README
Dataset title:
Results of the Expert Survey "Hyperlocal Discourse in Local Media of the Ivano-Frankivsk Region" (2026)
Dataset version: 1.0
Authors:
I. M. Kopystynska (ORCID: 0000-0002-1648-4025)
N. V. Marchuk (ORCID: 0000-0001-7363-1127)
R. L. Savchuk (ORCID: 0000-0002-1431-9341)
Ye. Yu. Kostornova (ORCID: 0009-0003-4042-9194)
T. V. Shlemkevych (ORCID: 0000-0003-1785-0338)
S. S. Khorob (ORCID: 0000-0002-7899-6042)
Contact
Department of Journalism
Vasyl Stefanyk Carpathian National University
Email: mediahub@cnu.edu.ua
Survey objective
To make research how media organizations in the Ivano-Frankivsk region represent the life of small territorial communities and whether a hyperlocal discourse has been established within the professional media environment.
Data collection period
26 February 2026 – 18 March 2026
Dataset description
The dataset contains the results of a survey of representatives of local media organizations in the Ivano-Frankivsk region. The survey aimed to identify the characteristics of reporting on the life of small territorial communities, the level of representation of hyperlocal content, and the main challenges faced by local newsrooms. The dataset includes information on editorial approaches to covering local events, criteria for selecting topics and information sources, and journalists' assessments of the current state of hyperlocal media discourse in the region.
The survey was conducted within the research project "Hyperlocal Media as a New Format of Journalism: A University Development Model for the Ivano-Frankivsk Region", implemented by the Department of Journalism at Vasyl Stefanyk Carpathian National University.
Keywords
hyperlocal media
hyperlocal discourse
local media
territorial communities
community journalism
Ivano-Frankivsk region
media content
expert survey
Sample
Out of 59 invited participants, responses were received from 20 experts representing 22 local media organizations.
Data collection method
The survey was conducted online using Google Forms.
Anonymization
-	The survey was conducted anonymously. The questionnaire did not collect respondents' names, postal addresses, telephone numbers, or other direct personal identifiers. Only the media organization and the respondent's position were collected; both variables were anonymized during the preparation of the public dataset.
-	Media organization names were replaced with anonymous identifiers (e.g., M01, M02), and respondents' job titles were generalized. The correspondence between identifiers and the original media organizations is not distributed with this dataset.
Data structure
The questionnaire is provided in full. Each row corresponds to one completed questionnaire (one respondent). If a respondent represented multiple media organizations within the same media group, multiple anonymous media identifiers are listed in the Media ID field and separated by commas. Multiple-response questions are stored as comma-separated text values, preserving the original questionnaire structure.
Descriptions of all variables are provided in data_dictionary_en.csv and data_dictionary_ukr.csv.
Data preparation
-	Question 17 was removed from the public version of the dataset because responses contained direct links to media publications that could facilitate the indirect identification of respondents or media organizations.
-	The Geographic coverage (city, district, community) variable was removed because, in combination with other variables, it could contribute to the indirect identification of respondents or media organizations.
-	Respondents' positions were generalized into three categories (manager, editor, journalist) because detailed job titles, combined with other variables, could facilitate indirect identification.
-	Minimal editorial modifications were made to selected open-ended responses to remove or generalize information that could facilitate the indirect identification of respondents or media organizations. These modifications did not affect the substantive meaning or analytical value of the responses.
-	All participants provided informed consent before completing the questionnaire. The consent variable was removed from the public dataset because it does not contain analytical information.
Data language
Ukrainian
Character encoding
UTF-8
Dataset files
-	hyperlocal_discourse_local_media_ivano_frankivsk_2026_dataset.csv — primary machine-readable dataset
-	hyperlocal_discourse_local_media_ivano_frankivsk_2026_readable.xlsx — human-readable version of the dataset
-	data_dictionary_en.csv — variable descriptions (English)
-	data_dictionary_ukr.csv — variable descriptions (Ukrainian)
-	questionnaire.txt — survey questionnaire
-	README_en.txt — dataset documentation (English)
-	README_ukr.txt — dataset documentation (Ukrainian)
-	LICENSE_en.txt — licensing information (English)
-       LICENSE_ukr.txt — licensing information (Ukrainian)

Data format
The primary dataset is provided in CSV format to ensure compatibility with a wide range of statistical and data analysis software.
Limitations
The sample is not representative of all media organizations in the Ivano-Frankivsk region. The dataset reflects only the responses of experts who voluntarily participated in the survey.
Ethical considerations
Participation in the survey was voluntary. Respondents independently decided whether to participate and were free to skip any question. The published dataset is an anonymized version of the original response data and does not contain information that would allow the direct or indirect identification of individual participants.
Funding
Applied research project funded by the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine:
"Hyperlocal Media as a New Format of Journalism: A University Development Model for the Ivano-Frankivsk Region".
License
This dataset is distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license.
Users of the dataset must acknowledge both the authors and the source of publication.
Recommended citation
When using this dataset, please cite it as follows:
Kopystynska, I., Marchuk, N., Savchuk, R., Kostornova, Ye., Shlemkevych, T., & Khorob, S. (2026). Results of the Expert Survey "Hyperlocal Discourse in Local Media of the Ivano-Frankivsk Region" (2026) [Dataset]. Vasyl Stefanyk Carpathian National University. DOI: To be added after publication of the dataset.