Sociological Conceptualization of the Concept of “Driver” in the Context of Solving Problems of Development of Socio-Humanitarian Research at Russian Universities

Abstract

These days, management studies and domestic economic and sociological research frequently employ the term “driver.” Additionally, this concept’s cognitive capacity is significantly reduced by the lack of an agreed-upon definition. The article’s purpose is to demonstrate the concept of “drivers” heuristic potential for sociological analysis of issues related to the growth of sociohumanitarian research in Russian universities. Three components of the university’s social structure—academic ethics compliance, graduate school, and online academic communities— are regarded as internal drivers of socio-humanitarian research in Russian universities after firstconceptualizing the term “driver” from the standpoint of sociological theory. Study design. This is a pilot project that uses secondary data analysis as its foundation. The information theory developed by K. Shannon provides the theoretical framework that enables us to identify the characteristics of the driver that set it apart from other system mediating components. The frameworks of institutional analysis and the theory of social action are used in the process of sociological conceptualization. This enables us to draw attention to the social system’s motivator’s subjective element. Results. A general definition of the concept of a driver is given, and two of its key attributes — its requirement and information recoding — are emphasized. It is demonstrated that the sociological reading of the driver is linked to an evaluation of the degree of functionality of the effects of its operation on the social structure. The personal qualities of the individuals involved in its work define the nature of these consequences. In this sense, the driver can influence the social system’s growth as well as its stagnation. University research can be internally motivated by a variety of factors, such as upholding academic ethics standards, successfully implementing postgraduate programs, and founding and moderating online academic communities. The novelty of the results obtained is associated with the implementation of technical terms into socio-humanitarian knowledge, which made it possible to give a more rigorous definition of the concept of driver in relation to the analysis of social changes and processes. The article will be of interest to science administrators at universities.