Public opinion research in Slovakia – Research No. 17 (January 1950) Výskum verejnej mienky na Slovensku – Výskum č. 17 (Január 1950) SASD 1950001 Michal Malatinec

Slovak National Archives

Michal Malatinec SASD 2026 2026-09-10 Nesstar Publisher Slovak Archive of Social Data Public opinion research in Slovakia – Research No. 17 (January 1950) Výskum verejnej mienky na Slovensku – Výskum č. 17 (Január 1950) SASD 1950001 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. (1950). Výskum verejnej mienky č. 17 (Version 1). MVSR., SNA. https://doi.org/10.34877/SASD_1950001 name of the Bratislava university regional (kraj) administrative reform economic planning Five-Year Plan labour competition movement shock-worker (Stakhanovite) movement personality cult Joseph Stalin reading habits POLITICS ECONOMICS SOCIETY AND CULTURE The research is the 17th 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 January 1950 and covers a wide range of topics: opinions on the appropriate name for the Bratislava university; assessment of the regional (kraj) administrative system compared with the former arrangement; views on economic planning following experience with the Two-Year Plan and the first year of the Five-Year Plan; perceived improvement in the standard of living in terms of food supply, clothing, housing, and childcare; awareness of the significance of the labour competition movement (especially the shock-worker movement) and its perceived effect on the results of the first year of the Five-Year Plan; agreement with special rewards for the best shock-workers; recognition of the names of leading Slovak shock-workers; the number and type of books bought or received as Christmas gifts (including a list of specific, repeatedly mentioned titles); participation in the celebrations of Stalin's 70th birthday; and exposure to texts about Stalin and written by Stalin. SASD provides a reconstruction of the research results, based on the final report prepared for government authorities. 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. The research was carried out using a purposive (non-random) sample designed to reflect, as closely as possible, the estimated structure of the population of Slovak society at the time. Since this was the post-war period and the last full population census had been carried out in 1930, with the next one not until 1950, quota sampling in the strict sense could not be used. The characteristics of the sample nonetheless suggest that, on several attributes, it corresponds to the structure of Slovak society at the time of the nearest census in 1950. 1950-01-23 1950-01-23 Slovakia Individual Population of Slovakia aged 18 and over Quota sampling Face-to-face interview Quota sampling by age, sex, occupation, nationality, and religious denomination. 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. SASD - data catalogue Public Opinion Research No. 15 (SASD 1949008) Public Opinion Research No. 16 (SASD 1949009) 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_1950001_data_en 1333 18 NSDstat Dataset 1 (English variable and value labels). QUESTION 1: NAME OF THE BRATISLAVA UNIVERSITY Question 1. "What do you think the Bratislava university should be called: Slovak University, Komenský University, Slovak University of Jan Amos Komenský, or Štúr University?" (1 – Slovak University; 2 – Komenský University; 3 – Slovak University of J. A. Komenský; 4 – Štúr University; 5 – Don't know) Base for percentage calculation: total number of respondents. The original document also lists a comparison with Research No. 5-X.1948 (without option 3), which is not covered by this variable. 0 0 QUESTION 2: ASSESSMENT OF THE REGIONAL (KRAJ) ADMINISTRATIVE SYSTEM Question 2. "In your experience, is the regional (kraj) administrative system proving better than the former one, or not?" (1 – Better; 2 – No; 3 – Don't know) Base for percentage calculation: total number of respondents. 0 0 QUESTION 3: ECONOMIC PLANNING AFTER THE TWO-YEAR PLAN Question 3. "Based on your observation of the results of the Two-Year Plan and the first year of the Five-Year Plan, do you think it was correct to start planning our economy, or do you think things should have stayed as before?" (1 – To plan; 2 – As before; 3 – Don't know) Base for percentage calculation: total number of respondents. The original document also lists a comparison with Research No. 8 (January 1949), which is not covered by this variable. 0 0 QUESTION 4/a: IMPROVEMENT IN STANDARD OF LIVING – FOOD SUPPLY Question 4/a. "Did the first year of the Five-Year Plan improve your standard of living?" a) In terms of food supply. (1 – Yes; 2 – No; 3 – Don't know) Base for percentage calculation: total number of respondents. 0 0 QUESTION 4/b: IMPROVEMENT IN STANDARD OF LIVING – CLOTHING Question 4/b. "Did the first year of the Five-Year Plan improve your standard of living?" b) In terms of clothing. (1 – Yes; 2 – No; 3 – Don't know) Base for percentage calculation: total number of respondents. 0 0 QUESTION 4/c: IMPROVEMENT IN STANDARD OF LIVING – HOUSING Question 4/c. "Did the first year of the Five-Year Plan improve your standard of living?" c) In terms of housing. (1 – Yes; 2 – No; 3 – Don't know) Base for percentage calculation: total number of respondents. 0 0 QUESTION 4/d: IMPROVEMENT IN STANDARD OF LIVING – CHILDCARE Question 4/d. "Did the first year of the Five-Year Plan improve your standard of living?" d) In terms of childcare. (1 – Yes; 2 – No; 3 – Don't know) Base for percentage calculation: total number of respondents. 0 0 QUESTION 5: SIGNIFICANCE OF THE LABOUR COMPETITION MOVEMENT Question 5. "Are you aware of the significance of the labour (work) competition movement, or not?" (1 – I am aware; 2 – No; 3 – Don't know) Base for percentage calculation: total number of respondents. The original document also lists a comparison with Research No. 8 (January 1949), which is not covered by this variable. 0 0 QUESTION 5/A: EFFECT OF THE LABOUR COMPETITION ON FIVE-YEAR PLAN RESULTS Question 5/A. (Those who answered "I am aware" in Question 5.) "Do you think the labour competition (especially the shock-worker movement) was reflected more effectively in the results of the first year of the Five-Year Plan, or not?" (1 – It was reflected; 2 – No; 3 – Don't know) Base for percentage calculation: total number of respondents; the "Total" column in the results table is the sum of the three response categories. 0 0 QUESTION 6: SPECIAL REWARDS FOR THE BEST SHOCK-WORKERS Question 6. "Do you agree that the best shock-workers and those who achieved the highest work performance should be specially rewarded and given preference, or not?" (1 – Yes; 2 – No; 3 – Don't know) Base for percentage calculation: total number of respondents. 0 0 QUESTION 7: RECOGNITION OF SHOCK-WORKERS BY NAME Question 7. "Do you know any of our leading Slovak shock-workers by name, or not?" (1 – I know; 2 – No) Base for percentage calculation: total number of respondents. 0 0 QUESTION 7/A: NAMED SHOCK-WORKERS RECOGNISED Question 7/A. (Those who answered "I know" in Question 7.) "Which of these shock-workers do you know?" (1 – Laziková; 2 – Ogurčák; 3 – Smolíková; 4 – Fučík; 5 – Záležák; 6 – Gajdoš; 7 – Kyseľ; 8 – Zatlkaj) Base for percentage calculation: total number of respondents. The sum of percentages in the results table is higher than the "Total" column because many respondents named more than one person. 0 0 QUESTION 8: NUMBER OF BOOKS BOUGHT OR RECEIVED AS CHRISTMAS GIFTS Question 8. "How many books did you buy or receive as Christmas gifts?" (1 – One; 2 – Two; 3 – Three; 4 – More than three; 5 – None) Base for percentage calculation: total number of respondents. The original document also lists a comparison with Research No. 8 (January 1949), which is not covered by this variable. 0 0 QUESTION 8/A: TYPE OF BOOKS PURCHASED Question 8/A. (Those who named at least one book in Question 8.) "If yes, which ones? (list the titles)" (1 – Prose, of which 1a – domestic, 1b – foreign; 2 – Poetry; 3 – Political – socialist; 4 – Professional / non-fiction; 5 – Religious; 6 – Other) Base for percentage calculation: number of books bought or received (704 books in total). The original document also lists a comparison with Research No. 8 (I. 1949), which is not covered by this variable. 0 0 QUESTION 8/A: LIST OF MOST-MENTIONED BOOKS (OPEN-ENDED) Question 8/A – supplementary list. Specific book titles (author, title) that respondents mentioned by name at least twice, with number of mentions. Open-ended question – responses recorded as a list of titles. 0 0 Free-text list of titles. See the full transcription in the Excel file, sheet "Question 8-A list". QUESTION 9: PARTICIPATION IN STALIN'S 70TH BIRTHDAY CELEBRATIONS Question 9. "Did you take part in the celebrations of Stalin's 70th birthday?" (1 – Yes; 2 – No) Base for percentage calculation: total number of respondents. 0 0 QUESTION 10: READING ABOUT STALIN Question 10. "Have you already read anything about Stalin?" (1 – Yes, I read; 2 – No; 3 – Don't know) Base for percentage calculation: total number of respondents. 0 0 QUESTION 11: READING WORKS WRITTEN BY STALIN Question 11. "Have you already read anything written by Stalin?" (1 – Yes, I read; 2 – No; 3 – Don't know) Base for percentage calculation: total number of respondents. 0 0 revised questionnaire