Research Guide to the
Russian and Soviet Censuses
edited by
RALPH S. CLEM
Cornell University Press
ithaca and london
This book is dedicated to
A. J. Jaffe
CONTENTS
PREFACE
Those engaged in social science research on the USSR have evinced a steadily increasing interest in Russian and Soviet census data. Along with this interest, however, has come the realization that using this vast reservoir of information on Russian and Soviet society entails many practical problems. Although often innovative and far-reaching, attempts to deal with these difficulties have usually taken place in isolation, as individual specialists pursue their own research agendas.
It was in this context that the idea of synthesizing available knowledge of census-based research on Russia and the USSR suggested itself as a valuable contribution to the study of that country. Further, the need was clear for an inventory and index of the various published censuses. Accordingly, a project was proposed to provide researchers with both an overview of the Russian and Soviet censuses, including discussions of specific topics for which census data are particularly relevant, and a complete description of the contents of the census volumes.
After these goals had been established, scholars with recognized expertise on given subjects were asked to contribute essays detailing the state of the art in their respective areas, the problems associated with the use of census data for those subjects, and the potential for further research. Second, a comprehensive index, incorporating a description of census tables, a keyword index, and a listing of political-administrative units for the different enumerations, was compiled.
This volume represents the completion of a project to develop a general reference work on the Russian and Soviet censuses which meets the above criteria. Initially, the Research and Development Committee of the American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies provided funds for planning a project proposal. Most of the project itself was funded by a grant from the National Council for Soviet and East European Research. In May 1983, project participants and other interested researchers convened for a conference on Russian and Soviet censuses funded by the National Council and hosted by the Kennan Institute for Advanced Russian Studies in Washington, D.C.
The editor/project director acknowledges important contributions by several persons in the preparation of the final report. Elizabeth Lyn and Karen Pennington typed the original manuscript. Roberta McLaughlin, Judy Sheffield, Karen Hill, and Patty Clifford were responsible for word processing. Zweneslava Clem was a meticulous proofreader, and Carmen Wampole provided administrative support. Finally, John Ackerman and Linda Wentworth of Cornell University Press were of invaluable assistance in the editorial process.
Ralph S. Clem
Miami, Florida
CONTRIBUTORS
Ralph S. Clem (Ph.D., Columbia University) is Professor of International Relations at Florida International University, Miami. He is coauthor of Nationality and Population Change in Russia and the USSR (1976, with Robert A. Lewis and Richard H. Rowland) and author of several chapters and articles on ethnicity and demography in the USSR.
Barbara A. Anderson (Ph.D., Princeton University) is Professor of Sociology and Research Scientist at the Population Studies Center, University of Michigan. She is the author of Internal Migration during the Modernization of Russia in the Late Nineteenth Century (1980) and coauthor of Human Fertility in Russia since the Nineteenth Century (1979 , with Ansley J. Coale and Ema Harm). She has also written many articles on Soviet population and society.
Peter R. Craumer (Ph.D. candidate, Columbia University) is a geographer specializing principally in the study of Soviet agriculture. He is currently conducting research on the Virgin and Idle Lands program in Kazakhstan.
Robert A. Lewis (Ph.D., University of Washington) is Professor of Geography at Columbia University. He is the coauthor of Population Redistribution in the USSR (1979 , with Richard H. Rowland) and has written many articles on population, urbanization, and migration in Russia and the Soviet Union.
Ronald D. Liebowitz (Ph.D., Columbia University) is Assistant Professor of Geography at Middlebury College. He works mainly on Soviet regional economic development and has published articles on political geography.
Richard H. Rowland (Ph.D., Columbia University) is Professor of Geography at California State UniversitySan Bernardino. He is the coauthor of Population Redistribution in the USSR (1979, with Robert A. Lewis) and several articles on urbanization and migration in Russia and the Soviet Union.
Michael Paul Sacks (Ph.D., University of Michigan) is Associate Professor of Sociology at Trinity College. He wrote Womens Work in Soviet Russia (1976 ) and Work and Equality in Soviet Society (1982) and edited Contemporary Soviet Society (1980, with Jerry G. Pankhurst).
Lee Schwartz (Ph.D., Columbia University) is Assistant Professor of Geography in the School of International Service of The American University. His current research interest is Soviet political geography and ethnicity.
Brian D. Silver (Ph.D., University of Wisconsin) is Professor of Political Science at Michigan State University and Research Affiliate at the Population Studies Center, University of Michigan. He has published many articles in professional journals and monographs on Soviet ethnic, demographic, and political processes.
HOW TO USE THIS GUIDE
This book is divided into two parts. Part One consists of three chapters on general subjects dealing with the published censuses of Russia and the USSR, followed by five chapters on ten specific topics, the study of which requires the use of census figures. Thus, a researcher investigating ethnicity and language use in the Soviet Union should read the first three chapters for background and then the topical chapter dealing with that particular subject (in this case, the chapter by Brian D. Silver).
Part Two is an index to and list of every published table in the six major censuses taken in Russia (1897) and the USSR (1926, 1939, 1959, 1970, and 1979). Cross-tabulations (i.e., combinations of topics, such as Educational Attainment by Age) are provided in great detail. Because the organization of such a complex set of information is itself complicated, the user is urged to read carefully the Introduction to the Index by Peter R. Craumer.
Part One
GENERAL AND
TOPICAL ESSAYS
Chapter 1
On the Use of Russian and Soviet Censuses for Research
Ralph S. Clem
The quest for more data and better data is a perennial one in demography, as in all science. The improvement in demographic and related data will undoubtedly, however, continue to be limited by the changing conceptual framework and research interests of the demographer; the techniques available for obtaining the information with desired reliability, validity, and precision; and the values of differing cultures which dictate what information may be politic or impolitic to obtain. (Hauser and Duncan, 1959b: 55)
Seeking better to understand human societies, social scientists constantly confront the question of how to investigate socioeconomic and political issues. If these issues suggest themselves and are properly framed, the main problem then becomes the manner in which evidence can be marshaled, evaluated, and used analytically.
