Supported by: Freedom House, Embassy of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

Project Span: May 2002 – December 2002

Project Team: Oľga Gyárfášová, Vladimír Krivý, Marián Velšic

Co-operating Institutions: FOCUS Agency (field data collection)

Objective: To continually analyze basic developmental trends, problem areas, and public opinion in Slovakia. The project is based on representative sociological research carried out on a sample of the adult population of the Slovak Republic based on the following selection criteria: sex, age, level of education, nationality, size of city/town, and region. The research focuses on the following social aspects: perception of problems in society; the evaluation of the direction that society is heading; perception of the past and present regime; value and economic orientations; political preferences and support of political parties; potential voting behavior and motives behind it; perception of political parties; confidence in politicians; confidence in institutions; ethnic relations; positions toward clientelism, corruption, and gender issues; perception of "the rules of the game" within the society; preferences in foreign policy; viewership of the media; digital literacy; and socio-cultural capital (language skills, contact with foreign countries).

Outputs:

Chapter: Public opinion in a publication titled Slovakia 2002. Global Report on the State of Society that is primarily published in Slovak language later followed by an abridged, updated and revised English language edition.

Analysis of research findings: Digital Literacy – The Issue of the Future, published December 9, 2002 in Hospodárske Noviny daily in an abridged version. Available in the Slovak language only.

Analysis of research findings: Corruption and Clientelism Through the Prism of Everyday Life, published in Hospodárske Noviny daily on January 9, 2003 . Available in the Slovak language only.