Research Projects
The Laboratory for Comparative Social Research (LCSR) focuses on the analysis of norms and values, explanation of the dynamics of value changes that took place in Russia and other former Soviet countries in the last 30 years, correlation of these dynamics with political and economic changes in the global context, identification of distinctive characteristics of Russian society in comparison with more than 90 countries, interregional comparative research within Russia, and the clarification of correlation between cultural and historical characteristics and economic development of the regions.
The strategic goals of the Laboratory are the following:
- human values and cultural change;
- subjective well-being and happiness;
- trust, social capital and corruption;
- gender (in)equality and gender attitudes;
- tolerance, nationalism and migration;
- political regimes;
- religion and secularization;
- cross-cultural data collection and analysis;
- and other research fields.
The Laboratory invites the participation of young researchers, postgraduate students, and MA and BA students in the social sciences. We hold regular competitions concerning preparation of publications in peer-reviewed journals. Also, we conduct open methodological seminars on an ongoing basis. There are about 50 research projects supported by the Laboratory to be published in international academic journals. Professor Ronald Inglehart and other key members оf the Laboratory supervise these projects.
Ongoing Projects
Values, Quality of Life and Social Capital in Regional Perspective
Project leads: E. D. Ponarin, A. M. Almakaeva.
Project executers: E. D. Ponarin, A. M. Almakaeva, N. Soboleva, A. M. Klimova, A. M. Nemirovskaya, A. V. Nestina, E. Nastina. V., Nastina E. A., Minkov M. A., Musaev A. У.
Russia is a highly heterogeneous country uniting territories with diverse economic and political situation, demographic composition, climate and history. These factors can contribute to significant differentiation of the country in terms of its culture and subjective well-being. Our project aims to test this claim in a regional perspective. The results and recommendations based on them can be used both for social forecasting and for evaluation of the social policy measures aimed at promoting quality of life and reducing the adverse consequences of regional modernization differences.
The project is based on data collected in 2019-2020 within the framework of the Russian Science Foundation grant “Value transformation and subjective quality of life: a regional perspective” (No. 18-18-00341). The sample size is 18,768 respondents in 60 regions of Russia (500 questionnaires each in Moscow and St. Petersburg, 300 in other regions). The regions were selected using a targeted typology method, taking into account the basic parameters of socio-economic development. The general population was the current population living in the region as their main place of residence for 3 months before the start of the survey, aged 18 years and older and with access to mobile or landline phones. The survey was conducted using a computer-assisted telephone interview (CATI) method. As a result, data was obtained that was representative of 60 regions of Russia and very closely reflected the population structure of each region in terms of basic socio-demographic and geographical parameters.
Project Areas
Subjective well-being and national pride of Russians: analysis of causal relationships
Cross-country comparison of online and offline survey results
Project executers: Korsunova V. I., Sokolov B. O.
Online surveys offer many advantages over traditional interviews, as they are low-cost, less time-consuming, and reduce interviewer effects. The latter feature is especially important since it makes online surveys an effective tool for gathering information about sensitive topics, as it results in lower rates of non-response as well as socially approved responses. At the same time, online samples are typically non-random and non-representative, and therefore may provide biased estimates of various quantities of interest. The aim of this project is to compare the data quality of offline and online surveys in nine countries. For this purpose, the materials of the international online survey "Values in Crisis" are compared with the results of the seventh wave of the World Values Survey in terms of socio-demographic profiles and value attitudes of respondents (using emancipatory values as an example). The project evaluates measurement invariance of values between the surveys and the representativeness of the surveys in terms of socio-demographic indicators, examines response styles, compares the mean values of values, as well as nomological networks.
The study is being carried out within the research project 1.1.5 Dynamics of Values and Attitudes during the COVID-19 Pandemic in a Comparative Perspective The world-class Human Capital Multidisciplinary Research Center, National Research University Higher School of Economics.
Project Results
Dynamics of support for emancipatory values in Russia during the COVID-19 pandemic
Project executers: Korsunova V. I., Sokolov B. O.
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused large-scale social changes and a decline in living standards all over the world. The social and economic hardships caused by the pandemic have affected, among other things, the life priorities and value orientations of citizens. However, the effects of the coronavirus crisis on postmaterialist/emancipative values are still understudied. According to Inglehart-Welzel modernisation theory, this type of value attitudes is expected to be stable throughout an individual's life; however, the mass diffusion of emancipatory orientations in society requires a continuous increase in wealth and existential security, a process that is reversed during the pandemic. The main purpose of the project is to analyse societal and individual trends in emancipative values in Russia during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the relationships between values and various personal pandemic experiences.
The project uses the results of the three waves of the international online panel study "Values in Crisis"; data are collected between 2020 and 2021. The analyses are conducted using mean comparison (t-test), regression analysis, intergroup confirmatory factor analysis, latent growth models.
The study is being conducted within the research project 1.1.5 Dynamics of Values and Attitudes during the COVID-19 Pandemic in a Comparative Perspective The world-class Human Capital Multidisciplinary Research Center, National Research University Higher School of Economics.
Project Results
A study of respondents' cognitive load during sociological surveys completion
Project manager: Devyatko I. F.
Project executers: Klimova A. M.
In recent years, research aimed at assessing and improving the quality of survey data has increasingly focused on issues related to the cognitive load of respondents, taking into account different types of questions, data collection methods, response formats, etc. Respondents’ fatigue is indicated as one of the factors that increase both measurement error and non-response error. In this context, the importance of developing a robust quantitative multimodal assessment of the cognitive load of respondents and analyzing its impact on the quality of survey data is increasing. With the aid of contemporary oculography devices (eye-tracking and pupillometry), there have been an increasing number of measurement opportunities in recent years. These devices are low-visible, do not interfere with the natural flow of the activities of the interviewers and respondents, and enable precise temporal linking of the dynamics of measured indicators (primarily, pupil size and visual fixations) to a particular question format, filling-in method and phase, presence of external influence localised in time, etc. Oculography is a relatively new but quickly expanding area of research in the field of sociological methodology that allows to advance the technology of preliminary testing of survey instruments. It can be used both alone and in conjunction with more sophisticated techniques of multimodal measurement of a respondent's cognitive load.
To measure cognitive load, the project uses an oculographic device—Pupil Labs glasses in a monocular version sufficient for pupillometry tasks—that allows operation without restrictions on the subject's head movements, gives high measurement accuracy with minimal calibration, comes with open source software, and allows both viewing a chart showing pupil size on the recording and exporting data on size dynamics.
The study is performed within the framework of the Russian Science Foundation grant No. "Eye-tracking data and pupillometry in multimodal measurement of the respondents' cognitive load"
Interim Results
The impact of the dissimilarity of an individual's value attitudes to the prevailing national indicators in a country on subjective well-being: the moderating effect of the political system
Project executers: E. D.Ponarin, Y. A. Afanasyeva.
While many cross-country studies show that people find it easier to live in an environment whose values are similar to their own, our study of 86 countries shows that the relationship between subjective well-being and (mis)match between one's own values and those prevailing in the country varies dramatically across countries. We show that the nature of this relationship is conditioned by the political regime of the country.
This relationship is weaker in democracies but stronger in autocracies, where the happier people are those who adhere to survival values more strictly than the rest of the population.
The project uses multi-level modelling.
Interim Results
Family structure in Europe: predictors, consequences and dynamics
Project executers: Kravtsova M. В.
This project is grounded in the theory that people's values and social structures have been largely predetermined over centuries by the pre-industrial family structure. Family structure variations across societies therefore play a major role in explaining why certain nations are currently wealthier and more successful than others in terms of socioeconomic development. In this project, we are investigating what factors influenced the pre-industrial family structure in Western and Eastern Europe, whether family structure changed during industrialisation, and the socio-economic and cultural consequences of differences in pre-industrial family structure.
This study is relevant primarily from an academic point of view, as it contributes to a deeper understanding of the evolutionary processes of societies. By utilising historical experience as a model, the study of family structure and how it changes over time also allows for the prediction of future values, institutions, and economic development paths for various nations. In addition, this knowledge has practical applications for the development of sensible family policies. Based on historical experience, practical measures should be directed towards promoting the aspects of family structure that have facilitated societies' social and economic well-being.
For the purpose of this study, a unique database was created to reflect the historical family structure at the end of the 19th century and the modern family structure in 2010-2011. It is based on representative census data from a number of countries in Western and Eastern Europe and measures family structure at the most disaggregated (regional) level. The database includes a number of historical socio-economic indicators as well as a wide range of geoclimatic variables. The study involves quantitative data analysis through the estimation of econometric models.
Results
1.1.5 Research project "Dynamics of Values and Attitudes during the COVID-19 Pandemic in a Comparative Perspective"
Project manager: Sokolov B. O.
Project executers: V. I. Korsunova, N. E. Soboleva, A. N. Scherbak.
The fundamental values that set normative patterns for societies are changing slowly but steadily: the richer and safer modern nations are, the more tolerant and liberal the views and attitudes of their citizens become. Moreover, it is believed that individual values are developed in the process of socialisation in the early period of life of individuals and then remain relatively stable over the lifecourse. However, it is still not clear to what extent values are resistant to negative economic and social changes that transform everyday life.
The research project The Dynamics of Values and Attitudes during the COVID-19 Pandemic in a Comparative Perspective studies how external shocks (e.g., the COVID-19 pandemic), causing short-term but severe deterioration in the quality of life, affect the stability of values and attitudes. Do they remain at the same level, or is there a rollback to more conservative views? And if so, how long-lasting are the consequences?
The project aims to study the political and social effects of the current COVID-19 pandemic, with a special focus on the impact of the pandemic on the fundamental values of the Russian population in comparison with similar effects observed in other European and Asian countries.
Project Objective:
Studying the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the accompanying deterioration of economic conditions on the fundamental values of people in a comparative perspective.
Examining the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic experience on people's attitudes to government and the level of institutional trust
Exploring how the COVID-19 pandemic affected subjective well-being of Russians
Examining how the direct personal experience of encountering coronavirus influences individual values and attitudes to government.
Link to project card: https://ncmu.hse.ru/en/programme-1-1-5/.
Results of Research Activities
Key Results 2020
Key Results 2021
Key Results 2022
Key Results 2023
Regional and Ethnic Identities as a Factor of Grassroots Politicization and Formation of Environmental Culture: Cross-Regional Analysis of Value Attitudes and Behavior Strategies
Project managers: A. N. Scherbak.
Project executers: Nemirovskaya A. V., Tkacheva T. Yu.
This project is devoted to the study of the influence of regional and ethnic identity on environmental culture, which is expressed in the grassroots politicisation of environmental problems in many regions of Russia. Environmental culture is understood as a set of environmental attitudes and patterns of environmental behaviour.
Existing literature suggests a positive relationship between post-materialist values and active pro-environmental behaviour. However, the opposite is often observed in Russia: the most intense environmental protests take place in regions with a rather low level of post-materialist values, which is confirmed by recent studies: protesting eco-activists position themselves as defenders of traditional values. How to explain this discrepancy between theoretical expectations and practice? In answering this question, we turn to regional identity, which is associated with the type of environmental agenda that can be divided into “traditional” and “modernisation”. The project aims to resolve this paradox: how can we explain the growth of environmental protests under the slogans of traditionalist, conservative ideas if these attitudes are usually linked to conformity and obedience to the authorities?
The project is headed in multiple directions. First, utilising both quantitative and qualitative data, the current patterns of environmental protests are examined by region. Issues of ethnic and regional identity, as well as the impact of conservative views on environmental issues, are given particular attention. Secondly, an analysis is conducted on cross-national data to determine the points of convergence and divergence between Russian pro-environmental attitudes in relation to emancipatory (post-materialist) values, among other aspects. Thirdly, original data is gathered by conducting a sociological survey and field qualitative research in 6 regions. With the help of the obtained materials, it is planned to test hypotheses about the nature of environmental mobilisation, typology of regional environmental cultures, patterns of involvement in environmental protests, and value profiles of eco-activists.
The project is based on original regional data as well as cross-national survey data; data on environmental protests, grants from the president to environmental NGOs, and field research conducted in Russian regions are also incorporated.
The project is funded by the Russian Science Foundation grant No. 23-18-00661.
Publications
Subproject: Regional Dimension of Environmental Protest Mobilisation in Russia
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