README. SOCIAL EQUALITY FORUM RUSSIA FOCUS GROUP TRANSCRIPTS

This data set relates to ESRC Project ES/J012688/1 Rising Powers: Unequal Powers, Authoritarian Powers, Unstable Powers?
by Professor Stephen White (PI), with Co-I's, Dr Neil Munro, Professor Ian McAllister and Professor Jane Duckett.

It consists of transcripts from 12 focus group discussions on themes related to social equality in Russia. The focus group discussions were conducted by the Institute of Applied Politics in Moscow, directed by Dr Kryshtanovskaya; using a discussion guide written by the Investigators. They were held in 12 cities chosen to represent different regions of the country, with an emphasis on provincial cities: Ufa, Kaliningrad, Ekaterinburg, Tiumen, Saratov, Ulyanovsk, Volgograd, Ivanovo, Irkutsk, Obolensk, Vladivostok and Protvino. The respondents included a mix of ages, genders, blue and white collar workers. The focus groups in Protvino and Ulyanovsk were held only for respondents age 18-29.  

The focus group discussions dealt with household and national economic change, perceptions of social fairness, and welfare values. Specifically, respondents were asked about the state of the national and local economies, their household economy, how they define rich and poor people and how they position themselves in relation to these categories. They were asked about whether they perceived differences in wealth between individuals, regions and between urban and rural areas as fair, and whether such differences are increasing or decreasing. Finally they were asked about whether the rich should take more responsibility for the welfare of the poor, about their own personal responsibility and that of the state and businesses, as well as about progressive income taxes and the degree to which the state should control the economy. The discussion guide is provided in Russian and English as Discussion-guide.docx.

Basic information about the respondents, including gender, age, and occupation are provided at the top of each focus group transcript. Each participant is identified by a number only. 

The transcripts are provided in Russian. The Russian text was transcribed by the Institute of Applied Politics from audio files. Transcript file names are in the format City Name.docx. 

A parallel set of focus groups were conducted in China and can be found in the collection SOCIAL EQUALITY FORUM CHINA FOCUS GROUP TRANSCRIPTS.