Ethnic and Confessional Relations in Cross-Border Regions: A Comparative Analysis Based on Sociological Research
Abstract
The study deals with the issues of confessional issues (religiosity), freedom of conscience,
state-church relations, interethnic relations, cultural identity, and language use in cross-border
regions of Ukraine. The purpose of the article is to find common features in the relations
between different nationalities and representatives of the multi-confessional environment of
the two cross-border regions of Ukraine and to identify the specifics of each of them in
solving the most important life problems of inter-ethnic and inter-confessional relations. The
method of sociological research is a survey that contains 44 questions of mixed type. The
research was carried out by the Center for Sociological Research of Yuriy Fedkovych
Chernivtsi National University. The principle of research is random selection of respondents
according to social-age groups. About 1,500 respondents were interviewed. The data analysis
method is SPSS electronic system (Statistical Package for the Social Science). The results of
the comparative analysis were obtained.