Public opinion research in Slovakia – Research No. 16 (December 1949)
Výskum verejnej mienky na Slovensku – Výskum č. 16 (December 1949)
SASD 1949009
Michal Malatinec
Slovak National Archives
Michal Malatinec
SASD 2026
2026-06-25
Nesstar Publisher
Slovak Archive of Social Data
Public opinion research in Slovakia – Research No. 16 (December 1949)
Výskum verejnej mienky na Slovensku – Výskum č. 16 (December 1949)
SASD 1949009
Public Opinion Research Institute in Bratislava
Public Opinion Research Institute in Bratislava
Nesstar Publisher
Vega
VEGA2/0068/23 (https://sociologia.sav.sk/vyskumne_projekty.php?id=3290 )
Slovak Archive of Social Data
1
Ústav pre výskum verejnej mienky v Bratislave. (1949). Výskum verejnej mienky č. 16 (Version 1). MVSR., SNA., Ústredný výbor KSS. Kra. GT 549 – 556 . https://doi.org/10.34877/SASD-1949009
STANDARD OF LIVING
CONSUMPTION AND CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR
PRICES
AGRICULTURAL COOPERATIVES
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS AND PEACE
HOUSEHOLD CONSUMER GOODS
ECONOMICS
POLITICS
AGRICULTURE AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT
The research is the 16th conducted by the Institute for Public Opinion Research in Bratislava, which was the workplace of the Office of Information (Povereníctvo informácií) from 1947 to 1950. The research was carried out on 23 December 1949 and covers: an assessment of improvements in the supply of the population since 1 December 1949; reasons for increased buying in shops during the pre-Christmas period; attitudes towards rumours of an impending currency reform; preferences regarding improvements in supply of specific types of goods; the purchase of books for Christmas; awareness and assessment of Unified Agricultural Cooperatives (JRD); opinions on whether the victory of democratic China would strengthen world peace; and preferences regarding the type of nightstand when purchasing bedroom furniture.
SASD provides a reconstruction of the research results, based on final reports prepared for government authorities and the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Slovakia. Neither the data nor the original questionnaire are available; SASD offers a reconstruction of the questions used in the questionnaire and the basic results from the research are accessible online in an Excel file.
1949-11-23
1949-12-23
Slovakia
Individual
Population of Slovakia aged 18 and over
Quota sampling
Face-to-face interview
The survey was designed to capture the diversity of the population in Slovakia in terms of gender, occupation, age, nationality, and religious affiliation. The survey was conducted through face-to-face interviews by approximately 200 external interviewers from the institute, most of whom worked as educational and cultural workers in Slovakia. The interviewers were trained on the research methodology in writing and through informational brochures. The interviewers received the questionnaires by mail along with instructions on what types of respondents to seek out in their local areas. The interviewers returned the completed questionnaires by mail.
Face-to-face interview
Structured questionnaire with both closed and open-ended questions.
Slovak Archive of Social Data (SASD)
The data are freely available for scientific and research purposes with attribution to the source.
When using this data, please cite the source using the bibliographic citation provided.
The data and questionnaire have not survived in their original form. SASD provides a reconstruction based on the final report.
SASD is not responsible for any inaccuracies arising from the reconstruction of missing parts of the original document.
Tížik, M. 2022. Zrod výskumu verejnej mienky na Slovensku: inštitucionálne a politické súvislosti. In Sociológia - Slovak Sociological Review, vol. 54, no.1, pp. 53-83. 0049-1225.
TÍŽIK, Miroslav. Výskum verejnej mienky na Slovensku - počiatky, križovatky a inštitucionálne etablovanie. Recenzovali: Jakub Rákosník, Jiří Šubrt. In Vývoj empirického sociologického výzkumu na území Československa. 1. vyd. - Praha : Karolinum, 2023, 222-285. ISBN 978-80-246-5422-5.
ŠRÁMEK, Ľ., 2000: Výskum verejnej mienky – politika – média. Bratislava: Mediálne informačné centrum.
BARNOVSKÝ, M., 2004: Slovenská spoločnosť v zrkadle výskumov verejnej mienky 1948 – 1949. Historický časopis 52(3): 469-502.
SASD - data catalogue
Public Opinion Research No. 14 (SASD 1949007)
Public Opinion Research No. 15 (SASD 1949008)
ELSST Thesaurus (Version 6 - 2025): https://thesauri.cessda.eu
CESSDA Topic Classification: https://vocabularies.cessda.eu
CoreTrustSeal certification criteria: https://www.coretrustseal.org
DDI (Data Documentation Initiative) 2.5: https://ddialliance.org
sasd_1949009_data_en
1225
9
NSDstat
Dataset 1 (English variable and value labels).
QUESTION 1: IMPROVEMENT OF SUPPLY SINCE 1 DECEMBER 1949
Question 1. "Since 1 December 1949 further improvements have been made in the supply of the population, some types of goods have been made cheaper, and the distribution network has been improved — do you regard this as a further contribution to improving conditions in our country, or not?"
(1 – Yes; 2 – No; 3 – Don't know)
Base for percentage calculation: total number of respondents.
0
0
QUESTION 2: REASONS FOR INCREASED BUYING
Question 2. "In recent weeks people have been buying a great deal in shops; what do you think is the reason for this?"
(1 – Worry about money; 2 – Using up points; 3 – Pre-Christmas shopping; 4 – Having enough money; 5 – Fear that goods will run out; 6 – They need it; 7 – Other; 8 – Don't know)
Base for percentage calculation: total number of respondents.
0
0
Sub-item 7 (Other) contains open-ended free-text responses — see the separate sheet in the Excel file "Otázka 2 - Iné".
QUESTION 3: RUMOURS OF A CURRENCY REFORM
Question 3. "Enemies and ill-informed people are spreading rumours about a currency reform; what do you think, will there be a currency reform, or not?"
(1 – There will be; 2 – No; 3 – Don't know)
Base for percentage calculation: total number of respondents.
0
0
QUESTION 4: DESIRED IMPROVEMENT IN SUPPLY OF GOODS
Question 4. "In which goods would you most like to see an improvement in supply in our country?"
(1 – Textiles and clothing; 2 – Footwear; 3 – Meat and fats; 4 – Various foodstuffs and colonial goods; 5 – Other; 6 – Don't know)
The question allowed multiple answers; the sum of percentages exceeds 100.
Base for percentage calculation: total number of respondents.
0
0
Sub-item 5 (Other) contains open-ended free-text responses — see the separate sheet in the Excel file "Otázka 4 - Iné".
QUESTION 5: PURCHASE OF A BOOK FOR CHRISTMAS
Question 5. "Did you buy, or will you buy, a book for Christmas?"
(1 – Yes; 2 – No)
Base for percentage calculation: total number of respondents.
0
0
QUESTION 6: AWARENESS OF UNIFIED AGRICULTURAL COOPERATIVES
Question 6. "Do you know what Unified Agricultural Cooperatives are, or not?"
(1 – I know; 2 – No)
Base for percentage calculation: total number of respondents.
0
0
QUESTION 6/A: WILL JRD IMPROVE FARMERS' LIVES
Question 6/A. (Those who know.) "In your opinion, will the Unified Agricultural Cooperatives improve the lives of our small and medium farmers, or not?"
(1 – Will improve; 2 – No; 3 – Don't know)
Base for percentage calculation: number of respondents who answered Question 6 affirmatively.
0
0
QUESTION 7: VICTORY OF DEMOCRATIC CHINA AND WORLD PEACE
Question 7. "What do you think, will the victory of democratic China strengthen world peace, or not?"
(1 – Will strengthen; 2 – No; 3 – Don't know)
Base for percentage calculation: total number of respondents.
0
0
QUESTION 8: PREFERRED TYPE OF NIGHTSTAND
Question 8. "If you were buying bedroom furniture today, which type of nightstand would you prefer: one attached to the headboard of the double bed, or a separate piece? (see illustrations!)"
(1 – Attached to the headboard; 2 – A separate piece; 3 – Don't know)
Base for percentage calculation: total number of respondents.
0
0
revised questionnaire