Monitoring the transition in the Czech Republic: Data, surveys and studies

The description of post-communist societies is still insufficient and contrasts with the rich knowledge on Western societies. The focus is still on economic and, in particular, macroeconomic data, while social data and reports are rather scarce. With regard to socio-economic studies and analyses, the Czech Republic is even lagging behind the other transition countries of Central Eastern Europe. To ease the access to basic social knowledge on Czech society, the author presents an overview of information sources including references to surveys and institutions. Among them, the author refers to analyses of international bodies, as well as to domestic efforts to launch more comprehensive social reports. The Czech government’s recent projects regarding the visions, strategies and priorities for further development of society are referred to also. Surveys already collected in the ‘Sociological Data Archive’ and available to the public provide a good opportunity for developing the study of Czech society from various angles.