Blogs

CRRC’s Caucasus Barometer data show that assessments of whether divorce can or cannot be justified are changing in Georgia. This blog post looks at this trend, and at how these assessments differ by gender, age, and settlement type.

On a 2016 CRRC survey conducted for Transparency International Georgia (TIG), one in four adults in Georgia reported taking either antidepressants or antibiotics without a doctor’s prescription during the 12 months before the survey. Women are more likely to report doing so.

This post provides an overview of companies representatives’ assessments of the state procurement system and how these assessments differ depending upon the company’s participation or non-participation in the state procurement process.

The Unified Electronic System for State Procurement was introduced in Georgia in 2010. The system aimed to simplify the state procurement process and make it transparent. According to the State Procurement Agency, “Every year, the state spends hundreds of millions of lari on procurement of different kinds of goods, services and construction. … Accordingly, private companies ought to be interested in state procurement as an important potential source of increasing their incomes.” However, according to the findings of a Survey of companies on the state procurement system conducted by CRRC-Georgia for Deloitte Consulting LLP and USAID in August 2016, a majority of companies do not actively participate in the state procurement process.

The misinterpretation of survey findings is a rather widespread problem in Georgia. Unfortunately, it often leads to the misuse of data, which not only diminishes the importance of survey research, but also leads to more serious consequences for the country.

Intense public debate usually accompanies the publication of survey findings in Georgia, especially when the findings are about politics. The discussions are often extremely critical or even call for the rejection of the results. Normally criticism of surveys would focus on the shortcomings of the research process and help guide researchers towards better practices to make surveys a better tool to understand society. In Georgia most of the current criticism of surveys is, unfortunately, counterproductive and mainly driven by an unwillingness to accept the findings, because the critics do not like them.

The June 2016 CRRC/NDI Public attitudes in Georgia survey, conducted three months before the Parliamentary elections, provides interesting information about trust in the Central Election Commission (CEC) and election observers, both local and international.

December. Cold. Christmas decorations in the streets. New Year. Champagne. Satsivi and Gozinaki. Presents. Santa Claus. December 25. Or January 6? Then New Year’s once again, but the old one. 2017 resolutions and the wish on New Year’s Eve that is bound to come true. 

In order to help monitor the fidelity of the October 2016 parliamentary election results, CRRC-Georgia has carried out quantitative analysis of election-related statistics within the auspices of the Detecting Election Fraud through Data Analysis (DEFDA) project.