Social Distinctions in Modern Russia 1998

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. Most questions in the survey concerned the respondents' working life. Questions focused on, for example, whether the respondents worked for the public or private sector, what kind of company they worked for, what kind of independency and responsibilities the respondents had in their work, whether the respondents were in a decision-making position at work, and what kind of equipment they used regularly in their work. Additionally, the respondents were asked whether they had been unemployed, laid off or part-time employed in the past 12 months 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). The survey also included questions on the respondents' family, media use, religiosity, owned property, and political activity. 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. The newspapers and magazines the respondents read most frequently were charted, and the respondents were asked whether they owned various property and items, such as their own house or car, a washing machine, pager/mobile phone, and computer. The respondents' political activity was charted with questions on, for example, whether they had signed a petition or taken part in a strike in 1997 or 1998. Finally, the respondents' trust in various institutions (e.g. the President, Government, Russian army, and Russian orthodox church) and 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 both as it was ten years ago and at the time of the survey. Background variables included the sector in which the respondent worked in, the respondent's employment history, status in employment, working hours, industry of employment, education, marital status, number of children, household size, income, owned household durable goods, religious affiliation, nationality, gender, age, and type of municipality of residence.