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Respondent-driven sampling (RDS) is a survey method for hidden populations and, as such, it offers a suitable approach for sampling the homeless. Surprisingly, the practical use of RDS in surveying homeless populations has only sporadically been described in the professional literature so far, and the specifics of using RDS for sampling this group have not been reflected in depth. The goal of the article is to investigate how three specific concerns, namely the transitional character of social ties among the homeless, problems with locating the interview site, and the irregular use of coupons, affect the sampling process. The findings of the article are based on experience using RDS for creating two independent samples of homeless persons in two Czech cities. Worries of poor referral effectiveness were disproved, but poor validity of the network size indicator, tendency towards irregular use of coupons, and negative effects arising from selecting service centres for the homeless as survey sites were confirmed.

The distribution of international migrants is an essential part of socio-geographical differentiation. In addition to international migration, internal or domestic migration plays an important role in the geographical distribution of immigrants. Based on data from the population register, the Census, and a quantitative survey, we analysed the internal mobility of Ukrainian and Vietnamese immigrants, which are the first and third largest international migrant groups in the Czech Republic. Using the assimilation perspective, the results of the analysis indicate that each ethnic group behaves differently. Specifically, the concentration of these immigrants differed at both regional and neighbourhood levels.

This article contributes to the rural-urban quality of life comparison issue by investigating territorial differences in quality of life using indices of poverty, satisfaction and opportunity deprivation. The article introduces three innovative elements. First, rural-urban differences are analysed alongside with the within-rural differentiation; second, two distinct spatial patterns of different forms of rural territorial disadvantage are introduced; third, the net-effect of the residential environment is assessed. Empirical results, based on survey data, show increased opportunity deprivation in rural areas, which however is not accompanied by decreased community satisfaction. For the most indices, within-rural differences proved larger than the difference between urban and rural areas.

The question, whether and how spatial and social disadvantages overlap and what this means in terms of individual achievements is of crucial importance to rural sociology. Empirically, however, only few studies on this topical issue are available so far. The paper presents the conceptual and methodological approach as well as selected findings of a recently completed cross-national, German-Czech research project. Our research focusses on three socially disadvantaged groups: persons experiencing difficulties in the labour market, single parents and elderly persons living alone. They are living in four rural peripheries in Eastern Germany and Czechia, regions which are similar in their distance to metropolitan areas, low population density, weak economic structure and poor accessibility of public and private services. Our main interest is on the question whether social and spatial disadvantages accumulate and lead to a double disadvantage. We conducted 113 qualitative interviews in both countries. Overall, most respondents rate their lives in the four regions positively. Often, they describe a rural idyll, naming for example direct access to nature as important source of their well-being. However, they also point to a variety of everyday challenges due to a lack of services and infrastructures and the need to have access to a car and to travel long distances. They highlight the important role played by rural and small towns (and their supply services) in rural peripheries. Social relationships are also important for well-being. The respondents’ everyday narratives attest to the fact that they have found multiple ways of dealing with spatial constraints. Thus, our results paint a nuanced picture of rural peripheries where social and spatial disadvantages do not necessarily accumulate and people do not inevitably see themselves as disadvantaged – either socially or spatially. Central to this is a high degree of agency, manifesting in a variety of coping strategies. The respondents apply these to meet daily challenges and to live more self-determined lives than the spatial structures of a rural periphery and the conditions of various forms of social disadvantage would initially suggest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper introduces and discusses regional opportunity structures as a concept for analysing the interlinkages between structural conditions in space, social inequalities, and people's agency, with a focus on non-metropolitan areas. The concept adds value in the following ways: (1) it emphasises the regional scale as an important spatial context of access to opportunities; (2) it accounts for the complexity of the regional context, which provides a plethora of opportunities; (3) it recognises the interdependencies of regional effects and other drivers of inequality; and (4) it takes the regional level seriously as a background of the agency of a region's inhabitants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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In this article we discuss multi-level career paths of Czech politicians from 2000 to 2017. First, we describe typical career movements between policy levels, differentiating between ascending and descending paths. Subsequently, we focus on ascending paths targeting at the national level which are the most common way how to enter the Parliament. Using a complex interlinked database of candidates in individual local, regional and national elections, we find that the Czech political system is dominated by ascending career paths. One of their important effects is increasing underrepresentation of women at the national policy level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, we argue that similarly to the literature on urban neighbourhood effects, the idea of disadvantaging residential environment can be used to explain the socio-economic disadvantage of residents in rural peripheries. We present arguments as to why it is appropriate to consider the effects of the residential environment in a micro-regional perspective and outside of metropolitan areas. These effects are empirically analysed using income related data from the Czech Republic. We ask whether income is negatively affected by housing in peripheral micro-regions. The results confirm that the concept of residential disadvantage is also relevant in rural areas, and that in the Czech Republic residence in remote rural areas with limited educational levels and a high concentration of low-pay jobs has negative yet weak contextual effects, whereas increased levels of deprivation and social exclusion, typical also of many urban regions, are not decisive. A stronger negative impact of living in peripheries has been found on higher-skilled workers and women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates socioeconomic peripherality in Hungary and Czechia. Despite the current attention devoted to peripheries in post-communist societies, the authors argue that there is a lack of data-driven international comparisons of the socio-spatial outcomes of peripheralisation processes. In the study, the situations in Hungary and Czechia are compared to assess the validity of peripheralisation as a mutually reinforcing economic, social and demographic decline specifically affecting rural areas. First, the concentration of social problems such as unemployment and poverty is examined in economically weak rural areas. Second, the role of transport accessibility and remoteness is analysed. Third, the links between socioeconomic peripheralisation and population development are explored. The results indicate basic structural similarities in the development of peripherality in Czechia and Hungary; however, the Hungarian case corresponds much more than the Czech case to the concept of peripheralisation defined as interrelated processes of economic problems, the accumulation of poverty and social exclusion, and population shrinkage that especially affect remote rural localities. The authors conclude by discussing the role of historically shaped settlement structures, current population compositions, and overall development at the country level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]