It turns out that many people interpret the sociological ratings incorrectly. Partly it is the fault of sociologists because they can not agree on the standards for the publication of ratings (actually they have agreed on some but not all). This comment is ought to help the readers of our site to understand this matter.

The first thing that is always made public is the percentage of those who will vote for a particular party (or candidate) WITH THE RESPECT TO ALL RESPONDENTS. This is the direct results of the survey, and in relation to these indicators, the sampling errors are calculated. These data are needed to compare different studies, but THEY DO NOT SHOW WHAT PARTIES WILL BE ELECTED TO THE PARLIAMENT.

On the 17^th of November, in the International No Smoking Day, there was a press conference where a project of creating a national service to help smokers quit was presented. This initiative is being implemented by NGO "Zhyttia" (Life) as a part of a joint project of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine and the WHO Country Office, and is supported by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation "Noncommunicable diseases: prevention and health promotion in Ukraine."

These joint study by KIIS and the Ilko Kucheriv Democratic Initiatives Foundation

If a referendum for the independence of Ukraine was held today, 87% of Ukrainians would vote in favor of the act of independence, which is close to the figure during the referendum held in 1991 (89%).  The most notable changes in the perception of citizens were observed in the southern and eastern regions of the country. Read more about the changes in public opinion over 25 years of independence in this press release.

According to the results, the vast majority of respondents (72%) concerned about the war in the East of Ukraine. Also amongst the worrisome issues are standard of living (61%), the economic situation (46%), and security of Ukraine (15%).

Amongst the all listed issues, the least worrisome one is the status of Russian language in Ukraine (1%), this situation is observed in all regions of Ukraine.

Survey has showed that as of mid-May, 2016 63% of the Ukrainians do not plan to have vacation. This share has decreased comparing to the results of the similar survey in 2015 (it was 68% then). The share of those who do not have an opportunity to go somewhere for vacation is 25%.