Sociology: Theory, Methods, Marketing

For the attention of the sociological community: announcement of issue No. 2, 2023 of the journal

«Sociology: Theory, Methods, Marketing»

Issue No. 2 (electronic version - in early July) features:

OLENA KLYMENKO. The relationship between the dynamics of the spread of socially dangerous diseases and social inequalities and wartime conditions in Ukraine

The article analyses the theoretical aspects of research into the spread of socially dangerous diseases and the development of the sociology of health. Particular attention is paid to studying the influence of social inequalities on the spread of socially dangerous diseases in Ukrainian society. In particular, the author singles out unequal opportunities in access to medical care for various categories of patients with socially dangerous illnesses, stigmatisation, the presence of territorial and spatial constraints and the varying quality of medical services. The role of Russian military aggression in worsening the situation with the spread of socially dangerous diseases in the country is also analysed.

OLEKSANDR REZNIK. Populist orientations in Ukrainian society: origins and characteristics of their reproduction

The article studies populist orientations in Ukrainian society. In the author’s view, they are linked to the complex dynamics of the political development of Ukrainian society. As a result, a basic «transitional type» of personality emerged, characterised by psychological ambivalence – a dual, contradictory attitude towards the prospects of social development. During the full-scale Russian-Ukrainian war a radical reassessment of one’s own state and state institutions took place, so the antagonism between the population and the elite became temporarily irrelevant. However, post-war reconstruction carries the risks of a revival and growth of populist orientations, since economic hardship will sharpen intolerance of social injustice.

MYKOLA SHULHA. The guises of the phenomenon of expectations

The article examines the understanding of the phenomenon of expectations in the works of M. Weber, T. Parsons, A. Schütz, V. Vroom, H. Heckhausen, N. Luhmann, P. Berger, Luckmann, J. Habermas, Z. Bauman, E. Goffman and H. Garfinkel. The study showed that expectations are a complex, heterogeneous phenomenon that cannot be reduced to a single denominator. On the basis of a theoretical analysis of these works, four types of expectations are outlined: pre-intentional expectations, rational-activity expectations, communicative-role expectations and background expectations. A detailed analysis of the characteristics and features of each of these types of expectations is carried out.

VOLODYMYR REZNIK. Theoretical work in sociology: the post-positivist typology of J. Berger, M. Zelditch Jr. and D. Wagner

The article presents an explication of the post-positivist typology of theoretical work in sociology. J. Berger, M. Zelditch and D. Wagner argued for this typology in a number of their publications. They distinguished the following types: unit theories of social phenomena, theoretical / orienting strategies, working substantive / methodological strategies of theory building, theoretical research programmes and empirical models. In the theoretical context of sociological science the content of the notion of a scientific research programme was substantially expanded. The post-positivist typology of sociological theorising became a conceptual instrument for the empirical identification of trends and patterns of theoretical growth in sociology.

KYRYLO SHARAPOV, DAVID ANDERSON, OLHA BUROVA, VIKTORIIA NAZARENKO, OLENA POLISHCHUK. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on people with disabilities in Ukraine: the views of people with disabilities

The article presents the methodology of a study of people with disabilities, the problems of informing them about the COVID-19 pandemic and their access to medical care during the pandemic. The authors regard COVID-19 and the Ukrainian authorities’ responses to the pandemic as a kind of magnifying glass that makes it possible to better understand the everyday life of people with disabilities in Ukraine and to examine how things could and should be done differently in the context of the health care system or other emergencies. The authors’ conclusions outline the circumstances of entrenched economic and social deprivation faced by people with disabilities in Ukraine, following the pattern of inequalities such as gender, age, location and displacement. These intersect with an economic situation that the pandemic intensified rather than created.

MAKSYM KASIANCHUK, SERHO CHIKHLADZE, VITALII DZHUMA. Problems of the completeness and reliability of strategic information on MSM and trans people in the countries of Eastern Europe and Central Asia

The article analyses the results of an expert survey of activists from two communities vulnerable to HIV (men who have sex with men (MSM) and transgender people), as well as of public health professionals from seven countries of the Eastern Europe and Central Asia region, concerning the state of strategic information on MSM and trans people in the context of HIV at the national level (the quality, completeness, relevance and use of data). An analysis of the research literature on these communities is also used. The authors conclude that the completeness, relevance and use of strategic information in these countries largely depend on the availability of international resources of financial and technical assistance, as well as on the institutional capacity of the organisations of vulnerable communities, in particular in advocating for the interests of the communities they represent before state authorities.

TETIANA LIUBYVA, OLHA MAKSYMENKO. A theoretical and methodological understanding of the notion of reliability in sociology and adjacent fields of knowledge

The article examines interpretations of the notion of «reliability» in various fields of scholarly knowledge and social life, as well as the possible intersections of these interpretations with the understanding of reliability in sociology. Despite the fairly frequent use of the word «reliability» in everyday life, and despite the entirely «transparent» etymology of the Ukrainian word («dostovirnyi» — worthy, that is, worthy of belief), the scholarly literature still lacks an established definition of the term «reliability». The authors do not claim to cover the notion of reliability exhaustively; they do, however, hope for a further discussion of this topic. As a first step, they propose to consider the question of developing statistical indicators that would make it possible to assess quantitatively the reliability of the results of a sociological study.

YULIIA HETMAN. International experience in studying civic and political activity online

The article analyses new theoretical and methodological approaches and the results of international studies of civic and political online activity. It notes that today research interest is sharpened by the involvement of ever more citizens and the continuous expansion of the modes of political participation online in democratic countries. This international experience deserves scholarly attention, since it can also be applied in studying Ukrainian civic and political online activism.

The section SOCIOLOGICAL PUBLICATIONS: REFLECTIONS, REVIEWS features a review by O. Kutsenko of the monograph by Volodymyr Shelukhin «The point of divergence: sociology and economics in the shadow of their origins» (Kyiv: Lira-K Publishing House, 2023. 336 p. ISBN 978-617-520-465-8).