Program In Sociology Research Articles

Enriching Social Cognitive and Behavioral intention by Mobilizing Robotics Tutor-based GenAI in Education 6.0

The study aims to investigate the impact of incorporating robotics-based GenAI into pedagogical approaches, in order to enrich social cognitive development in the higher education context. By examining the impact of robotics-based Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) on social cognition and learning outcomes, this study investigates the application of GenAI in Indonesian higher education, specifically in sociology programs. In poor countries like Indonesia, where pedagogical and infrastructural constraints prevent its widespread adoption, the report highlights the gap in the application of GenAI in the education system. Over the course of four weeks, 27 sociology students used ChatGPT as a robot tutor for undergraduate students to access information, and the study used a mixed-methods approach to collect data through observation and structured questionnaires. Despite the students' perception of GenAI as a valuable tool for enhancing engagement, problem-solving, and comprehension of intricate sociology topics, the findings revealed no correlation between the use of ChatGPT and students' social cognition. Furthermore, it appears that classroom dynamics and teacher engagement are more important factors influencing undergraduates’ social cognitive development. Future recommendations to fully incorporate GenAI into education and investigate its long-term benefits include strengthening infrastructure, addressing ethical issues, and improving teacher training.

Loss and autonomy: Making sense of rural life at the inner periphery

AbstractWe have studied how people make sense of their lives in peripheral rural regions. While there are disadvantages in terms of infrastructure, transportation and so forth, we have focused on the ways that people understand their specific position and how they feel about it. Using the tools of the Strong Programme in cultural sociology, we have identified two key discourses: the discourse of loss and the discourse of autonomy. Through the former, residents describe the decline of traditions, of rural community and, in particular, the vanishing ideal of rural childhood. Through the latter, they re‐frame these societal developments as problems of individuals. The dichotomy between individual autonomy and individual dependence is employed as a key cultural framework for explaining and understanding life in a peripheral rural region. The research is based on interviews with residents of small rural municipalities located at the inner periphery of the Czech Republic.

Principles of an economic sociology of innovation

AbstractAlthough innovation is a core element of capitalist dynamics, it turns out that, to date, there is no coherent Economic Sociology of innovation, leaving the discipline oblivious to explaining fundamental economic dynamics. Nor has the enormous importance of novelty and innovation in current societal transitions evoked a corresponding research program in Economic Sociology, meaning that Economic Sociology struggles to grasp contemporary societal change. The article reviews the rather disparate diversity of approaches that could speak to a remedy, stepwise assembling and integrating them to establish the principles of an Economic Sociology approach to innovation. First, resonating with ‘embeddedness’ as the core paradigm of Economic Sociology, it spells out the embeddedness of innovation processes in social institutions. Next, it reviews innovation in relation to the diversity of normative, cultural‐cognitive, regulative, and relational institutions, carving out the relevance of the combination of institutions in ‘fields.’ It then determines ‘valuation’ as the overarching mechanism of how institutional frameworks interact with innovation processes. Eventually, discussing ‘institutional work’ as a major property of institutional frameworks, it raises awareness for the mechanisms of the ‘co‐evolution’ of institutions and innovations.

Moral landscapes and morally meaningful encounters: how interaction ritual connects conversation analysis and cultural sociology.

This article presents a theoretical argument for examining the previously unexamined interface between the strong program in cultural sociology ethnomethodology/conversation analysis (EMCA). While these two approaches have radically different theoretical and empirical commitments, they nonetheless share a common root in Durkheim's sociology, specifically with regard to the centrality of solidarity, ritual, and morality to collective life. Similarly rooted in Durkheim, Goffman's theory of interaction ritual provides an analytic pivot between EMCA and the strong program. The broader theoretical argument is illustrated using data from interviews with adults about their most recent encounter with a rude strangers in public space, which are here treated a breaches of the interaction ritual of civil inattention. Members readily draw on the specifics of a particular stranger interaction gone awry to reflect on the nature of life in public and to expound on their understandings of the ethics of face-to-face interaction and everyday morality more generally. Where EMCA focuses on the discoverability of the organizational features of everyday interaction, the position developed here is concerned with the organization of members' interpretations of everyday interaction. While centered on specific kinds of interactional breaches, by finding common ground between EMCA and cultural sociology, the argument advances a potentially more broadly applicable approach that treats everyday encounters as morally meaningful and everyday lifeworlds as moral landscapes. Developing a comprehensive understanding of copresent interaction as a basic building block of society requires attention to both the organizational dynamics of copresent encounters and to the interpretive resources that ordinary members use to account for and justify their own and others' conduct.

Applied sociological projects in the context of the clinical educational model of the Saint Petersburg State University

Applied sociological projects can play an important role in reducing the gap between higher education and labor markets, but for this educational organizations need to develop a mechanism for interaction between students and employers. The article presents the clinical model used at the Saint Petersburg State University as a tool for organizing applied sociological projects as a part of the educational process. The authors describe the features of the Sociological Clinic of Applied Research of the Saint Petersburg State University, the results of its work and the directions of its development, providing some practical recommendations for introducing a clinical training infrastructure in educational programs in sociology. These recommendations may be useful for universities that want to improve their interaction with the labor market and their quality of education. The development and assessment of forms for integrating employers’ requests into educational institutions are current methodological tasks, and solutions developed and tested by the Saint Petersburg State University, namely the clinical approach, may be interesting for all participants of the education market. Its uniqueness is determined by the flexible organizational model which focuses on characteristics of different educational areas. Over a five-year period, the Sociological Clinic of Applied Research has become an educational form that successfully combines classical education with project-based activities, giving students the opportunity to include in-demand cases into their portfolios and establish relationships with representatives of local communities. This experience will be useful for improving the quality of education in sociology-related areas.

Program Review with the Curriculum Mapping Toolkit for Sociology: Assessment of a Publicly Available Resource for Sociology Departments

The American Sociological Association identified 12 major recommendations for the undergraduate major, which include 11 learning goals articulated in the sociological literacy framework. In total, these recommendations identified upward of 70 different curricular elements that optimal sociology programs should consider satisfying. This article shows how curriculum mapping combined with an organized set of resources (the Curriculum Mapping Toolkit for Sociology [CMTS]) facilitates productive discussions that identify program goals, program strengths, program weaknesses, and pathways for program improvement. Data rely on the CMTS itself, which tracked department engagement with different elements of program review, and appraisals of department representatives who committed to presenting the opportunity for curriculum review to their colleagues. Although the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted many departments’ capacities to work fully with the CMTS, data demonstrate that the CMTS was met with strong interest by department leaders and their department colleagues. Its application positively impacted program quality and collegial relationships. Department leaders evaluated the CMTS as being “useful” or “very useful” and considered the collective work involved as being both manageable and productive.

United in difference: on the vocation of Brazilian sociology at the Instituto Universitário de Pesquisas do Rio de Janeiro, 1973-1977

This article investigates the first generation (1973-1977) of researchers trained in the Graduate Program in Sociology at the Instituto Universitário de Pesquisas do Rio de Janeiro (IUPERJ). While IUPERJ is known as the birthplace of modern Brazilian political science, sociology there is less well known. Using documentary resources, interviews, and the secondary literature, we take a nuanced look at this generation, which has been described as both excessively heterogeneous and less original in comparison to political science at IUPERJ. For them, theoretical and methodological specialization was seen as central to a political sociology that sought responses to the demands of a society at the crossroads between modernization and redemocratization.

A Programmatic Approach to Journal Use and Citation Analysis

abstract: The study explores journal citations from 104 doctoral dissertations in sociology from 2010 to 2021 at the Pennsylvania State University. A citation analysis of 10,395 journal citations explores journal use from three graduate degree programs in sociology. Journal use is based on the top 32 journals for concentration of citations (CitRank), number of dissertations citing the journal (DissRank), and the average (CDRank). Forty journals are identified from 38 dissertations (degree in sociology), 40 journals from 57 dissertations (dual degree for sociology and demography), 34 journals from nine dissertations (dual degree for sociology and criminology), and 41 journals from 104 dissertations. An analysis of variance and correlation is conducted to determine the strength of the relationship of the three measures of use. The study identifies 71 unique journal titles from all degree programs and a core of 13 journals.

Producing Knowledge (Despite the Storm)

The institutional production of interdisciplinary knowledge very frequently encounters bureaucratic barriers that transform academic life into a steeplechase. Producing interdisciplinary legal knowledge is even more difficult and has been the keynote of the path followed by the Graduate Program in Sociology and Law (PPGSD) of Fluminense Federal University (UFF). This article proposes a revision of its educational path, examining the changes in the research agenda over two decades and its impact on the creation of new university cadres. In the end, the challenge remains the same: to expand the possibilities of insertion of graduates in a dogmatic and disciplinary world, which resists interdisciplinary knowledge.

Building a Strong Clinical Sociology Program through Accreditation

Existing international clinical sociology undergraduate and graduate programs or programs in a related field with a clinical sociology concentration or track should consider the Commission on the Accreditation of Programs in Applied and Clinical Sociology (CAPACS) to increase the marketability of graduating sociology students. The Commission works collaboratively with interested program faculty and staff to professionalize the discipline. Students graduating from a program that is CAPACS accredited makes use of sociological theory and research methods; and students must complete a meaningful practice experience so that they are exposed to professional orientation and ethics.

Banal gastronationalism and anti‐EU populism

AbstractThe common market of the EU imposes standards on food products and minimum requirements for their quality. Products that do not meet these requirements have to be renamed. This article analyses the media coverage of a prominent political controversy surrounding four food products, produced in the Czech Republic: Inland Rum, Fruit Marmalade, Spread Butter and Almond Brandy. The renaming of these products has triggered a wave of nationalist sentiments and anti‐EU backlash. To explain these developments, the article follows the strong programme in cultural sociology, and it introduces the concept ‘banal gastronationalism’. It argues that the anti‐EU backlash is culturally rooted in two deeply rooted binary distinctions: the split between the centre (of the EU) and the periphery and the tension between the inner and the external. Together, these distinctions co‐create an imagined community of consumers and readers, which gets mobilised through a perceived threat to its food products.

«Integration processes in Eurasia» master program in sociology: development approaches

The article substantiates the need for training personnel with theoretical knowledge in the field of the history of Eurasianism as a civilizational space, cultural and historical features of the Eurasian states, as well as those who are able to work in a multinational team, research and design activities to improve the efficiency of integration processes in the post-Soviet space. The main approaches to the development and implementation of the Master's program in sociology «Integration processes in Eurasia» are proposed, the purpose of which is to form a pool of specialists with the necessary competencies for this: research, preparation of predictive and analytical recommendations for government agencies and various organizations, participation in the implementation of interstate programs. The socio-humanitarian meanings of the development of integration interaction of the EAEU member states, the tasks of promoting socio-humanitarian values for the development of Eurasian integration are substantiated. Based on expert assessments, conditions have been proposed to guarantee the successful implementation of the program: the introduction of new teaching methods and technologies; broad partnership with employers and public organizations; the use of the advantages of digitalization of the educational process, programs, applications and other digital resources for e-learning both remotely and directly at the university; the introduction of online courses. The ideas formulated in the article can be used in the development of educational programs for the training and education of not only specialists — sociologists, but also other specialists of social and humanitarian professions, additional professional programs (advanced training programs and professional retraining programs) for representatives of institutions of the Eurasian Economic Union, public authorities, business and non-profit sector of the EAEU member states and other countries, a network program in the field of Eurasian integration of the Eurasian Network University (ESU), a Network CIS universities, Slavic universities, etc.

Представление и отношение студентов и магистрантов-социологов к выбранной специальности и будущей профессии

The article analyzes the attitude of sociology students towards their chosen specialty and future profession. The author conducted a sociological study among students studying sociology in leading universities of the country. It was found that girls, unlike boys, rely on the advice of their family, relatives, and friends when choosing their field of study and university. It was also established that master's students, unlike undergraduate students, rely primarily on the advice of friends and acquaintances when choosing their field of study and university, rather than the opinions of their family and relatives. Only about one third of the students believe that the profession of ‘sociologist’ is in demand on the job market. Thus, the majority of students believe that the knowledge, skills, and abilities obtained in the university correspond to the requirements of the modern market. It has been found that the quality of education in the university affects the attitude towards the chosen specialty and future profession. The lower the quality of teaching at the university, the more likely it is that the sociology student will become disappointed in the chosen specialty and profession. It has been established that only a small proportion of students who (unconsciously) enrolled in the sociology program decided to work in the field after completing their studies. It has been established that male students, unlike female students, strive to secure more prestigious (status-oriented) jobs in government or municipal service after graduation, despite their lower pay. For them, status is more important than money. On the other hand, female students aim to get jobs that are not necessarily prestigious, but better paying (such as firms conducting marketing research, etc.). For senior-level students and master’s degree students in sociology, the most important aspect of their future job as a sociologist is the opportunity to influence important decisions in their region or country. First year students aspire to become sociologists mainly because it is a well-compensated profession. Measures aimed at improving career guidance activities are proposed.

NCSA 2023 Presidential Address All Together Now: Sociology as a Liberal Art and a Liberating Practice

ABSTRACT In the curricula of colleges and universities in North America, the discipline of sociology is a relative newcomer. During scarcely more than a century since the founding of the first American degree programs in sociology, little agreement has emerged over what sociology actually is or does. Rather than regard this dizzying diversity as a source of confusion and consternation, though, might we ponder what would happen to us and our efforts if, instead, we were to view the many forms and aims of contemporary sociology as an irreplaceable advantage, and the practical pluralism that surrounds us in our work as a font of riches, embarrassing or not? Would not multiple visions thus be engaged at once? Could we not at last proceed, as the Beatles urged us, “all together now”?

Teachers Learning Classroom Sociology and Social Justice in Primary Education

Classroom sociology is a powerful discipline that helps students develop a sense of identity, achieve success, and experience well-being while building a strong community in the classroom. Teachers who can see beneath the surface and are aware of classroom sociology create a better and more just learning environment for learners, especially in primary education. This study focuses on improving teachers’ classroom sociology and social justice awareness. Researchers designed a four-week in-service classroom sociology program for primary school teachers. The program aimed to improve the teachers’ awareness and behaviours in terms of classroom sociology and social justice. This applied research was conducted using an in-service program intervention with 12 primary school teacher participants. Data was collected from in-class observations, teacher ethnography notes, participant evaluations, and classroom observations. Initially, participants were more focused on academic performance and teaching routines and largely ignored the social context of the classroom. At the end of the study, teacher participants’ awareness of classroom sociology and social justice increased, and both their attitudes towards their students and their teaching methods changed in a positive manner.

Carrying It On

Abstract Stanley Aronowitz was the author's professor in the PhD program in sociology at the City University of New York Graduate Center and influenced her intellectual development. This memorial essay presents reflections on the author's years working with Stanley as a student, and six ways that his influences were generalizable beyond, but also including, her particular experiences.

Integrated Sociology Programs: Five Pillars to Guide Blended Curriculum Design

The field of sociology is uniquely poised as a discipline that can be combined with specialized training in other fields. Many work sectors are undergoing systemic or cultural changes based on demographic, political, and economic trends. At the same time, many graduates of sociology programs do not find jobs as “sociologists” or academics and must seek additional skill sets to enter the job market. In this paper, we introduce the concept of Integrated Sociology Programs (ISPs), outlining five pillars of such programs: (1) a focus on sociology as a skill set, (2) integration with a non-academic industry, (3) applied experiences, (4) integrated Industry Advisory Boards, and (5) inclusion of career-focused outcomes. We present a case study ISP that integrates Medical Sociology with the emerging field of Population Health Management. While there are many innovative combinations of subfields of sociology and non-academic fields, our case study offers an example that informed the conception of the five pillars of ISPs.

TRAINING PHYSICIAN-SCIENTISTS IN SOCIAL AND BEHAVIORAL SCIENCE: INDIANA ADRD MEDICAL SCIENTIST TRAINING PROGRAM

Abstract There is a critical need to grow and strengthen the pipeline of physician scientists who have expertise in sociomedical and behavioral research and are dedicated to addressing the nation's challenges posed by Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRD). In 2021 The Indiana ADRD Medical Scientist Training Program (IADRD MSTP) was designed to meet this need and is built on the infrastructure of a robust portfolio of ADRD research, graduate training programs in medical neurosciences and sociology, and our existing MD-PhD program at Indiana University School of Medicine. The Aims of the IADRD MSTP are: 1) To recruit and train a competitive pool of diverse students who have an interest and commitment to social and behavioral research and patient care focused on ADRD; 2) To engage MD-PhD students early in mentored sociomedical and behavioral research that integrates IUs systems-based medical training curriculum with our cutting edge ADRD research that reinforces commitment and minimizes attrition of physician-scientists ADRD; and 3) To graduate students with dual MD-PhD degrees with strong methodological training in social and behavioral science and experts in ADRD who will be successful independent investigators at the best academic medical centers nationwide. The program includes rigorous didactic training in social, behavioral, and clinical research methods, with flexibility to allow students to focus their effort on one methodological area of interest; early initiation of ADRD research experiences with multidisciplinary teams of mentors and advisors; and the provision of educational experiences that enhance students' abilities to become independent researchers.

“You Make Your Own Luck”: Building Cultural and Social Capital in a Major-Based Career Course

This teaching note presents a required proseminar for sociology and criminology and justice studies majors. The American Sociological Association reported that about half of U.S. sociology program curriculum integrate career resources and about one-third offer a course. On a spring 2021 proseminar pilot self-assessment pretest, 18 students indicated it was important to them to get help on developing professional skills and materials. On that same pretest, most indicated that already developed materials would not support their professional needs for the next one to three years, and few were confident about soft skills related to networking, searching for jobs, or in translating major skills to job needs. Data based on proseminar assignment completion indicate students mitigated these shortfalls by engaging heavily in resume building, networking, and soft skills development. The author argues this work may mitigate first-generation inequities in both the type of jobs secured and related satisfaction.

How Intellectuals Perform: Meaning Making and Community in the Czechoslovak Philosophical Underground

This article moves beyond the conventional strictures of the sociology of intellectuals, which is preoccupied with intellectuals’ texts, power struggles and institutional trajectories. Instead, I propose to focus on intellectuals’ situated performances as a way into analysis of the dynamics of their relations and mutual influences. Drawing on theoretical resources from the Strong Program in cultural sociology, I argue that their performances have both social and cultural impact through disseminating ideas, facilitating the emergence of social ties and the production of new social selves in intellectuals’ audiences. I demonstrate the importance of situated intellectual performances in the case of unofficial philosophy in socialist Czechoslovakia.