Wednesday (research service)

The research service Sreda was founded in 2011 as a non-profit organization with the aim of conducting sociological research on issues related to the activities of the Russian Orthodox Church .

Since 2012, the area of ​​research interests of the Environment service has been expanded. All-Russian representative surveys (field work: Public Opinion Foundation ) and special studies (usually in Moscow and the Moscow Region) are carried out, covering various aspects of the religion of Russians, following religious practices, worldviews, and moral and value orientations. Since 2013, research has been carried out on the moral, value and worldview attitudes of Russian-speaking Internet users, and photo studies of the sacred Russian space are being conducted.

As stated on the organization’s official website , today the Sreda service is a non-profit research organization that implements project activities aimed at collecting, analyzing and popularizing knowledge about the religious and spiritual state of affairs in Russian society, as well as facilitating communication in a postsecular expert space. The service is not subordinate to state or church structures, as well as to foreign companies. The source of funds is private financing from Russian citizens.

The founder and head of the service is Alina Yurievna Bagrina ^{[1] [2]} , candidate of political sciences.

Ad-hoc polls - situational polls of special groups. Expert surveys of religious scholars (conducted in 2011 and 2013), surveys of participants in rallies of civil opposition in Moscow (2012) ^{[3] [4]} , a survey of legal labor migrants waiting in line at Moscow FMS branches (2012) ^{[5 ]} , a survey of parishioners of Moscow Orthodox churches (2013) ^[6] and others;

“Arena: Atlas of religions and nationalities of the Russian Federation” ^[7] - an all-Russian representative survey of 56,900 respondents on religious issues, following religious practices and worldviews (conducted in 2012; field work was commissioned by the Public Opinion Foundation);

All-Russian polls in 2011, 2012 and 2014 (field work ordered from the Public Opinion Foundation);

Photoprojects “The Holy and Valuable in Russia” (2013) and “Local Shrines” (2013-2014) ^[8] ;

Competition of research works of young scientists "Faith and Religion in Modern Russia" ^{[9] [10] [11]} , dedicated to the memory of Yu. Yu. Sinelina (2013);

Online games and tests based on questionnaires from world and national value studies;

Monitoring the religious agenda in the Russian media “Postsecular Newspaper” (2013) ;

Studies of the Russian-language Internet - studies of religiosity through monitoring of social networks and media during Orthodox holidays ^{[12] [13] in} conjunction with the Brand Analytics system.

The most ambitious ^[14] project implemented during the activities of the “Environment” service.

The Arena project ^{[15] [16]} is an all-Russian representative survey (survey questionnaire: Wednesday service; field work: Public Opinion Foundation, MegaFOM 2012; sample of 56,900 respondents; coverage of 98.8% of the population of the Russian Federation). The sample represents the urban and rural population of the subjects of Russia aged 18 years and older. Geography of the survey: 79 subjects of the Russian Federation. Method: standardized population survey. Technology: interview of the respondent's place of residence (face-to-face).

As a result of the survey, data were obtained on the number of followers of a particular faith in Russia. So, according to the survey:

• 41% of Russians profess Orthodoxy and belong to the Russian Orthodox Church
• 25% - believe in God, but do not profess a specific religion
• 13% - do not believe in God
• 6.5% - profess Islam (including Sunni and Shiite persuasion)
• 4.1% - profess Christianity , but do not consider themselves Orthodox, Catholics, or Protestants
• 1.5% - profess Orthodoxy, but do not belong to the Russian Orthodox Church and are not Old Believers
• 1.2% - profess the traditional religion of their ancestors, worship the gods and forces of nature

Buddhism , Old Believers , Protestantism , Catholicism , Judaism , Eastern religions and Pentecostalism ^[17] , according to the survey, profess less than 0.5% of Russians. 5% of respondents found it difficult to answer the question.

Links

• Sociological polls of the "Environment", or who orders the "magic of numbers" ?! , Russian folk line. Information and Analytical Service (September 6, 2012).
• Site Research Service "Environment"
• Website of the Public Opinion Foundation