Surveys constitute a key part of our data collection. There are three sets of surveys. The first survey, better termed a series of in-depth interviews, in Summer 2007, was conducted in Tbilisi, Kutaisi, and Zugdidi and involved both IDPs displaced from Abkhazia as well as members of the local population in each case study site. This survey included a structured portion that focused on a a formal social network analysis but also elicited information on respondents’ demographic characteristics, employment information, household composition, values and attitudes (satisfaction with life, trust in general and trust of various societal institutions, evaluations of the work of the Georgian government and non-governmental organizations), perspectives on societal changes, and financial situations. We also collected information on the daily path of respondents, in other words how and where they spend their day. Finally we collected detailed information about the material circumstances of the sample in the past and the present. The second portion of this survey was a series of narrative interview questions about IDP departure stories and about people’s hopes and perspectives on the future.

The second set of surveys, to be conducted in Spring 2009 with IDPs from Abkhazia living in Tbilisi, will investigate the ways in which IDPs think about and preserve memories of the homes from which they were displaced and the ways in which these perceptions and memories are shared with and transferred to their children who may never have lived in the families’ home area.

The last survey, to be conducted in winter 2009, will address how IDPs and their households cope with daily life after the August 2008 conflict, focusing on the ways that IDPs’ social networks and livelihood strategies have changed since displacement and subsequent resettlement or return to their home villages. These surveys will take place over a period of 1-2 years.