Socio-cultural characteristics of the modern youth: some results of the pilot study

The research into the problems of development of the youth as a specific social group that has special needs in socio-cultural terms attracts researchers' attention in different branches of science (psychology, pedagogy, economy, sociology, etc.). This interest is caused by the fact that the youth stage (especially early youth) involves formation of special world perception, understanding of socio-legal, political and cultural events in the state, which becomes a basis for the development of a full-scale picture of the world at the later stages of maturation. The understanding of the mechanisms for initiating young people to socio-cultural values is an important aspect of the strategic plans elaboration in order to developthe country and the region. The article is devoted to the study of social and cultural characteristics of young generation in the foreign and domestic science. It shows that each stage of the youth problems study has been characterized by different research methods and tools. The image of the youth in modern Russia also has a number of features, presented in the article. The socio-cultural values of young people in the senior school age are identified in the “pilot” survey with the elements of formal interviews conducted among children attending the Research-and-Educational Center at ISEDT RAS. The article discloses further prospects of this research.