ABSTRACT
Administering a questionnaire to people chosen as a sample of an entire populace, though not the only method for examining public opinion, has several advantages. Values and other very general, abstract beliefs about the world stem from an individual's most basic socialization and psychological orientations; they are the least malleable of the components of public opinion. Surveys of Soviet public opinion generally support the claim that the values and political attitudes of Russians, and of non-Russian Soviets more broadly, changed in important ways during the Soviet period. Survey research therefore commends itself to students of the post-Soviet societies. Survey researchers have produced a large literature on the potential sources of biased data—such as question wording and the characteristics of the interviewer—and on ways to ameliorate these dangers. Survey questions can be designed to measure values, attitudes or opinions, and all three benefit the social sciences.
