VIII Sociological Grushin Conference

«SOCIOLOGIST 2.0: A PROFESSION IN TRANSFORMATION» Moscow, April 18-19, 2018

 

The landscape of the social research industry has been changing dramatically. There are new methods of research emerging and sweeping the industry that are based on collection, integration and analysis of Big Data; Google and Facebook polls have long ceased to be unique and uncommon; keeping track of the actual behavior of the masses has become a substitute for collecting survey declarations of intent; theorists are serious about the advent of a new “post-Gallup” era of social research. Customers now refuse to accept information on social reality alone, sociologists are expected to provide them with viable solutions. There are brand-new competences added to the profession of a social researcher, which is becoming multidisciplinary and polyfunctional, combining many different capacities ranging from a social scholar to a graphic designer and programmer, from a Big Data analyst to an advisor and social engineer. What is the scope of the professional identity of a 21^st century sociologist? A drastic renewal of the profession is the key theme of the VIII Sociology Grushin Conference.

We invite representatives of the research industry and related industries as well as all interested users of sociological information to discuss the development of society, industry and profession in the context of the following areas of focus:

1. Key trends in social development that influence the research industry and contribute to the change in the subjects and objects of research, customers and stakeholders, goal setting and research techniques.
2. Tailoring of classical approaches developed by Gallup, Noelle-Neumann, Grushin and other titans of the 20^th century to the new emerging realities – is it possible and needed at all? Or perhaps digitalisation, internetisation and the advance of social media and Big Data will eventually lead to fundamental transformations and blackballing of the classics?
3. Quality of research in new studies and for new researchers. Is it possible for the quality to become a common denominator for both traditionalists and innovators, who have methods, techniques, volumes and pace of research standing between them?
4. Image of a sociologist and pollster in the new world and an up-to-date competence portfolio. What will be required of a researcher of tomorrow – skills of communication, presentation and visualization, programming, management, or creative thinking? Or probably it is high time a researcher gave way to “robo-sociologists” and their newly-minted masters – programmers?
5. Perspectives for cooperation with related industries (such as Big Data aggregation and analysis, IT, design, marketing, PR, event industry, etc), scope of the professional identity and opportunities for synergy.

Apart from the main theme, the conference programme includes several traditional areas of focus: research methodology, infrastructure of the industry and organisational features of professional community, special sections organised by our regular partners, and workshops.

The conference programme is drawn up on the basis of applications for event organisation (sections, roundtables, etc) and applications for speeches or reports approved by the Programme Committee (approval is based on their correspondence to the theme and key areas of the conference, and their topicality). Application deadline is February 19, 2018. The final decision on including submitted events or speeches into the programme is to be announced on or prior to March 5, 2018.

Registration period for participants and abstracts is from March 5 to March 31, 2018.

The conference traditionally bears the name of Boris Andreyevich Grushin (1929-2007), a prominent Russian sociologist who pioneered public opinion polling in the USSR and established the first national polling network, which gave birth to VCIOM and most of the existing pollsters in Russia and former Soviet states.

The Grushin Sociology Conference is held by VCIOM together with Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation within the framework of the Third Russian Research Week (RRW-2018). Do not miss the event of the year in the research industry!