, teaching and study.

Data Collector

Chernysh, Mikhail (Russian Academy of Sciences. Institute of Sociology)

Time Period Covered

2015

Collection Dates

2015-03 – 2015-08

Nation

Russia

Geographical Coverage

Russia

Analysis/Observation Unit Type

Individual

Universe

Russian citizens aged over 18 (excluding sparsely populated areas and employees in certain institutions (the armed forces, prisons, highest positions in administration, and hospitals))

Time Method

Longitudinal: Trend/Repeated cross-section

Sampling Procedure

Probability: Stratified: Proportional

Probability: Simple random

The sample size was approximately 3,000 respondents. The sample was formed based on the following principles: the sample must allow for a reasonable equilibrium between the costs of the study, the precision of the data and the design of the sample should be clear enough to allow for easy replication in the future, and the sample must be well documented.

The above principles set some constraints on the sample design: sparsely populated areas or areas difficult to access were not included in the sample. Additionally, certain institutions (the armed forces, prisons, highest positions in administration, and hospitals) were not included. The exclusion of this part of the population from the sample led to a smaller proportion of males in the sample, because the majority of employees (over 80%) in these institutions are male.

The interviews were organised through administrative districts (rayons). The population of rayons ranges from 50,000 to 300,000, and there are close to 2,800 rayons in Russia. Rayons can be divided into three types: (1) big city rayons, (2) town and village rayons, (3) urban rayons. The given sample design was based on the data of the 1989 All-Russia Census conducted by the State Committee of Statistics, and the MicroCensus of 1994. It was possible to select the respondents randomly based on electoral areas, for which very in-depth information of the population is available. Big cities (such as Moscow and St. Petersburg) were analysed separately in the sample. In big cities, the sample was generated by a random choice of household telephone numbers. For more information on the formation on the sample, see the background file.

Collection Mode

Face-to-face interview: Paper-and-pencil (PAPI)

Research Instrument

Structured questionnaire

Data File Language

Downloaded data package may contain different language versions of the same files.

The data files of this dataset are available in the following languages: English.

FSD translates quantitative data into English on request, free of charge. More information on ordering data translation.

Number of Cases and Variables

380 variables and 5335 cases.

Data Version

1.0

Completeness of Data and Restrictions

To prevent identification of respondents, the respondent's exact place of residence was removed from the data and the oldest respondents were combined into one category in variables q111 and bv1. Uncommon religions were combined into the category "Other" in variable q110.

Some of the classifications and variables created by the researcher were removed. Empty or ambiguous variables were removed from the data. If an open-ended variable was also available as a coded version, the original open-ended variable was removed from the data. Variable (q97_11) is included in the data but not in the questionnaire. The labels in the data for question group (q71_1-q71_13) are not identical with the labels included in the questionnaire. Finally, the starting and ending times of the interviews were removed from the data.

Weighting

There are no weight variables in the data.

Citation Requirement

The data and its creators shall be cited in all publications and presentations for which the data have been used. The bibliographic citation may be in the form suggested by the archive or in the form required by the publication.

Bibliographical Citation

Nikula, Jouko (University of Helsinki): Social Distinctions in Modern Russia 2015 [dataset]. Version 1.0 (2020-07-10). Finnish Social Science Data Archive [distributor]. https://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD3288

Deposit Requirement

Notify FSD of all publications where you have used the data by sending the citation information to user-services.fsd@tuni.fi.

Disclaimer

The original data creators and the archive bear no responsibility for any results or interpretations arising from the reuse of the data.

Related Materials

Birjukov, Dmitry & Nikula, Jouko (1999). Social distinctions in modern Russia (SDMR). Sample report 1998

Related Publications