In 2007, Lokniti-CSDS was commissioned by Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (KAS) to conduct a sample survey-based study on the attitudes and perspectives of Indian Youth. The study took place at a time when India was on the threshold of a significant demographic dividend, a historical chance for the Indian society and polity to convert an unharnessed resource into a major societal asset. One of the main objectives of the study was to investigate how the Indian youth located across different regions, social groups, economic segments and educational levels had been impacted by the processes of modernity and the forces of globalisation. The study attempted to probe the immediate social circles the youth related to, how socially and materially endowed they were, the family and social networks they interacted with, their anxieties and aspirations, and their lifestyle patterns. It also mapped the political values and orientations of the youth, including their attitudes on governance and development and to issues of globalisation and of India’s role in the transforming world.

The sample for the youth survey was drawn using the multi-stage systematic random sampling technique. The total target sample of 5,000 respondents was distributed in different states in proportion to their share in the youth population. Since distribution of the sample in proportion to the share of the youth in the population would have meant quota of few interviews in small states, many such states were removed from the universe from which the sample was drawn. The states which were removed from the sample were Goa, Himachal Pradesh. Uttarakhand, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Tripura, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim. Taking into consideration the lower completion rate, a sample of 7,176 respondents in the age group of 18-34 years and 2,208 households for selecting respondents in the age group of 14-17 years were drawn from the electoral roll. When the survey was completed, 5,000 youth from different age groups had been interviewed.

The fieldwork was conducted during April-May 2007. All the respondents were interviewed in the face to-face situation using the structured interview schedule.

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