Methods for Measurement of the Civic Identity of Russian Youth

The article presents the results of an expert survey of leading Russian political scientists on the problems of assessing the state of civic identity of young people. The research method is an in-depth interview, the sample size is 20 experts, the time is late November - early December 2024. The purpose of the study is to find out the main positions of Russian scientists on the issues of understanding the essence of the phenomenon of civic identity, its main components, assessment indicators, and the most effective study methods. In addition, the main practices of studying civic identity by domestic scientists specializing in sociology, psychology and pedagogy are analyzed. Researchers generally agree that civic identity as an object of empirical research is a complex phenomenon that includes cognitive, evaluative and behavioral components. Researchers are convinced that the most significant indicators should include: participation in public life based on sociocentric motives, knowledge of the history of one’s state and pride in it, an idea of the future development of the state, the presence of a formed image of “we” with the citizens of one’s country, etc. The image of “one’s” state contains territorial and temporal dimensions. Scientists consider the most difficult task to be the search for criteria for the formation of civil identity. The split in opinions concerns the priority of using quantitative or qualitative methods of analyzing civil identity.