Research at the faculty of social sciences

Current research news

Research in gender studies

Within the interdisciplinary field of gender studies, research is carried out on power relations, inequality and norms based on both societal theory and cultural theory perspectives.

Questions being studied by researchers linked to the subject include religion and family relations, masculinity and nationalism, gender and femininity creation within sports, inclusive design based on transtheoretical perspectives, and work relations and equality policy in the Global South.

Research in peace and development

Building peace in societies broken by prolonged periods of conflict is one of today's biggest challenges. Continued violence requires an close cooperation between military and civilian actors. This cooperation is of particular importance at the local level where all peacebuilding activities ultimately need to take root.

Research collaboration embraces topics such as development and security arenas in peace building, the role of the military after conflict and the relationship between state security actors and civilians.

Research in pedagogy

Pedagogy develops new knowledge about and for education, upbringing, teaching, learning processes, and knowledge creation. It deals with how people communicate, are formed and change in different societal institutions like preschool, school, family, higher education, treatment and working life, but also as a result of emerging digital media and new practices outside formal education.

Pedagogy contributes with explanations and understanding of what and how people learn, but also how different societal changes create new conditions for what values, knowledge and skills are carried on. Through this, pedagogy also contributes with necessary knowledge for the steering, management and development of pedagogical activities.

Research in police science

Police research at Linnaeus University is carried out in collaboration with other units at the university as well as with other Swedish higher education institutions that offer police education, and international collaboration partners. Police science is mainly found within police operations' practical applications of relevant fields within social sciences and law, but also in fields relevant to police work within organisational theory and criminology.

Police education at Linnaeus University has its primary operational base within first-cycle education and continuing professional development on commission from the Swedish Police. The main field of police work is relatively young and there is no professorship or third-cycle education linked to the education at the moment.

Currently, research is mainly carried out within criminal policy, youth's relation to police, interrogation techniques, legal aid, and practical skills connected to stress. The police education also takes part in development projects within crime prevention methods and collaboration, police IT applications, and new methods for weapons training.

Research in political science

Political science is the scientific study of politics. The research in political science at Linnaeus University focuses on the representative democratic chain from citizens via political rulers to the consequences of the decisions, through studies of political behaviour, parties, parliaments, corruption, and the EU. The Department of political science centers this research on three research environments: Varieties of Political Representation, Europe Research and Governance, Ethics, and Corruption (GEC).

Research in professional education and training

Professions position individuals in society and in organisations and provide them with cultural, economic, and social resources and deal with questions concerning upbringing, education, experiences and identity.

The field of research studies the significance of occupations and professions on societal, organisational and individual levels. The study of professions provides knowledge of how the division of labour in society and organisations develop.

Within professional education and training, research is being carried out on socialisation and identity processes, careers, incorporation of knowledge, competence and skills in professions. The public trust in and perception of status of various occupations and professions – as well as how practitioners of different professions experience this – is also studied.

Research in social work

Within social work at Linnaeus University there are six main research areas:

• Children, youth and family
• Migration, integration and diversity
• Social policy questions and welfare
• Evaluation
• Research on elderly
• Violence and gender

Research in sociology

The sociology research carried out at the department of social studies reflects the breadth of the subject. We work with qualitative ethnographic projects as well as quantitatively oriented questionnaire and experiment studies.

Our fields of research deal with, among other things, higher education, working life and labour market, age and life cycle, sustainable development, migration and integration issues, school and education, and youth and health.

Research in sport science

For us to meet the needs of our society – to understand and analyse the role and consequences of sports in relation to the society and the individual – and to in a qualitative manner develop social institutions, sports, and their associated organisations – research in sports science is required.

Sport is an important part of all sectors in society, and it is within this span that the sport science at Linnaeus University pursues its activities. In addition to the value to the individual health as well as public health, sport also contributes to education and integration in society. Sport is considered a significant growth factor and co-creator of new lifestyles, markets, and job opportunities, which also entails that we must be able to critically reflect on and highlight this field. On one hand, sport is part of the market economy and on the other hand it is supposed to contribute to democratic education and should be available and sustainable for all children in our society. The aim of the knowledge development being pursued within the field of sport science is that it should be made use of in the development of the activities in several areas. This concerns for instance areas such as coaching/leadership, sports management, talent development, sports medicine, prevention of the use of performance enhancing drugs, and the importance of outdoor recreation activities, physical activities and health for all kinds of groups in society.

The environment includes a variety of research groups, that for instance are related to external projects, collaborations with other knowledge environments at Linnaeus University, or to first-cycle courses and study programmes. The following groups are linked to first-cycle education, collaboration and research and they work in an operational manner in the daily activities within the faculty:

• Sports culture, development, and management (ID-KUL)
• Physical activity, health and sports medicine (FAHIM)
• Physical education and sport in transition

Colleagues are through this offered support within the environment in their scientific and educational competence development. The environment offers weekly research seminars, and in addition to discussions on research papers and applications, doctoral students are offered support in their research processes.