Thesis for the scientific degree of candidate of historical sciences, speciality 07.00.07 – history of science and technique. – National Scientific Agricultural Library of the National Academy of Agrarian Sciences of Ukraine, Kyiv, 2023.
The thesis is a comprehensive research of the results of statistical work of provincial and district zemstvos of the territory of modern Ukraine in the context of the formation and development of agrarian science.
The work consists of an introduction, four chapters, conclusions to each chapter, conclusions, a list of used sources and literature, appendices.
The introduction substantiates the relevance of the problem, defines the object, subject, goal and task of the research, reveals the scientific novelty and practical significance of the obtained results, provides information about the approval and publication of the author.
In the first chapter, the insufficient study of the problem is argued, a review of the scientific literature and a description of the sources used in the research process are presented. The main part of the work is based on the analysis of archival documents, published materials of provincial zemstvo administrations, periodicals, agricultural and statistical and economic surveys and reviews of provinces and counties, publications of zemstvo statisticians.
In the second chapter, an analysis of the main factors that formed the scientific and practical foundation of the researches of zemstvo statisticians was carried out. It has been established that the prerequisites for conducting zemstvo statistical studies of agriculture are: transformation of statistics from a descriptive method into a science with theoretical foundations; achievements of scientists in the field of using statistical methods in solving practical problems, close connection of theoretical studies with practical works; work on establishing the main methodological directions for obtaining characteristics of agriculture at statistical congresses; performance of accounting and statistical work as general economic indicators of the province; organization of land use statistics taking into account the distribution of arable land from different crops; performance of work on accounting of farms.
In the third chapter, the formation and development of the zemstvo statistical bodies of the territory of modern Ukraine, their implementation of research in the field of agriculture are considered. The results of the statistical works of the provincial and district statisticians of Chernihiv, Kherson, Poltava, Tavria, Kharkiv, Katerynoslav, Kyiv, Podil, and Volyn provinces were studied. The periodization of the agricultural activity of the zemstvo statistical bodies of Chernihiv, Kherson, Poltava, and Kharkiv provinces, as leaders in the scientific study of the agrarian economy of the region, has been developed. The selected stages in the obtained periodizations indicate the main regularities in the activity of zemstvo statisticians regarding the use of statistical methods for the study of agriculture: from work on identifying trends in the development of the agrarian economy of the region through the study of soils, farming systems, technical aspects of farming and solving zoning tasks to the analysis of mass numerical data study of the influence of specific factors on the results of agricultural activity, attempts to obtain a scheme of rational organization of the economy. The analysis of the activities of zemstvo provincial statistical bodies in cooperation with local agricultural societies showed that it took place as a solution to separate research tasks. According to the results of the use of advanced branch scientific achievements, the characteristics of agricultural scientific institutions were acquired by statistical bodies. Based on the use of advanced branch scientific achievements, the statistical bodies acquired the features of agricultural scientific institutions.
