As the probability to marry is stratified and differs for people with certain characteristics, it can be expected that some marriages are more likely to end in divorce than others. Among others in the literature the divorce risk factors are often mentioned: too low or too high age, marriage, educational level (low or high education) or educational or age heterogamy. This article describes the effects of age and education of both spouses and their combinations (heterogamy or homogamy) on the stability of marriage in the Czech Republic between 1994 and 2007. Analysis (using event history analysis) is based on data from the Czech Statistical Office and examines those individuals who entered into marriage in 1994. Although, the effect of age at marriage itself is found to be weak, the interaction between age at marriage for men and women exhibits more significant effects. The relationship between education and divorce risk takes the form of an inverted U: people with basic education and people with higher education have the lowest risk of divorce. The assumption of greater stability among homogamous couples is not observed; however, the probability of divorce is higher among heterogamous marriages where the woman is older or has higher education than man.
This paper focuses on the issue of surveying older people. Increasing interest in the issue of ageing and old age has been accompanied by infrequent debate on the methodological pitfalls that might influence research into this specific, albeit very heterogeneous population. Interviewers routinely complete post-interview questions that provide important information on such criteria as respondent difficulty in answering the questions posed. This article examines such difficulty in terms of interviewer and respondent characteristics. It investigates three potential explanations of why interviewers judge an interview as difficult: (1) interviewer characteristics (age and gender), (2) socio-demographic characteristics of the respondent and (3) respondents’ sense of well-being. The data used in this study were obtained from four surveys conducted with older people in the Czech Republic between 2007 and 2011. These surveys explored ageing and old age. The findings show the crucial importance of respondents’ sense of well-being and level of education. No interviewer age or gender effects were observed.
This article summarizes previous sociological research on higher education students in the Czech Republic. It identifies the most important surveys carried out in the field and provides detailed information about twenty one higher education studies. Special attention is paid to a number of longitudinal surveys. The information presented in this review article identifies the main topics covered in previous higher education research. This article concludes by making suggestions for further research by highlighting those topics that have been examined in greater detail and those themes that have suffered relatively neglect thus far.
The missal of Načeradec is a modest codex from an artistic point of view. Its decoration is limited to one figural illumination only – a canon depiction of the Crucifixion; besides this, the manuscript contains only filigree initials and clerical capitals. The quality of its figural decoration is comparatively high. Its style is post-classical Gothic; linear pleats of the draperies imply a date in the beginning of the 14th century. Only a few analogies can be found in simultaneous book painting, e.g. in the decoration of the manuscripts of Eliška (Elisabeth) Rejčka, but these analogies are not immediate. Some correspondence, however, can be found in monumental art, more precisely in mural painting.
The Zittau library of Christian Weise has an extensive collection of manuscripts, among which we find a number of early modern-era chronicles relating particularly to the six towns of the Lusatian League. One of these is the Zittau Chronicle by Tobiáš Schnürer from the 16th century, preserved in a later transcription, in which he chronologically recorded the most important events of his era, including the names of members of the Town Council. Memorial and chronicle records are also included in a collection of manuscripts by Abraham Frenzel (1656-1740). This includes a preserved transcription of an early modern-era chronicle of Sorau (Żary), which details the problems of life in the town and the local authority at the time. Another of Frenzel's preserved manuscripts describes the journey through Europe made by Michael Frank at the end of the sixteenth century, including his visit to Bohemia.