ABSTRACT
This chapter surveys six areas of Soviet sociological research, namely: labour; social structure and stratification; marriage, the family, daily life, customs, divorce and the woman's role; urban development, city planning and urban-rural relations; criminology and juvenile delinquency; and religion. A number of general points must be made about sociological research in the Soviet Union. In the first place, the sociologists were aware of the fact that theirs was a society sharply demarcated by urban-rural differences. Second, references to 'survivals of the past', as the most prominent cause of certain types of social behaviour, occurred more often in the more theoretical discussions as opposed to actual research. Third, much of the research dealt, to a greater or lesser extent, with the creation of a new socialist form of social institution, for example, the city or the family. The Laboratory for Economic and Mathematical Research at Novosibirsk State University was among the leading research centres for labour sociology.
