Research

The aim of this project, covering seven countries, is to study the framing of the European project and Europeanization in the traditional and new media and its representations in public opinion. We will look at this issue in a longitudinal perspective through focusing on the transformations of the European media landscape from the turn of the 21st century to the present day. The main focus will be placed on the representations of pro- and anti-EU arguments in the media discourses, as well as on the study of the elite-media-population triangle to gain a comprehensive understanding of the subject matter. Among the major methods are content- and discourse analysis, population survey, elite interviews and civic discussion. The project will be implemented under prof. György Lengyel’s professional leadership in the Centre for Empirical Social Research.

This discussion is the fifth of a series of audiovisual recordings dedicated to a 4-year long EU-funded project, titled MEDIATIZED EU, with the aim to shed light and communicate the research findings and recommendations to a broader audience. This episode will help our audience – policymakers, experts, journalists, and the general public – to understand the findings of the Hungarian team’s desk research, media analysis and elite interview analysis on the country’s perceptions towards Europeanization.

The home page of the project: https://mediatized.eu/
Cordis page: https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/101004534
Newsletters of the project: https://mediatized.eu/2021/07/29/newsletter-1/
Social media contacts:
https://twitter.com/MEDIATIZED_EU
https://www.facebook.com/Mediatized-EU-169997621293122/
https://soundcloud.com/user-679594935
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCB_IjxPqwQS_eNrNUKsJI0w

The Centre for Empirical Social Research (CESR) at the Institute of Sociology and Social Policy of the Corvinus University of Budapest participated in the INSPIRES (Innovative Social Policies for Inclusive and Resilient Labour Markets in Europe) international research project between 2013 and 2016. INSPIRES was co-funded by the European Commission under the Framework Programme 7.

The main goal of the Inspires project was to contribute to the resilience and inclusiveness of labour markets in European countries. It comparatively assessed the resilience and inclusiveness of labour markets in European countries, it identified innovative policies that have contributed to resilience and inclusiveness and it analyzed strategies of policy learning that facilitate the development and transfer of these innovations within and across European nation states. In order to do so, it analyzed in-depth the evolution of labour markets policies, employment policies and social policies. Moreover, it qualitatively and quantitatively assesses the labour market position of vulnerable groups from 2000 onwards. INSPIRES covered eleven countries from all European welfare traditions: Mediterranean, Eastern-European, Anglo-Saxon, Scandinavian and the continental regimes. The consortium consisted of a multidisciplinary team of scholars that focused on sociological issues of employment and social policy.

The Centre for Empirical Social Research (CESR) participated in the “IntUne” (Integrated and United? A Quest for Citizenship in an Ever Closer Europe) FP 6 international research project between 2006 and 2009. The Enec project (European National Elites and the Crisis – ENEC) was conceived on the bases of this previous one and investigates attitudes toward European identity, scope of governance and representation among elites and the general public. Building on the previous research provided the opportunity to take into account the effect of the economic crisis when addressing changes in attitudes and to make comparisons between different member states of the EU (former and current participants of the research).

The global economic crisis affecting countries of the European Union since 2008 has had, and possibly would have important consequences for the process of European integration. In those countries more affected by the crisis, the EU provided assistance to cope with the situation. This assistance, however, has been conditional on the implementation of austerity measures by domestic authorities. These interventions may lead to public disapproval in these countries, citizens may feel that the EU institutions not only do not respond to their needs, but they are also governed by the dictates of political authorities and institutions over which they could exercise no control.

This research project provided the background knowledge to a better understanding and to the eventual redesign or maintenance of the European integration process, and how it was shaped by national elites – the Hungarian being one of them. The project, held between April 2014 and March 2017, was financed by the Hungarian Scientific Research Fund .

In early July 2024, the first MIGWELL journal article was published in the English edition of Demography. The concept paper of more than fifty pages provides a thorough overview of the relevant theoretical frameworks of migration and well-being and the interrelations between the two concepts.

Németh, Á., Göncz, B., Kohlbacher, J., Lengyel, Gy., Melegh, A., Németh, Zs., Reeger, U. and Tóth, L. (2023), Theoretical framework for the study of the two-way relationship between migration and subjective well-being. Demográfia, 66(5), English Edition, 19-69. https://www.demografia.hu/en/publicationsonline/index.php/demografiaenglishedition/article/view/983.