Research Department of Sociology
The research of the Department of Sociology at the Tilburg School of Social and Behavioral Sciences is rated excellent. With two scores of 5 for quality and relevance, a score of 4.5 for productivity and a score of 4 for the viability, sociological research in Tilburg belongs to the top in the Netherlands.
Sociological research Tilburg rated excellent
The research of the Department of Sociology focuses on aspects of social inequality and social cohesion in a comparative and dynamic perspective:
- Topics studies within the broader theme of social inequality are work, occupation, poverty, welfare and health.
- Topics studied within social cohesion are values, solidarity, religion, family, voluntary membership and social networks.
- The comparative perspective focuses on the comparison of (mostly European) countries, either from a macro-perspective or a micro-macro perspective.
- The dynamic perspective consists of comparing countries or social groups across historical time on the one hand, and comparing individuals over their personal life course on the other hand.
The program is motivated by substantive forces in society (i.e., processes of (post)modernization in western societies) and by methodological innovations (i.e., the development of dynamic and multilevel data and statistical models).
The research is organized in the program Social and Cultural Dynamics and consists of several larger research projects, such as the European Values Studies, ESPAnet, the Panel Study of Social and Cultural Dynamics, the Netherlands Kinship Panel Study, and the European Data Center for Work and Welfare.