Traditional and New Historical Demography: An Expert View

The aim of this study is to identify and analyze the ideas of researchers from different regional centers of Russia on the essence of the national historical demography and the main vectors of its development on the basis of a survey the authors conducted in 2017. The questionnaire consisted of 6 questions. The first question was "What, in your opinion, is the essence and distinctive features of Russian historical demography at present?" In answering this question, the respondents highlighted two main points: (1) characteristics of the state of Russian historical demography at the present stage; (2) analysis of historical demography in Russia as a scientific direction, its content. The second question was "Is there such a phenomenon as "new historical demography" in Russia? If so, what do you think it means?" 15 people gave a positive answer to the question, one answer was negative, and one respondent was not familiar with the term. The third question was "What topics and problems do you think are the most relevant and in demand in modern Russian historical demography?" Most respondents consider the subject of their research to be relevant and urgent. Two respondents noted that any topic could become one with the use of modern methods, technologies and a professional approach. The fourth question was "Is the "regionalization" of Russian historical demography its distinctive feature today? Please name regional centers of historical demography and achievements you know which are the "visiting card" of each of the centers you have named." Almost all the respondents note that due to many factors regionalization is a natural way of development not only of historical demography, but also of historical science. The fifth question was "Does the level of development of modern Russian historical demography differ from the level of development of its foreign analogues? If so, what determines these differences?" The respondents that answered this question said that there are some differences, one respondent believes that, at the present stage, the levels of development of modern and foreign historical demography are more or less the same. The main characteristic of Russian historical demography, which can be seen in almost all answers, is its "lagging and catching up" character. The sixth question was "What, in your opinion, are the main vectors of development of Russian historical demography and its prospects?" The respondents determined the vectors of development and prospects of Russian historical demography based on their experience of historical and demographic research, topics and aspects they mentioned in answers to previous questions. In conclusion, it can be argued that the responses to the questionnaire generally confirmed the authors' previous conclusion about the formation of the scientific directions of a "new historical demography" in Russia.

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