Issues of the Methodology for Assessing Social Well-Being in Contemporary Russia

The article provides a critical analysis and synthesis of modern concepts of social well-being, as well as decomposition and operationalization of this sociological concept, which allows solving the problem of measuring and assessing the quality of life of individuals and social groups in a more comprehensive way. We have shown differences in the understanding of social well-being as a socio-psychological construct based on an individual's subjective evaluation of the conditions and results of their life activities, and as an objective assessment of the social and economic status of the individual, their involvement in social networks, access to public goods. We also noted that when choosing a methodology for measuring social well-being, it is necessary to consider the economy of the society under consideration (developed or developing) and the existence conditions of the local community as a whole, not just individuals (the concept of community well-being). Based on a synthesis of existing approaches, methodologies, and sets of variables for the empirical study of social well-being, we propose our own version of the methodology for the comprehensive measurement of social well-being, which takes into account the specifics of social processes and relations in contemporary Russia. Within the framework of this methodology, we identify 11 basic factors affecting the level of social well-being, operationalized through more than 50 indicators. The sources of data for their measurement, along with state and corporate statistics, are mass sample and expert surveys. In the article we also raise the problem of calculating weighting coefficients for various factors contributing to social well-being, and proposed its solution on the basis of the ranking method as a special case of the expert evaluation method. The considered set of factors allows covering economic, social, political and legal, medical, socio-cultural and everyday components of life of individuals and local communities.