Sociological Program
The research work of the Sociological Program
started shortly after the establishment of CSD. In May 1990, it
conducted the first independent pre-election surveys after the
democratic changes in Bulgaria. This was an important contribution
to democratic institution building and to fostering the public
awareness of the evolving new political and economic system.
The first surveys of the Sociological Program
provided the foundation for building up a powerful
professionally-organized research unit. The Sociological Program
gradually started working on contractual basis, making pioneer
steps in the research of privatization and economic behavior,
political attitudes, value orientations, media and audience
research, etc.
1990 - 1993 Highlights:
- Organization of a national interviewer net
consisting of approximately 280 interviewers. It is regionally
based and consists of 28 regional groups (in all county
centers).
- The Sociological Program conducted over 40
quantitative national sample surveys (public opinion and social
research), and 15 qualitative surveys. The basic survey methods
employed include face to face interviews, telephone interviews,
focus group discussions, omnibus surveys, and a computer-based
perception analyzer system (quick-tally) for assessment of radio
and TV programming, advertising, etc.
- In August 1992, the Sociological Program organized
an international seminar on survey methodology and organization in
Sandanski, southern Bulgaria. The seminar was attended by pollsters
from Hungary, Poland, Russia, Romania, and Bulgaria. The lecturers
included Dr. Peter Mohler, Director of ZUMA, Mannheim, Dr. Mary
McIntosh, Chief of the European Branch of USIA Office of Research,
and the leading US pollsters, Nancy Belden and Gary Lawrence.
- The Sociological Program has established good
working relations with institutions including the BBC World
Service, USIA Office of Research, International Social Survey
Program, RFE/RL Research Institute, Munich, Board for International
Broadcasting (USA), Worldnet TV (USA), The World Bank, etc.
The activities of the Sociological Program in 1994
were aimed primarily at:
- developing and implementing marketing surveys;
- improving the skills of research fellows with a
view to maintain a national interviewer network, establishing a
database of surveys conducted, and implementing novel research
techniques;
- providing methodological and technical support to
the other CSD programs and to the implementation of specific
projects.
The research projects implemented during the year
under review fall in several groups:
Audience Research
(quantitative surveys)
National Media Omnibus Survey (January - February
1994)
Part of this omnibus survey was contracted with
RFE/RL Research Institute, Media & Opinion Research Department. It
was based on a nationally representative sample (N = 1019). The
method employed was face-to-face interviews and the fieldwork was
conducted from January 24 through 30, 1994.
The survey included several measures of radio
audiences: listening reach, listening regularity, and yesterday
aided recall. In addition, it included audiences of daily and
weekly newspapers of national circulation, attitudes towards
economic reforms and mass privatization, and entrepreneurial
inclinations. The survey findings were organized in separate
volumes containing brief presentation of results and tables.
National Media Omnibus Survey
Part of the survey was contracted with the USIA
Office of Research, European Branch. The sampling design for this
survey was basically the same as the above survey and the results
were based on a nationally representative sample (N = 1090). The
method employed was face-to-face interviews and the fieldwork was
conducted from April 4 through 10, 1994. The survey included
several measures of radio audiences: listening reach, listening
regularity, and yesterday aided recall. In addition, it included
audiences of daily and weekly newspapers of national circulation,
attitudes towards economic reforms and mass privatization, and
entrepreneurial inclinations, and issues of foreign policy and
national security. The survey results were organized in separate
volumes including brief presentations of results and tables.
BBC World Service Audience in Sofia (July -
August 1994)
The survey was contracted with BJM Research and
Consultancy Ltd., London, UK. It was based on a quota sample of
listeners to the BBC World Service in Sofia. It included 199
face-to-face interviews conducted from August 9 through 20,
1994.
Economic Reform Today Readership Survey (October
- November)
The survey was contracted with USIA Office of
Research, European Branch. The main objective of this mail-in
survey was to assess the distribution of Economic Reform Today, a
publication of the Center for International Private Enterprise,
Washington, and to identify audience opinions about the form and
content of the journal. The questionnaires were mailed on November
18, 1994. The sample included 149 readers of Economic Reform
Today.
Audience Research (qualitative surveys)BBC
World Service Programming Review
The survey was contracted with Market Behavior Ltd.,
London, UK. This qualitative survey required the composition of
four groups of respondents matching certain social and demographic
criteria. Twenty-six respondents were selected and group
discussions were held on July 27 and 28, 1994. The main objectives
of the survey were to examine the respondents' reactions to
different elements of BBC World Service programming and to assess
the positioning of BBC World Service in the media environment. The
focus groups were recorded or videotaped.
RFE Bulgarian Service Programming
Evaluation
The survey was contracted with the Board for
International Broadcasting, Washington, D.C. The major objective of
this qualitative survey was to obtain Sofia listeners' assessments
of the different elements of RFE Bulgarian Service programming. The
method employed was focus group discussions. A total of 34
respondents meeting different social and demographic criteria,
divided into four groups, were recruited. Group discussions were
conducted on October 15 and 16, 1994.
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Marketing Research
New "Always" and Fanta TV Commercials
The survey was contracted with Coca-Cola Services
Bulgaria Ltd. The main objective of this qualitative survey was to
select the Coca-Cola and Fanta commercials to be broadcast on TV in
Bulgaria. The method employed was focus group discussions. The main
issues discussed, in addition to the testing of commercials, were
consumer patterns related to use of soft drinks, product image and
overall consumer patterns. Respondents participating in the survey
(N = 79) were organized in 8 groups and discussions were conducted
between June 23 and 26, 1994.
Reuters' Clients
The survey was contracted with Reuters Bulgaria. The
main objectives of the survey were to explore attitudes towards
different elements of the services provided by Reuters (sales,
customer support, technical support, training, etc.), to assess
clients' overall satisfaction with the services and their
perception of Reuters as a company and a business partner. The
survey covered 114 respondents selected from 64 organizations
subscribing to Reuters' electronic services. The fieldwork was
conducted between December 1 and 10, 1994. An analytical report and
survey results were provided to the contractor.
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Ad-Hoc Social Research
At-Risk Groups and Social Problems in
Bulgaria
This research project is part of a package of
surveys commissioned by the World Bank. For this project CSD worked
as a subcontractor of Lahti Research and Training Center,
University of Helsinki, Finland. The main objective was to supply
background information about at-risk groups in Bulgarian society,
including:
- identification of groups with long-standing and
newly emerging poverty problems who are particularly affected by
the transition, and the major trends in categories of poverty
intensification;
- description and analysis of the processes by which
poverty is intensified as a result of the transition (both in terms
of changes in the economy and in the allocation of state
benefits);
- development of an understanding of the survival
strategies adopted by different groups affected by formal and
informal economic behavior, social networking, and maintenance of
successful dependency relationships with the state;
- development of distinctions between such groups in
terms of potential official policy responses such as continued, but
targeted welfare, developmental investment in particular programs,
monitoring and controlling the opportunities for crime;
- identification of the non-state institutions (e.g.
the family, volunteer associations, trade unions) through which
survival is made possible in the context of the breakdown of state,
factory and cooperative organizations.
The survey design employed several research
techniques, including quantitative survey of clients of Social
Assistance Offices and Labor Offices (August 1994), focus group
discussions with experts and representatives of risk groups (August
- September 1994) and in-depth interviews with selected
representatives of high-risk groups (August 1994).
Apart from the analytical report of survey findings
which was presented to the contractor, the survey results were
presented at a seminar organized by the Ministry of Labor and
Social Welfare, CSD, and Lahti Research and Training Center.
The Day after the Elections
This qualitative survey had experimental purposes in
view of the upcoming elections. The main objective was to provide
qualitative, prognostic information about electoral behavior. The
survey included designing pre-election and post-election situations
for participants and a follow-up of the participants' reactions to
the experimental situations. The number of participants in the
experiment was 25. The fieldwork was conducted on December 12,
1994. Survey findings were summarized in an analytical report.
Your Opinion about Politics, the Economy and Mass
Media (April - May 1994)
The survey was contracted with RFE/RL Research
Institute, Media & Opinion Research Department. This was a
quantitative survey based on a nationally representative sample (N
= 2120). The method employed was face-to-face interviews and the
fieldwork was conducted from May 1 through 10, 1994. The survey
included several measures of audiences of foreign radio stations,
and daily and weekly newspapers with national circulation. Several
questionnaire blocks were designed to identify political attitudes,
opinions on economic reforms and social organization.
Your Opinion about Politics, the Economy and Mass
Media (November-December 1994)
The survey was contracted with the USIA Office of
Research, European Branch. This was a quantitative national sample
(N = 1119) survey of political and economic attitudes of the
Bulgarian population (18 and over). The main objective of the
survey was to explore electoral attitudes and orientations and to
assess relationships between these orientations and general
perception of the elements of current social organization.
Fieldwork was conducted between November 30 and December 7,
1994.
Elite and the Changes in Bulgaria
The survey was contracted with RFE/RL Research
Institute, Media & Opinion Research Department. This survey was
part of a long-term comparative international project on social,
economic and political attitudes and social forecasting. The method
employed was face-to-face interviews of 410 representatives of
different elite segments (politics, state officials, military,
business, mass media, science, art, and religion). Fieldwork was
conducted in October and November 1994.
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