The survey was carried out during the school year 1977–8, by two research fellows, Luca Ricolfi and Loredana Sciolla, of the University of Turin under the supervision of Professor Guido Quazza.

The survey, which interviewed 1,031 high school pupils from Turin, was not only an academic initiative. In fact, besides the Facoltà di Magistero and the Facoltà di Scienze Politiche, three non-academic associations sponsored the initiative: II Circolo della Resistenza (a cultural association of partisans), II Centro Studi Piero Gobetti, and a progressive parents’ association (COGIDAS). The aim of the survey was that of analysing the political and cultural orientations of high school pupils. The findings associated with the main purpose of the research project have been published in a book along with a full description of the various statistical and methodological details (Ricolfi & Sciolla 1980: 259). In what follows I have summarized the major points of that description.