The fall of socialism in Eastern Europe has allowed two ISU professors to research the effects of the capitalist movement on families in the Czech Republic.Joe Hraba and Fred Lorenz have spent the last decade following 740 families and documenting how they responded to the change of government from socialist to democratic.”Joe Hraba was connected with Eastern Europe, and, with those connections, when the change happened in the late ’80s, he started a two-year pre-test,” said Lorenz, professor of sociology and statistics.After the preparation was finished, the main research was ready to get underway, said Hraba, professor of sociology.”We started with 740 families in 1994, and, out of that 740, we cut out 16 families and intensely interviewed them,” he said.One thing the professors found most interesting was how people reacted to the reform, Hraba said.”The best thing in this situation is watching this experiment in democracy unfold,” Lorenz said. “In many ways it is a social experiment and we’ve been very fortunate to live in an era where something like this happens.”They found people had expected the lack of personal freedoms to disappear with the new capitalist movement, Hraba said, while still enjoying the social equality and the camaraderie they had before.”Market reforms are what they find less certain than anything,” he said. “People economically hurt most likely have a poor family life, along with poor mental and physical health.”The people who entered the new capitalistic society early seemed the happiest with the shift in government and have done the best financially, Lorenz said.The main part of this research experiment was conducted in 1994-96 and again in 1999, Hraba said.”I spent about four weeks over in Prague during the whole process while Joe took a sabbatical one spring and summer on top of that,” Lorenz said.The research was funded by National Institute of Mental Health for both trips, Lorenz said.”We were funded at $300,000 the first time and $200,00 the second time,” he said. “It is expensive collecting data like this.”Robert Schafer, professor and chairman of sociology, said the professors have different characteristics that combine for quality work.”Hraba has a long-standing interest in Eastern Europe, and this is simply a continuation of his long-standing performance in his field,” he said, “while Lorenz has very strong statistical skills that allow him to do really good research.”Schafer also said he respects both of his colleagues’ research, which reflects well on the department for their international applications.”They are doing interesting work, and I’m glad they’re being recognized for it,” he said.