The potential of reflective technology in the study of a changing society.

Abstract

Fundamental changes are taking place at all levels of life in modern society at a dramatic rate. They are set by the rapid development of digital and information-communication technologies. People have found themselves in a new temporal age. Is this situation subject to study by traditional empirical methods? The sensitivity analysis of popular empirical methods shows that standardized survey methods and in-depth interviews do not reveal changes in the texture of the transforming social reality, in the characteristics of different social groups. Moreover, these methods are resource-intensive, require significant financial, emotional, and time expenditures, and do not provide transparency and reliability of results. The global changes in the country that began during the Gorbachev era of perestroika have modernized the search for relevant and effective methods of studying transformative reality. It was then that we launched the methodology of open questions, including a joint project with mathematicians to create an informationanalytical system DISCANT, established contacts for regular surveys with the Academy of Sciences and GPB named after M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin. The aim of the article is to unlock the potential of the reflexive research technology developed by the authors based on open questions, providing its modules, methodological and substantial resources accumulated with its help. The structure of the article is organized as a consistent and brief presentation of the main modules of the technology, among them: typology of open questions, reflexive survey methods covering a wide range of social spheres, implemented empirical projects, and effective computer system DISCANT of mixed research support. In conclusion, the principal capabilities of the technology to respond to a number of social challenges are illustrated: effective empirical research in a time of transformation, development of sociological thinking, expansion of the system of didactic principles, mastering integral empirical experience.