ABSTRACT
The profound transformation processes which have taken a grip on Russian society in the 1990s compel a new approach to a lot of social problems. The content of the results of the series of in-depth interviews, carried out in the three cities under study in 1996 and 1997, was analysed in several stages. The preliminary stage of analysis was the specific 'deconstruction' of the interview texts themselves, applying elements of post-coding, and dividing them into blocks according to content. The government and organs of state administration defend the interests of the ruling elite, major financial groupings, entrepreneurial structures, the biggest Russian corporations. And on that level, their policy corresponds completely and appropriately to the expectations which the elites and financial circles that support the present government have of it. A deteriorating state of health is a complex indicator which shows the extremely unsatisfactory state of many and various spheres of social life.
