Soviet Armenian society was cynical towards social sciences. Times changed, but the cynicism remained and it seems as though only sociology suffers from that cynicism. There is no luck for sociology.
In the beginning, the Communists considered sociology as a false science and called it the servant of imperialism. Thus, they prohibited it. Then they permitted it and tried to take advantage of it. Now Armenian political forces censure sociology. Thus, this social science is still framed in the minds of the public as a servant. The opposition thinks that it is the servant of the authorities, while pro-Russian authorities keep considering sociology as a tool used by the West with which it can distort Armenian public life. You get the impression that everyone is trying to consider sociology lawless. It can especially be noted that sociologists play their role. This science really didn’t have a leader in the social sciences system of Armenia, but before, the person standing up did not curse this field and the experts. Armenian society remembers sociologists and sociology from election to election. Nobody cares about public opinion when we are not in a pre-electoral period. The authorities, the opposition and many different interest groups are certain that they know what the people want without conducting any investigation. Before the elections, some Western organizations or funded local organizations request full investigations before the elections. That is when sociologists become targets. If they get an order from the West, they complete an “unclean” investigation and the only people who have any money in Armenia are the pro-government organizations or the organizations that form part of the authorities. Thus, they are considered “bought” by the authorities for conducting investigations upon request of the government.
Frankly, I don’t want to defend sociologists. They chose that profession. They are the ones trying to analyze social processes in the Armenia that has been going through the so-called “transition period” for the past 15 years, when it is really experiencing social, economic and demographic turbulences and the light at the end of the tunnel still can’t be seen. Quite possibly this unprecedented situation is the best period for the sociologist/investigator in the sense of conducting scientific researches. But Armenian society, including political activists and organizations, always ask a straightforward question and expect a straightforward answer and these days sociologists are forced to ask: “Who is going to be in parliament and in what proportions?” Manuk Gasparyan and many others will offend the sociologist when hearing such a question. The 35-member political party knows very well that it can’t form a majority in the future parliament, but if sociologists write that down, then they are “bought” and do what others tell them.
During the past couple of years, all of us (I am certain that everybody) know and talk about electoral fraud. But for reasons unknown, nobody stops to think that it is absurd to blame sociologists for this. What kind of answer do we expect to hear from them? The fact of what is going to happen? But in that case, they are correct with their predictions. It would be even more correct if political forces tried to understand why the people have become this “hopeless” when you have “Country of Law” with no history in politics, the United Labor Party founded in 2003, “Prosperous Armenia”, the Popular Party become a factor for the 2007 elections. Perhaps this is the by-product of the political activists. Today’s authorities and opposition have both abused the promises that sound pleasing to the crowd. They have abused it to the point that it is simply absurd. It would be childish to get offended by public opinion or the people who study public opinion. Sociologists can’t study something that doesn’t exist. Armenian political parties love to measure one another by their ratings when doctors of political sciences can’t even state the differences in the plans of their political parties and others. The Ministry of Justice can’t even keep count of them.
Elections seldom happen in Armenia. The people are actually paid attention to, either as an electorate, or simply to come out to the streets after elections. Elections are a time when Armenian deputies fix themselves up. We all try to appear innocent. We can get excited and say any bad thing we want to say about any field of science. To be honest, I myself don’t know the answer to the question Is it possible to believe the sociological data while living in an irrational society? Based on those investigations, the “Prosperous Armenia” and Republican Parties have the highest popular ratings. Certain experts consider the same. The best answer to the question “Can we believe in the sociological research on the upcoming elections or not” I have heard is from television director Ara Shirinyan.
“Of course, we have to believe because as reasonable people, we don’t express our opinion during the research; rather we describe what will happen after the elections”.
Let’s think about this.