The presented study analyses the social and personal predictors of the perception of safety, as a cognitive-emotional image of safety conditions in a defined living space of an individual. There is no consensus on the definition and measurement of security as a dependent variable. Particular tools are used to monitor the risk of victimization, fear of crime and preventive behavior. The aim of the study is to analyse the effect of vulnerability, victimization and contextual variables (ethnic threat, neighborhood issues) on the security perception, fear of crime, and preventive behavior in Slovakia. The second goal was to verify the impact of other psychological constructs – the need for structure, self-control, and conservatism – on these dependent variables. The results of the study confirmed a different structure of the predictors of security perception, fear of crime, as well as preventive behavior. Almost all the traditionally studied predictors were significant for the security perception. It has been confirmed that vulnerable groups, particularly women, the elderly, respondents from larger cities, and the victimized are more likely to have a lower level of security perception; which corresponds to a number of findings that repeatedly confirm the significant impact of the vulnerability factors on the security perception. Preventive behavior in this context appears to be a significantly different construct as compared to the security perception and fear of crime. The question of the impact of other psychological constructs on the preventive behavior remains open.
In 2021, the Slovak team of the European Social Survey participated in an acceptance testing of electronic devices that enables respondents to respond in public opinion surveys. So far, face to face or telephone survey modes have been used for data collection. With the development of digitization, most of the survey work has moved to the online space. As a result, respondents without internet access were left outside the reach of survey agencies. Additionally, the approach was tested as a response to the Covid-19 pandemic, which in several respects affected the implementation of the fieldwork so far implemented in the form of computer assisted personal interviews. The Electronic Questionnaire Device project (EQD) coordinated by NatCen (UK) tested electronic devices (tablets) and collected the feedback from respondents who have no experience with the use of such devices and do not use the Internet. The aim of this paper was to investigate and describe i) initial participants´ reactions to the device; ii) issues related to device usage; iii) willingness of respondents to participate in self-completion surveys again. The findings of the study show up evidence for the overall acceptance of the tested approach. This approach aims to enable participation in a survey to those people who might not have been (approach)able to take part under other circumstances. In general, the participants were open to cooperation, and accepted the option of self-completion. While an acceptance of the device as a tool for the self-completion approach by respondents with low/uncompleted education remains questionable and uncertain, having some previous experience with ICT seemed to help in decreasing the initial stress and tension of the respondent to accept the self-completion option. These findings will, however, require further verification on larger samples of respondents.
The aim of the contribution is to analyse interethnic relations between Slovaks, Hungarians and Roma people in 2004-2017 based on empirical research data focused on the theoretical, methodological and practical issues of ethnicity and ethnic relations. The issue of interethnic relations, or to be more precise the relations between the majority and minorities in the central Europe area, represents not only a past concern but also currently one of the priorities for the countries of Central and Eastern Europe. Th results contribute to solutions to possible interethnic conflicts that arise from the interaction of different cultures in today's society. After November 1989, the social significance of interethnic relations has been marked by ethno-identification processes in the Slovak republic. The primary interest of individual minority representatives is to improve their position and secure the enactment of their rights. Slovakia entered the European Union in 2004, and before that it had to meet the Copenhagen criterion in the area of protection of rights and national minorities. One of the main issues in the near future is the ability to accept the heterogeneity of Slovak society as a normal standard. Roma and Hungarian minorities are an indicator of the problem in Slovakia, today. Data was collected in the second half of 2004 and 2017 in all regions of Slovakia. In 2004, a total of 480 respondents were surveyed for the needs of our study. The subjects of the survey were Slovaks (160) and the two most numerous minorities living in Slovakia: the Hungarians (160) and the Roma (160). The selection criteria for the research sample were: nationality indicator, t. j. public declaration of belonging to the minority; gender, age and education. In 2017 the total quota sample in our research consists of 487 adult respondents: 162 Slovaks, 165 Hungarians and 160 Roma. The evaluation of intra-ethnic relations has produced mixed results. While in 2004 Hungarians were more positive about the relations inside their ethnic community, in 2017 it was Slovaks. The Roma assessments didn’t change over these two rounds. Even though this contribution doesn’t analyse the reasons for evaluating interethnic relations, the 2017 ratings show less variability among the different ethnic group ratings. It is related to the stabilization of interethnic relations, a more peaceful political dialogue and the presence of an external ethnic threat in the form of a migratory crisis.
The aim of the current study is to analyse the changes of satisfaction of people in both countries during the Euro introduction period. It will allow for a better understanding of the influence of external events on individuals. Slovakia, in January 2009, and Estonia, in January 2011, changed their national currency to the Euro. In both countries the introduction of the Euro was accompanied with positive media coverage and a general acceptance of the Euro as a tool to achieve a better living standard and greater benefits from a common European currency. Both Slovakia and Estonia carried out ESS fieldwork during the currency change period and this has allowed us to study the influence of the event on society regarding people’s satisfaction with it. We use data from the European Social Survey (ESS) for Estonia and Slovakia from the fourth and fifth rounds for analysis (ESS Round 4: European Social Survey Round 4 Data, 2008; ESS Round 5: European Social Survey Round 5 Data, 2010). The first descriptive results revealed differences between the two countries. A declining satisfaction trend prevailed in Estonia while satisfaction increased in Slovakia. A comparison of the Euro change period data with data from the same season but different years, showed that fluctuations with satisfaction cannot be attributed only to one event, and total satisfaction is possibly an outcome of many interactions, both at an individual level and in society. Therefore the continuous study of multiple effects of essential events in society on attitudes is important. Monitoring the contextual data and examining the effect of societal events helps to understand processes in society and plan for better measurement tools.
JavaScript is turned off in your web browser. Turn it on to take full advantage of this site, then refresh the page.