Introduction

This introductory chapter sets out the conceptual framework, key questions, and methodological approach of the volume titled Social Sciences in Türkiye: Research Ecosystem, Trends and Policy Recommendations. It first discusses the transformation of scientific production and priorities over the last half-century, highlighting how advances in information and communication technologies, changes in production and employment structures, demographic shifts, environmental crises, and new forms of inequality have rendered the social sciences not merely “interpretive” disciplines but critical fields of knowledge for the design and governance of complex social processes. The chapter then outlines the historical trajectory of the social sciences in Türkiye from the early Republican period to the present, noting how the expansion of higher education has led to institutional diversification, growth in publication output, and increasing internationalisation, while also drawing attention to persistent structural constraints such as limited research infrastructure, weak institutionalisation of interdisciplinarity, difficulties in accessing data, and performance regimes centred on publication counts. Against this background, the chapter formulates a set of core questions concerning the structural components of the social sciences research ecosystem in Türkiye, its thematic orientations, its quantitative and qualitative profile, and the scientific, financial, and bureaucratic challenges faced by researchers and institutions. Finally, it summarises the three main methodological pillars of the book (structural and institutional analysis; bibliometric and statistical analysis; thematic and qualitative analysis) and the structure of the subsequent chapters, emphasising that the volume aims not only to provide a diagnosis of the current situation, but also to offer a conceptual and analytical framework for strengthening the social sciences ecosystem in Türkiye.

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