Soviet Interview Project, 1979-1985 (ICPSR 8694)
Version Date: Feb 16, 1992 View help for published
Principal Investigator(s): View help for Principal Investigator(s)
James R. Millar, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign;
Barbara A. Anderson, University of Michigan;
Donna Bahry, New York University;
John Garrard, University of Arizona;
Paul R. Gregory, University of Houston;
Rasma Karklins, University of Illinois-Chicago;
Norman Nie, University of Chicago;
Brian D. Silver, Michigan State University;
Michael Swafford, Vanderbilt University;
Aaron Vinokur, University of Haifa (Israel);
William Zimmerman, University of Michigan
https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR08694.v2
Version V2
Summary View help for Summary
This survey was undertaken to study everyday life in the Soviet Union by conducting highly-structured interviews with a probability sample of eligible Soviet emigrants in the United States. An interdisciplinary research team constructed a questionnaire with the expectation that the results would contribute not only to Sovietology, but to general theories in a number of academic disciplines, especially political science, economics, and sociology. Respondents were asked to comment on topics such as: crime, culture and the arts, education, ethnicity (or nationality), family life, fertility, friends, health and diet, housing, income and earnings, language practices, mass media, military experience, political and social opinions, politics, participation in organizations, religion, satisfaction, standard of living, and work. To insure that "normal" life experiences would be described, respondents were asked to define and discuss their last normal period in the USSR. Since applying to emigrate usually brings marked changes in Soviet citizens' lives, respondents reported the month and year in which they applied to emigrate, whether plans to emigrate had significantly changed their lives even before that date, and if so, specified the month and year in which their lives changed. Interviewers then made certain that all descriptions of day-to-day life in the Soviet Union referred to the period before the question of emigration became a significant issue for respondents.
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Funding View help for Funding
Subject Terms View help for Subject Terms
Geographic Coverage View help for Geographic Coverage
Distributor(s) View help for Distributor(s)
Time Period(s) View help for Time Period(s)
Date of Collection View help for Date of Collection
Data Collection Notes View help for Data Collection Notes
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For reasons of confidentiality, many variables (such as detailed occupation) have been collapsed and others have been omitted from the datafile and codebook. The hardcopy codebook materials include some information written in Russian. Additional documentary materials available upon request include coding manual, questionnaires, and general specifications.
Sample View help for Sample
Probability sample stratified on four background variables: nationality, region of last employment in the USSR, highest level of education attained, and size of city in which last employed. Individuals included in the sample were between the ages of 21 and 70 inclusive at the time of arrival in the United States.
Universe View help for Universe
The universe is the fairly complete list of 35,386 emigrants who arrived in the United States between January 1, 1979 and December 31, 1985. However, the focus of the study is the "referent Soviet population" (the sector of Soviet society the survey respondents could represent). The referent Soviet population is the "adult European population in large and medium-sized Soviet cities."
Data Source View help for Data Source
personal interviews, and self-enumerated forms
Data Type(s) View help for Data Type(s)
HideOriginal Release Date View help for Original Release Date
1987-06-26
Version History View help for Version History
- Millar, James R., Barbara A. Anderson, Donna Bahry, John Garrard, Paul R. Gregory, Rasma Karklins, Norman Nie, Brian D. Silver, Michael Swafford, Aaron Vinokur, and William Zimmerman. Soviet Interview Project, 1979-1985. ICPSR08694-v2. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 1989. http://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR08694.v2
Notes
These data are freely available to data users at ICPSR member institutions. The curation and dissemination of this study are provided by the institutional members of ICPSR. How do I access ICPSR data if I am not at a member institution?