Center For Sociological Research Research Articles

Аналитический обзор социологического исследования «Студенческий спорт: возможности и перспективы»

The article presents results of a sociological study “Student sports: opportunities and prospects”, which was conducted by the Center for Sociological Research “14–35” in 2022. Total number of respondents was 7,647 respondents. The sample was divided into 3 categories, where respondents were offered to answer questions on various aspects of the student sports development. Based on the results of the study, problems were identified and recommendations were proposed regarding financial support, information coverage, gender balance, as well as other strategic objectives for the development of student sports.

Contribution to the evaluation of the impact of the Empowerment and Communication Workshops

The article addresses the authors' conception about impact assessment as a complex process. The main evaluation results are reported in the 2018 and 2022 editions of the Empowerment and Communication Workshops (TEC in Spanish) carried out by the Human Change Group (GCH in Spanish) of the Center for Psychological and Sociological Research (CIPS in Spanish). Its objective is to know to what extent it contributes to evaluating the impact of the TEC (an experiential training action) from making people aware, in the short term, of the importance of empowerment. For this, the results of the empowerment survey were analyzed, an instrument used for the first time in 2018 and with adaptations in the 2022 edition. Favorable changes were observed in the majority of the people surveyed in relation to the elements of the inquiry, which in turn, they were linked to descriptors of empowerment previously defined and enriched throughout the process. In the final reflections, the importance of raising awareness achieved in pursuit of more lasting transformations in individuals and organizations is highlighted. The need to deepen the results obtained is advocated and the contributions of the application and analysis of these surveys and of the experience as a whole are recognized, for the evaluation of TEC impact.

The Scandalous Electoral Victory of the Governing Party United Russia

With unprecedented restrictions on voting rights and electoral manipulations, the governing party United Russia succeeded in gaining a comfortable majority in the Russian Duma elections despite growing dissatisfaction in the country. The secret winner of the election is the Communist Party, which unlike the other opposition parties increased its share of votes. During the parliamentary elections in Russia between 17 and 19 September 2021, the governing party United Russia officially won 324 of the 450 seats in the State Duma with 49.82 percent of votes. The results of the election again give the governing party a two-thirds majority, enabling it to amend the Constitution. However, its results are worse than in 2016, when United Russia received 54.2 percent of votes and 343 seats. At the same time, the approval rates for the party remained at a stable low of 27 to 28 percent during the entire electoral campaign according to the official sociological Russian Public Opinion Research Center.

What do people look for in a potential partner after the age of 50?

The intimate relationships of the older population have seldom been analyzed from a sociological perspective. This study provides novel information on what is desired in a partner after the age of 50 in Spain. The academic debate on this topic has been limited. Therefore, the contribution of this article is mainly an exploration of the empirical data. The database used is the Spanish General Social Survey prepared by the Sociological Research Center. The results indicate that personality is the most valued factor, followed by values and physical appearance. The variables with the greatest explanatory power in the estimated multinomial logit model are age, sex, level of education and cohabitation status. Educational homogamy appears among those with higher levels of education, with men more interested in physical appearance and women more interested in values and education. These last two characteristics are also more highly valued among those who are older.

Respect for freedom of (religious) conscience in the context of diversity – legal foundations and sociopolitical dilemmas

Between 2020-2022, the Sociological Research Center LARICS – ISPRI has managed an already extensive project of sociological investigation of religiosity, and attitudes and opinions related to or based on religion, specific to the Romanian public. All this has triggered a consistent scientific and public debate. The article below is an attempt to respond to a number of elements of this debate. After all, there is a methodological problem at stake, which is significant since the design of the data collection tool in the case of such a theme. Axiological neutrality is hard to define when we study religious beliefs, as long as being religious and refusing religiosity are both value options, and both sociologically legitimate today. The following pages represent a conceptual navigation, from legal to sociological, among the nuances of complex terms, which you can find in the list of key concepts presented immediately below.

Positioning analysis of Spanish politicians through their Twitter posts versus Spanish public opinion

The evolution of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) has changed the way we communicate. Access to the Internet and social networks has even changed the way we organise ourselves socially. Despite advances in this field, research on the use of social networks in political discourse and citizens’ perceptions of public policy remains scarce. So, the empirical study of politicians’ discourse on social networks in relation to citizens’ perception of public and fiscal policies according to their political affinity is of particular interest. The aim of the research is, therefore, to analyse positioning, from a dual perspective. Firstly, the study analyses the positioning in the discourse of the communication campaigns posted on social networks of Spain’s most prominent politicians. And secondly, it evaluates whether this positioning is reflected in citizens’ opinions about the public and fiscal policies being implemented in Spain. To this end, a qualitative semantic analysis and a positioning map is performed on a total of 1553 tweets published between 1 June and 31 July 2021 by the leaders of the top ten Spanish political parties. In parallel, a cross-sectional quantitative analysis is carried out, also through positioning analysis, based on the database of the Public Opinion and Fiscal Policy Survey of July 2021 by the Sociological Research Centre (CIS), whose sample is 2849 Spanish citizens. The results show a significant difference in the discourse of political leaders’ social network posts—which is more pronounced between right-wing and left-wing parties—and only some differences in citizens’ perception of public policies according to their political affinity. This work contributes to identifying the differentiation and positioning of the main parties and helps to guide the discourse of their posts.

ПРАКТИКИ ПРОФОРИЕНТАЦИИ В ОБРАЗОВАТЕЛЬНЫХ ОРГАНИЗАЦИЯХ ЛЕНИНГРАДСКОЙ ОБЛАСТИ

The article is devoted to the analysis of career guidance practices implemented in educational institutions of the Leningrad region. It presents some results of an empirical study carried out in schools of the Leningrad Region by the Center for Sociological Research of the North-Western Institute of Management of the Russian Academy of National Economy and Public Administration under the President of the Russian Federation in 2022 Region are presented. On the basis of the data obtained, the features of career guid-ance activities in educational organizations were identified, the effectiveness and efficiency of established practices were analyzed.

Partisanship, Ideology, and Selective Exposure: A Longitudinal Analysis of Media Consumption in Spain (2008–2019)

The literature on selective exposure has shown that ideology and voting govern media consumption decisions, but longitudinal studies are still scarce. To fill this gap, this work analyzes: (a) whether selective exposure guided by ideology and partisanship to three media types (television, radio, and newspapers) is a stable phenomenon in Spain (2008–2019) as expected from a polarized pluralistic media system; and (b) which variable has the strongest effects on news choices (ideology or partisanship). Multinomial logistic regressions are carried out using data sources from six post-electoral surveys conducted by the Center for Sociological Research in the last six Spanish general elections (2008–2019). As dependent variables, we consider the four most important preferred media outlets for each media type, and as independent variables, we include the vote in general election and ideology. Moreover, interest in politics, gender, age, education, and social class are included as control variables, too. Findings show strong evidence that selective exposure based on ideology and partisanship is a well-established phenomenon in Spain for the three media types during the 11 years. Results also show that the effect of partisanship is always stronger than that of ideology for the three news media types. We conclude that selective exposure in Spain needs therefore to be conceived as partisan selective exposure.

Fears during the Covid-19 pandemics and their influence on physical health: A cross-sectional study on the general population in Spain

Background/objectiveThis study examines the paths through which Covid-19 can negatively impact health and lead to somatic symptoms. Based on the dual process theory, fears can impair health in two ways: through psychological distress, which is an automatic reaction to fear, and through a more conscious and deliberative rumination process. MethodData from a representative sample of the Spanish population (N = 3083 subjects,18 years or older) were obtained from a Survey by the Sociological Research Center (CIS). The dual path model was tested, and a longer sequence was included where the two mediators act sequentially to produce an impact on somatic symptoms. ResultsThe results showed how Covid-19 fears translate into somatic problems. Beyond the direct relations, and after comparing with other possible alternative models, our findings support a process where rumination mediates between fears and psychological distress, and psychological distress in turn leads to somatic problems. ConclusionsThis process reveals a plausible mechanism that explains the somatization of health problems during the Covid-19 pandemic, and it provides theoretical and practical inputs to better understand the role of fears in health in crisis contexts.

ОСОБЕННОСТИ БЕЛОРУССКОГО ПРОТЕСТА 2017-2020 ГОДОВ (ПОЛИТИКО-СОЦИОЛОГИЧЕСКИЙ АСПЕКТ)

The purpose of the article is to analyze the political split of the population of the Republic of Belarus, the related problems, and the prospects for overcoming the electoral crisis. The relevance of this problem is due to the rapid socio-political changes in the public opinion between 2017 and 2020. Results of the secondary analysis of empirical data collected by the Information and Analytical Center under the Presidential Administration of the Republic of Belarus, the Institute of Sociology of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, the Center for Sociological and Political Research of Belarusian State University, and the Sociological Laboratory of Sukhoi State Technical University of Gomel were used for the monitoring and exploration of the political intention behind the population’s participation in their country’s political life between 2017 and 2020, as well as the attitude of the population to the most important political events during these period. The study reported rapid citizens’ politicization, revealed the applicability of the rational choice theory to the political transformation of Belarusian society, and examined the trends of political behavior in advising the government’s response to direct actions.

ДОПРИНОС ЦЕНТРА ЗА СОЦИОЛОШКА ИСТРАЖИВАЊА ФИЛОЗОФСКОГ ФАКУЛТЕТА У НИШУ РАЗВОЈУ НАУКЕ, ОБРАЗОВАЊА, МЕЂУНАРОДНЕ И МЕЂУУНИВЕРЗИТЕТСКЕ САРАДЊЕ

The paper presents the institutional development of the Center for Sociological Research from its establishment until today and an overview of implemented scientific research projects, national and international scientific conferences and round tables, that have contributed to the development of science, education, international and interuniversity cooperation in Serbia and the Balkan, which is part of the scientific research and cultural missions of the Center for Sociological Research. The paper is based on the analysis of archival and bibliographic material, which testifies to the extremely rich and multidisciplinary scientific production and the engagement of researchers in recognizing, perceiving and studying current social problems. Considering the achieved results, the Center is internationally recognizable as the initiator and backbone not only of research activities that contribute to the development of science and education, but also social engagement to achieve international and interethnic cooperation in the spirit of peace culture. In accordance with its recognizable contribution in the field of scientific research, educational and socio-cultural activities, the Center for Sociological Research has highly affirmed itself in the scientific, educational and cultural public of Serbia and the region.

The Security Versus Freedom Dilemma. An Empirical Study of the Spanish Case.

One of the classic debates in public opinion, now more prevalent due to the COVID-19 pandemic, has been the dilemma between freedom and security. Following a theoretical review, this article sets out to establish the sociodemographic profiles and those variables that can correlate and/or explain the inclination towards one or the other, that is, the dependent variable “freedom-security,” such as victimization or the assessment of surveillance. The analysis is based on the results of a survey prepared by the Center for Sociological Research (CIS, in Spanish) and administered to a sample of 5,920 Spaniards. The conclusions indicate that the majority inclination is for security, especially among older men, with elementary education attainment level and right-wing ideology. Furthermore, although victimization correlated with the dependent variable, the perception of being a possible victim led to a preference for safety rather than the actual experience of having been a victim. Finally, the positive assessment of surveillance through technologies such as video cameras explains or is strongly associated with security, making it a promising line of research for future work and a means to improve the understanding of the analyzed dilemma.

Evaluation of Spanish Health System during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Accountability and Wellbeing Results

The COVID-19 pandemic poses a challenge for health systems. For this reason, it is essential to evaluate the management of health systems in the face of the pandemic, identifying the factors that may contribute to its failure or success. This management is more difficult in decentralized countries, since in them, health competencies are distributed among different levels of government. This is the case in Spain, one of the countries most affected by the pandemic. Therefore, the aim of this article is to evaluate how the Spanish health system has managed the COVID-19 pandemic. Four factors related to health management are analyzed: transparency, communication, reputation and well-being generated. For this purpose, a quantitative analysis is used with the contrast of secondary sources, such as the Merco rankings or survey data from the Centro de Investigaciones Sociológicas (Sociological Research Center). The results show that although the flow of communication about the health system increases considerably, such information comes mainly from the media, with a deficit in the transparency of health management. Likewise, although the reputation of the health system increases at the beginning of the pandemic, as it progresses, there is a deterioration in citizen satisfaction with the healthcare management and the services provided, as well as in the well-being generated by them. This study may have implications for decision making by public authorities regarding the different factors of health management.

Sociology at the Belarusian State University: Origins and Philosophy of Development

The article examines the origins and philosophy of the development of sociology at the Belarusian State University (BSU), which has accumulated the wisdom and socio-political thought of Belarusian thinkers of the past, absorbed the research experience of previous generations. Since the beginning of the work of BSU in 1921, the Department of Sociology and Primitive Culture was created (S.Z. Katzenbogen). The course in genetic sociology, which was taught by Professor S.Z. Katzenbogen, to a greater extent resembled a kind of fusion of philosophical and sociological thought and primitive history, was unlike modern ideas about sociological science. This period did not last long. Soon repressions broke out, the Great Patriotic War, and the post-war reconstruction took place, which significantly delayed the development of sociology as an independent science. All this time, sociology functioned in the bosom of philosophical knowledge, where the convergence of meanings and meaningful mutual enrichment took place, the difficult process of accumulating theoretical, methodological and practical experience was going on. The rticle highlights the key role of BSU in institutionalization, development of sociological science and education in Belarus. The leader of the revival of sociology at BSU was Professor G.P. Davidyuk (1923–2020). Following the example of the Belarusian State University, in the 1960s–1970s, sociological structures were created in all the leading universities of the republic; the work of the applied sociology sector of BSU contributed to the development of factory sociology. In 1989, a sociological department and a department of sociology were opened, at the end of 1996, the Center for Sociological and Political Research was established. Since 1997, the scientific and theoretical Journal of BSU. Sociology, and in 2000 the Belarusian Sociological Society began to function, a branch of the Department of Sociology of the Belarusian State University was opened at the Institute of Sociology of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus. The traditions of previous generations, laid down by the leaders of the Belarusian sociological school, are gradually being transformed, taking into account the development of scientific, technological and informational and communicative progress, revising curricula and training programs for modern sociologists.

Национальный проект «Демография» и перспективы демографического роста глазами экспертного сообщества

The processes of strengthening the country’s security are inextricably linked with ensuring demographic security, preserving and supporting the population, improving the quality of life, and this direction of state and civil efforts is one of the most important for modern Russia. Within the framework of the concept of overcoming the most pressing demographic threats – depopulation and unregulated migration processes, in addition to the pro-natalist policy of the state, the creation of economic conditions for improving the quality of life in general, the most popular and at the same time controversial tool for solving demographic problems is the migration policy aimed at attracting migrants from foreign countries. countries that must solve both the demographic and economic problems of the state. The article presents the results of expert polls of sociological research in 2019 and 2021. “Monitoring of public opinion of the population regarding current socio-cultural threats”, “Image of the future of Russia” conducted by the Center for Sociological Research of the Russian State Humanitarian University using a similar method, which analyzes the public opinion of experts on trends in Russia’s demographic development and possible sociocultural threats associated with them

Does Entrepreneurship Make You Happier? A Comparative Analysis between Entrepreneurs and Wage Earners

Currently, age is characterized by implementing business management models based on precarious work and a massive reduction in jobs. This article aims to analyze the degree of happiness perceived in Spanish entrepreneurs, as opposed to that perceived by the employees, and if that happiness is associated with certain sociodemographic variables (such as gender, level of studies, and income level). For this purpose, a brief literature review of the economy of happiness is carried out, considering studies regarding the happiness–entrepreneurship connection over the past few years. With data provided by the Sociological Research Center (C.I.S.) barometer survey, we work in two phases: (1) descriptive and inferential on possible associations between the variables, and (2) the calculation of probabilities through logistic regression. The main result shows that the entrepreneurs with employees are happiest. When the null hypothesis is rejected, the categories that seem to show the most happiness are those with higher education and those in the highest income ranges analyzed. Among the main limitations in this work is the scarcity of bibliographic production on the subject matter of this paper. This paper helps to cover part of this gap.

Sexual Division in Parenting: A Normative Context That Hinders Co-Responsibility

Recent decades have seen an increase in women’s employment rates and an expansion of egalitarian values. Previous studies document the so-called “motherhood penalty,” which makes women’s employment more difficult. Demands for greater shared child-rearing between parents are hindered by a normative climate that supports differentiated gender roles in the family. Using data from the Center for Sociological Research [Centro de Investigaciones Sociológicas] (2018), this study shows that the Spanish population perceives that differentiated social images of motherhood and fatherhood still persist. The “sexual division in parenting” index is proposed and the profile of the individuals who most perceive this sexual division is analyzed. The results show that women and younger people are the most aware of this social normativity that unequally distributes child care, making co-responsibility difficult. The political implications of these results are discussed.

Assessment of Online Environment and Digital Footprint Functions in Higher Education Analytics

The article is devoted to learning analytics problems associated with the digital culture development in the university educational space and with the student activity control in the vocational training process. The empirical basis of the study was a series of surveys conducted by the Center for Sociological Research of the Peter the Great Polytechnic University in 2018–2020. To systematize the information on the traces of students’ activity in the digital space, the method of constructing a personal mental map, reflecting the cognitive characteristics of the student’s interactive actions in the network, was used. Because of the analysis of the mental maps, the general structure of the personal digital footprint was identified, which is significant for analytics of the student’s academic history and self-assessment of his activities in professional development. In conclusion, the constructive role of digital technology in assessing and modeling the educational process is emphasized. The study of students’ digital footprints on the university platforms, supplemented by the study of their activity in social networks, allows the development of educational modeling aimed at creating a more adequate set of competencies and soft skills of the graduate.

Факторы формирования образовательной миграции из Таджикистана в вузы России: на примере Северного (Арктического) федерального университета

Analyzed is the problem of growing importance of international educational migration, associated not only with the increase in the number of international students, but also with the growing political, economic and cultural influence of educational migration as process. One of the most perspective countries in the sphere of Russian higher education export is the Republic of Tajikistan. The aim of the article is to present the results of study of the factors, that have influenced on student migration from Tajikistan to Russia. The author conducts a survey based on an analysis of key statistical data from the Center for Sociological Research of the Ministry of Education and Science of Russia, UNESCO Institute for Statistics, as well as a questionnaire survey, semi-formalized interviews with NArFU students from Tajikistan, as well as participant observation in the framework of professional activities. Within the study information channels about higher education opportunities were analyzed, alternative educational destinations were identified, and an analysis of the factors of student migration to Russia and Russian university (NArFU) was carried out. According to the results of the study, it is found that different factors form student migration in general: the initial interest to study abroad, approved by the family in case of positive experience of relatives, studying abroad, while key factors for studying in Russia include possibility of getting quality education with scholarship support. The decision-making process of choosing the university is influenced by the demand for an educational program, career prospects, university ranking, however, the combination of the factors can vary significantly. The authors consider the importance of the ethno-cultural specifics of the region in analyzing the flows of student migration, as well as during the university activities of developing the export of higher educational programs to Tajikistan.

Transformación, fragmentación y continuidad del sistema de partidos de Castilla-La Mancha (2003-2015)

La literatura académica española ha prestado poco interés por el sistema de partidos en Castilla-La Mancha, al contrario que los del resto de Comunidades Autónomas, especialmente de aquellas consideradas históricas. En el presente texto se pretende analizar la evolución del comportamiento electoral de los ciudadanos de la región para observar la transformación del sistema de partidos, desde la hegemonía electoral del PSOE (2003 y 2007) hasta la llegada de la alternancia política (2011) y la vuelta al poder de los socialistas (2015). En base a las encuestas poselectorales del Centro de Investigaciones Sociológicas (CIS) de las elecciones autonómicas, se ha trazado algunas de las explicaciones para entender los alineamientos partidistas de la región. Los resultados indican que el éxito del PSOE está relacionado tanto con una mayor abstención diferencial de los votantes del PP así como por su voto dual en las elecciones autonómicas debido a una buena valoración del candidato socialista. Este modelo se va debilitando hasta que en 2011 la gestión de la crisis económica acaba con el PSOE en la oposición. Además, la menor fragmentación electoral en la región en las elecciones de 2015 parece estar influido, más que por cuestiones ideológicas, por el rechazo de los liderazgos de los dos candidatos de los partidos sistémicos.