Using an index method in ISEDT RAS sociological research

The sociological studies and, in particular, the public opinion monitoring of the current economic and political situation play the most important role in the formation of public feedback systems. One of the tools necessary to summarize the data obtained through monitoring is an index method. The research aims to study the experience of using the index method in ISEDT RAS sociological research as a tool for the analysis of the social situation in the regional community. To analyze the data of the public opinion monitoring carried out in the Vologda Oblast the Institute of Socio-Economic Development of Territories of the Russian Academy of Sciences uses tested methods, widely known and trusted in the sociological scientific community. One of such methods is the calculation of the consumer sentiment index. Along with the known methods for the analysis and synthesis of the situation in a particular area, the Institute of Socio-Economic Development of Territories of the Russian Academy of Sciences has developed the region’s social sentiment index which reveals the attitude of the inhabitants of different territories to the performance of federal and local executive bodies, as well as people’s perception of their material well-being-being and social mood. The assessment of the social sentiment index was tested on the data of the monitoring conducted by the Institute of Socio-Economic Development of Territories of the Russian Academy of Sciences in 10 regions of the Northwestern Federal District in 2005-2010. The scientific and practical significance of the calculated region’s social sentiment index at the NWFD subject level highlights the problem of using this indicator at the level of the Vologda Oblast municipalities. The assessment of the region’s social sentiment both at the level of the Northwestern Federal District and the Vologda Oblast districts provides a comprehensive assessment of effective state control; at the same time, it reflects the dynamics of public opinion on authorities’ activities and final performance of such activities in the form of self-assessment of material well-being.