Russia’s Physical Culture Scene: 10 Facts about the Physical Activity of Working Russians
Although a growing number of Russians now exercise regularly, the overall figure remains low — only one-fourth of working women and less than one-third of working men are physically active. Are Russians just lazy or are gym memberships too expensive for them? What can stimulate people to adopt a more active lifestyle, and is Russia up to international standards in this regard? Find the answers in a newly released study from HSE University. IQ.HSE selected 10 of the most interesting facts from that research.
A Contraceptive Revolution: How Abortion Rates Have Decreased in Russia
Russia has just had a great contraceptive revolution, and it is not over: unwanted pregnancies are more often prevented than terminated. Russians now engage in family planning with more confidence: the number of births is almost equal to the number of pregnancies. On the basis of studies completed by HSE demographers, IQ.HSE examines the Soviet and Russian culture of birth control.
The Turnstile Tango: How the ‘Turnstile Era’ Influenced the Physicality of Muscovites
The turnstiles and entrance gates used in municipal transport not only ensure that passengers pay, but also structure their behavior according to age, body size, ability and speed. Many people must maneuver themselves to pass easily through the rotating arms or swinging gates of an Automated Passage Control System (APCS): passengers cannot be too large or too small and must not walk too quickly or too slowly. Sociologists studied how turnstiles impose uniformity on passengers’ physicality and behaviour.
The Old Man and the Mortgage: On Fictional Characters' Financial Behaviour
Alexandre Dumas reveals some causes of economic crises, Ernest Hemingway explores financial decision-making, and Fyodor Dostoevsky offers his reader a glimpse into the minds of stock market players. IQ.HSE continues to read fiction from an economists' perspective: HSE Assistant Professor Henry Penikas takes a fresh look at some literary classics.
Isolated, Vulnerable, and Apathetic: HIV and the Transgender Community in Russia
Although HIV infection rates are high among the transgender community in Russia, many transgender people know very little about the virus, as well as their own health status. In Russia’s first study to examine transgender people as an at-risk social group for HIV transmission, demographers attribute these high infection rates to the community’s social stigmatization and isolation, as well as a lack of access to medical services. The study’s findings have been published in the HSE journal, Demographic Review.
Scholars Provide Monkeys with a Virtual Hand
Researchers from Duke University and HSE University have succeeded in creating artificial tactile perception in monkeys through direct brain stimulation. This breakthrough can be used to create upper-limb neuroprostheses, capable of delivering a tactile sensation. The study’s results were recently published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Per Aspera — But Headed Where?
Russian doctoral school — that only recently switched to the model of structured programmes — is once again at a crossroads. Which is better: the new model or traditional mentoring? And should postgraduate students be considered young scholars or ‘mature’ students? In her report to the Tenth International Russian Higher Education Conference, Natalia Maloshonok shared the views of doctoral research advisors on these and other questions.
Expecting to Be Cheated: Who Russian Consumers Are Wary of, and Why
Russians do not believe they can protect their consumer rights. They also put no faith in the government and distrust both retailers and producers. Such sentiments adversely affect attitudes towards the political system, said sociologist Regina Resheteeva in a study of data from the Higher School of Economics’ Russian Longitudinal Monitoring Survey (RLMS-HSE) and a survey of more than 500 Muscovites.
Advice from Above: Sociologists Have Assessed the Impact that Priests Have on How Their Parishioners Vote
Political preferences of at least 21% of Orthodox voters in Russia may be influenced by the clergy and their fellow believers. Based on an online survey of 2,735 respondents, HSE University sociologists Kirill Sorvin and Maksim Bogachev concluded that religion has a considerable impact on people’s political choices. The scholars assume that the share of those who vote ‘in an Orthodox way’ may be higher: many respondents were under 34, and young people are a minority among Orthodox believers in Russia.
Russia’s Tech Hubs: What are Russia’s ‘Technocities’ Producing?
Over half of inventions patented in Russia over the last decade have been created only in 11 cities. A study by HSE ISSEK experts calls these tech hubs ‘technograds’. Here is what they are and what they do.