The Social Trends Research Unit is responsible for the planning and implementation of the Foundation’s fundamental and applied social science research projects. Additionally, it ensures publications of related scientific findings, as well as maintaining connections and collaborations with Hungarian and international research institutions and universities related to Századvég’s research areas.
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The Századvég Foundation founded the Social Trends Research Unit in 2023. Its main mission is to design and execute the Foundation’s fundamental and applied research projects in the social sciences, to participate in the fieldwork, data collection and data processing, and to provide research and expert support for the implementation of projects. The research unit edits academic publications, articles, volumes and brochures. It also participates academic life, both nationally and internationally, including maintaining contacts and collaborating with Hungarian and international research institutes and universities via conference participation and joint publications. The research unit’s staff members are involved in teaching, academic organisation, academic management and the editing and coordination of several academic journals.
Director
Sociologist, Doctor of Sociological Sciences. He wrote his doctoral thesis on research methodology, and is currently head of the Department of Social Research at the Institute of Sociology at Pázmány Péter Catholic University as an associate professor. He is Director of the Századvég Foundation and Századvég Konjunktúrakutató Zrt. and Head of the Social Research Division.
He was a youth researcher and then head of department at the National Institute for Youth Research, Mobility, and the National Institute for Family and Social Policy between 2002 and 2014. He has been working with Századvég since 2012. His main research interests include research methodology, public opinion research, social stratification, mobility and youth sociology. He has been involved in all six phases of the large-scale youth research between 2000 and 2020, and has worked as a youth pillar leader in a SROP (TÁMOP) project.
He is the editor of Századvég Riport, a member of the editorial board of Századvég periodical, and, from 2021, editor-in-chief of the quarterly Y.Z. periodical published by the National Youth Council.
In 2008, he was awarded a Ministerial Commendation by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labour for his outstanding work in the field of youth research.
A large and widely available dataset alone does not provide a basis for understanding the complex social phenomena of the 21st century. For sociological imagination, in the world of complex social systems, networks and new media, it is particularly important to have a comprehensive and multifaceted knowledge of social and communication theory as a basis for designing research projects and interpreting outcomes.
The dynamics of changes in media technology, as well as the under-researched cultural and social approach to media use, also justify systematic and complex research into the relationship between people and media. The media perform diverse functions in modern societies, playing a central role in social inclusion and cultural mediation, and its research provides substantial data for decision-making.
Resilience, defined as the flexible ability to resist or adapt, is closely associated with issues of social solidarity from a sociological perspective. The COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated the critical importance of maintaining the functionality of social relationships and resources during times of crisis is, thereby highlighting the need to address and develop at the individual, community and societal levels.
Research projects examining social mobility explore changes in social status and the life course of individuals, measuring mobility across various dimensions (e.g. education, occupation, income, etc.). Our research unit aims to investigate how individuals improve their position, the evolution of the perception of mobility, and the expected and equitable mechanism for “repositioning”.
The aim of social stratification research projects is to classify members of society into groups that are subordinate to each other according to specific criteria. In addition to purely material factors, we are also developing a stratification model which, departing from the previous hard-variable models, describes the current divisions in Hungarian society using a holistic approach.
Research projects in the Sociology of Values aim to understand the values that influence social behaviors, thoughts and consumption habbits and to study their social roles, formation and transformation. Our research unit aims to explore trends of changing values and the impact of values on action through specific research projects.
The non-profit sector and volunteering play a vital role in social life and community development. Therefore, thorough research is essential for decision-makers at both local and national levels. The national volunteering survey required by the National Volunteering Strategy to be carried out every 5 years was conducted by our Foundation in 2013, 2018 and 2023, and we have also carried out several surveys through questionnaires, interviews and focus groups to gather the opinions of the Hungarian non-profit sector.
Our research unit places great importance on the family as the fundamental unit of society. As such, we continually monitor the situation of families and public policy measures implemented to support them. Through our quantitative and qualitative research projects, we gain insight into evolving attitudes towards families and the impact of policies on family life.
Differences between urban and rural areas have become extremely complex, to which relevant policy choices need to adapt, and which means that research needs to take a more complex approach to exploring the linkages. To this end, our research unit has already carried out several small and large-scale studies in the field of urban and rural sociology, using both qualitative and quantitative methods.
Texts from a diverse range of sources are an adequate source for the study of society, culture and politics, and the main tool for their processing is the trained researcher with a hermeneutic approach, which can nowadays be supported by an increasing number of analytical software tools. The staff members of our research unit have extensive experience in the comprehensive analysis of textual datasets in social sciences for close to a decade.
The theory of secularization provides only a partial interpretative framework for the decline of institutional religiosity and the rise of individual religiosity. Recognising that Christianity remains a key component of the cultural identities of European nations, our research unit regards the study of religion and Christian culture as a perpetual research topic. Additionally, individuals display a diverse range of beliefs and values, with various levels of connection to churches, religion, God or even the community of religious individuals. These connections may range from strictly religious to non-religious, with many “fluid” categories and combinations of ways of life in between.
Although it is fashionable to attach a generational dimension to the interpretation of social behaviour and consumption patterns, pointing out generational specificities must go beyond the use of stereotypes for marketing purposes. Generational experiences acquire significance when individuals live alongside other generations, engage in horizontal and vertical transfers of historical experiences and social inventions, and gain meaning through the combined study of these processes.
The interdisciplinary cooperation of history, sociology and communication studies is the overarching framework that makes the research on the social changes of the 20th century and the discursive selection mechanisms of the historical “semi-history” quite multifaceted. The legitimacy of hybrid approaches is particularly evident in cases where personal and family memories, as well as political discourses, favour fragmented and seemingly contradictory conclusions and value judgements.
Hungarian history offers a multitude of source material for individuals, regardless of whether their national identity is shaped by collective traumas or events, people, and deeds that invoke a sense of pride. Like all questions of identity, the diversity of national identity(ies) is a subject matter that ultimately goes back to the power of value choices to (re)constitute social reality.
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