ABSTRACT
The most appropriate research design to examine the effects of household labor and social capital on household viability is a multi-wave panel study in which the causal relationships between the dependent and independent variables can be measured over time. Rural areas of Russia are quite diverse in population, climate, soil, and other conditions that affect not only peasant household production and sales, but also the capacity of households to generate and maintain human and social capital. The household sample was constructed from the official list of permanent residents in each village, which is called the kniga ucheta domashnih khoziaistva. The Village Council updates this list at the beginning of each calendar year. Several types of social capital were measured. Social exchange helping networks were measured with items that were similar to the social network items used in Fischer. These items were adapted to meet the specific social organizational, needs and cultural characteristics of the Russian village.
