IMU Department of Sociology hosted the Social Structure Research Summer School Program for Graduate Students and held a training titled “Data Literacy in Social Structure Research” as part of the program on 6-7 September 2021. The training was designed as a vocational training program for graduate students and researchers and was offered free of charge to 30 participants from different universities.
The instructors of the training program for graduate students included Assoc.Prof. Lütfi SUNAR (Istanbul Medeniyet University), Dr. Uğraş Ulaş TOL (Ya-Da Foundation), Asst.Prof.M. Erkan KARABEKMEZ (Istanbul Medeniyet University), Sadettin DEMIREL (Data Literacy Association), and Prof. Dr. Yunus KAYA (Istanbul University). It was highly appreciated that the instructors, each of whom carried out important studies in their own field, shared their knowledge with the students.
The program was started with the greeting of Prof. Dr. Mahmut Hakkı AKIN, Faculty Member and Head of Sociology Department. Prof. Dr. AKIN thanked the professors and university administration who contributed to the program and concluded his speech by stating that the two-day training will introduce the theory, methods and techniques used in the field, and thus will pave the way for researchers to make more qualified applications in this direction.
After the opening speech, Assoc. Prof. Lütfi SUNAR, Istanbul Medeniyet University Faculty Member, emphasized that the evaluation that neglects change is the most important problem of social structure analysis. He stated that relational analyzes are needed rather than descriptive analyzes in order to see the level and speed of social change and to identify the areas in which it is related. SUNAR also stated that the biggest problem stems from the inability to examine the social case in detail. He further added that this program is also important for vocational education and touched upon the importance of directing graduate students to data literacy.
In the program, the participants were presented with the basic theoretical approaches about the change in social structure, the research that will enable the analysis of Turkey’s social structure and its components, and a framework that will guide them to new perspectives. The two-day programs included practical courses as well as theory courses. Data collection and analysis, utilization of different data sources, data modeling methods and visualization of data with different techniques were carried out. Participants had the opportunity to practice what they learned through practice lessons. The experiences of the trainers and the participants, the theoretical and methodological discussions made the lessons very interactive.
On the last day of the program, which continued between 6-7 September, the participants who successfully completed the program were presented with their certificates by Assoc. Prof. Lütfi SUNAR.
