Meeting with Maksym Parashchevin

On 22 November a meeting was held with Maksym Parashchevin, Doctor of Sociological Sciences, Leading Researcher. The subject was “The history and practical application of the results of the Monitoring survey of the Institute of Sociology of the NAS of Ukraine”.

Participants learned interesting historical facts about, and research features of, the “Ukrainian Society” sociological monitoring survey, which the Institute of Sociology of the NAS of Ukraine has conducted since 1994. Built on a unique instrument, this project has become a fundamental source for analysing change in society.

The methodological features of the monitoring survey were of particular interest to the doctoral students. The discussion covered approaches to keeping questions neutral, adapting the methods to a changing social context, and constructing indices — among them the index of social well-being, the index of welfare and the index of political culture. Data quality is secured by careful observance of methodological requirements: regular fieldwork, precisely worded questions and a statistically representative sample. This makes it possible to build a reliable basis for analysing and forecasting public sentiment.

A monitoring survey at this level is not only a source of data but also a tool for shaping strategies in various areas of public life. For the doctoral students the meeting with Maksym Parashchevin proved highly interesting and useful, and inspired further research.