1. MERC’s General Objectives:

Historically, MERC has given special consideration to political science and international relations. While it is important to maintain interest in these two areas, sociology has been the epistemological and methodological gateway for many of the social sciences. Taking that into account, the next stage in the development of MERC will emphasize research and analysis in the following areas:

Research on public life

The public interest and the public sphere, daily life, and participation vis-à-vis private life and individual freedoms are core areas of interest.

Research on development policies

This includes research on public services such as health, population, economic and administrative public policies, law-making and the passage of laws, and development in general.

Research on knowledge and educational capacities

This includes research on educational capacities and socialization, including citizenship, the nature of academic institutions (universities and schools), use of IT, academic curricula, and the role of various agents in the educational process.

Research on social issues

Including research on gender, the family, old-age, adolescence, and childhood.

Research on regional and international relations

This includes research on economic and diplomatic relations, post-war and post-conflict situations, the psychological and physical impact of conflicts, and paths of reconstruction.

In order to promote interest in all of these issues, MERC will focus its training activities on these themes and will facilitate the process of meeting, interaction, and exchange of information through seminars, lectures, joint research projects, and exposure to international and local institutions working in the these areas.

2) MERC’s Specific Objectives:

a) Providing training on comparative research

We seek to broaden comparative studies in the social sciences. MERC holds that internationalizing comparative social sciences, as underlined by the late Norwegian political scientist and sociologist Stein Rokkan, is essential to their development, particularly in transitional societies. A careful look at general research trends and published studies during the last ten years in the region points to the retreat of trans–cultural, social, and national comparative studies. This general shortfall reflects the increasing politicization of knowledge in our region and the general deterioration in standards of comparative studies undertaken by regional and international institutions. In this sense, Turkey plays an essential role within MERC by providing a natural framework for transnational comparative studies.

b) Encouraging training on quantitative research and public opinion

MERC encourages the further development of research using quantitative methods.

c) Enhancing training on qualitative studies

MERC seeks to develop better qualitative research in the social sciences in the region. Given the difficulties faced by quantitative researchers and the declining credibility of statistics in some parts of the region, we encourage qualitative research particularly in the study of topics such as corruption, violence, crime, religion, sex, and freedom.

 Issues such as poverty and crime, for example, could benefit from clearer ‘qualitative’ definitions, such as the need to distinguish between ‘basic needs’ in studies of food, housing, and clothing on the one hand, and basic needs in health and educational services on the other. Qualitative studies often provide greater in-depth nuances than do quantitative studies.

d) Enhancing individual and collaborative research

MERC seeks to further both individual and collaborative research. It is important to link training with the objective of discovering promising new individuals in the field and at the same time encourage new people to join collaborative research efforts among more established scholars.

e) Disseminating research

MERC strives to make research and researchers more connected across the region.

Research-in-progress and research results should become as widely available as possible through the use of electronic facilities and databases. MERC will invest in a database that ensures effective follow-up on program participants and alumni and maintains contact and communication among them.