Methodology for the Study of Socio-Political Attitudes of International Students

Abstract

The article presents the rationale for the classification of international students based on civilizational criteria. The authors identified and characterized eight cultural profiles: two post-Soviet profiles, European, Latin American, African, Arabic, Chinese, and southern.The authors propose to use sociological scales to identify and measure the socio-political attitudes of international students. The authors proposed their options for the following scales: the social distance of E. Bogardus, equal intervals of L. Thurstone, total ratings of R. Likert, the scale of L. Guttman. We also proposed the author’s interpretation of the method of semantic differential of C. Osgood. Each scale allows you to identify and measure attitudes towards Russia. Finally, the authors proposed an integral index of socio-political attitudes. The integral index consists of an average of five of the above indices. The integrated index allows you to minimize research errors and compare the attitudes of students from different cultural profiles.