فصلنامه مطالعات و تحقیقات اجتماعی در ایران
سال دهم شماره 4 (زمستان 1400)

Today young Iranians in a world, different from what was experienced by the previous generation, recognize themselves and build their identity. On the one hand, family ties and traditional methods of identification, which were mainly passive and based on attributive factors such as ethnicity and religion, are weakening, and on the other hand, other factors affecting youth identity due to the needs of network society and the spread of technology. Although we all experience this process more or less, young people are more exposed to such changes in their identity than any other social groups. The present study aims to examine the sources that shape today's young identity and their understanding and interpretation of their identity.

The present study is a qualitative research. In this study, 19 interviews were conducted among 18 to 28-year-old students of the University of Tehran. The data of survey have been collected based on profound interview technique, analyzed through a Thematic Analysis.

Young people represent a social group that is perhaps the most involved in the consumption of new communication and new media, one of the most important reasons for which it is the nature of diversity and their up-to-date spirit. Another reason for this is the familiarity of young people with the information related to the use of these media. That's why today's young identity is so much more complex and obscure than it was in previous generations, because as the information age changes and there is a need to be present in a networked society, young people have changed and they have more power and freedom of choice in identity and representation. Thus, the generation that is formed in this space and has lived experience and reaches the consciousness and mentality of the generation, has different values and identities and different versions of action, and draws and interprets the world and the "self" in a different way. The thematic network based on 3 main themes; Fluidity, Rethinking and Egocentricity Individualism has been stated in youth’s comprehension of Identity. Based on the findings of the research, the youth has reconsidered the role of religion and ethnicity and redefined the way they look at these two sources, but their impact on the meaning and identity of today's young is reduced, but the sense of belonging to Iran and Iranian civilization is stronger in the youth identification process is involved.

 in conclusion, youth have not yet reached the collective and active subjects in order to redefine their position in the society, and their resistance and opposition to the values of the dominant institutions of society has not become collective, targeted and planned demands. Conceptions such as frustration, sense of social and political powerlessness, weakness of pragmatism, weakness of social responsibility, weakness in long-term planning abilities and lack of collective demands is true in most of the young people studied, and the extension of this feature is also evident in cyberspace.

The growing tendency of health service consumers to use a variety of complementary and alternative medicine has led to dramatic changes in the experience of the illness and its socio-economic attachments. Reflexive behaviors that are observed with the normalization of alternative medicine have not been thoroughly studied in social research in Iran. The present study uses narrative analysis to study the trend of such behaviors in retelling the experience of patients. For this purpose, twenty-nine narrative interviews with patients with extensive experience in this field were selected based on five criteria, that are, (1) “the health status” of those who have sought for or tried any types of alternative medicine, which also implies the reason for their referral in most cases, (2) “type of alternative medicine” to which they have referred, which may be either one or more courses of treatment with possibly different medicines, (3) “the organizational type” of the provider of medical services, whether academic, popular, based on religious beliefs, etc., (4) “age” categorized as young or middle-aged, and (5) “gender”. The interviews were rewritten and compiled as coherent linear narratives, from the beginning of the patient’s story to its end. After that, the narratives were coded by thematic analysis. The results showed that “feeling of powerlessness” was one of the most frequent themes in the narratives of the experience of illness. Major dimensions of the feeling of powerlessness can be seen as (A) institutional powerlessness, which is summarized as (A-1) powerlessness in prosecuting medical malpractice, (A-2) dissatisfaction with hospital services, (A-3) inequality in access to health care, and (A-4) insulting the private sphere and personal information, (B) weakness in the narrative of the illness, which is described by two subcategories (B-1) denial of the patient’s symptoms, and (B-2) the specialized language of physicians, and (C) powerlessness in the prescribing process, categorized as (C-1) being unaware of what the drugs might do, i.e., their side effects or in a number of cases what the patients call drug addiction, and (C-2) having an unbalanced relationship with the physicians. Reviewing these findings, the present article addresses how the “feeling of powerlessness” affects the experience of illness and uses Ulrich Beck’s idea of the late modernity to show how patients’ powerlessness is in part the inevitable representation of physicians’ powerlessness due to the faltering position of science. The findings also show that without considering patients’ understanding of the treatment process, heterogeneous power practices underlie the failure of health policies towards complementary and alternative medicine. Furthermore, managing this field in the interests of maximum health is possible only by recognizing the patients’ need to have a balanced relationship with the medical staff and briefing the patient on the side effects of the prescribed drugs.

The change in the nature of social media and the expansion of cyberspace in the field of social networks such as Instagram for cyberspace users, especially women with a visual nature in an informal and attractive space, has played a significant role in building their personal identity and lifestyle. The purpose of this study is to investigate the reason and motivation of the presence of these women, how they communicate and influence their followers and how the process of identifying them changes with their activities as producers and consumers in this new space. The main issue is that female users of the Instagram social network know the nature and what their personal identity is before working on the social network (a priori identity), then their personal identity by being and working in this new Instagram space and time and space communication (identity in Exposure) and how they define the changes and consequences of the process of identifying themselves and other women (posterior identity). Therefore, these women are trying to show their distinctive and attractive identity and image by working in this network and in this way, a sense of belonging and role-playing is created in them in different groups.

The present study has collected data with the existing conceptual literature in the field of theoretical approaches to identity, with a qualitative approach and using the underlying method of Strauss and Corbin, and with a semi-structured interview technique. 30 active Instagram users (female) were selected by Snowball sampling method and targeted and interviewed in person and online.  

The findings represent four main categories, including "choosing to show oneself in the global female bio", "Instagram, the field of interaction with the influential audience", "reconstruction of meaning and process identification" and "reconstruction of interactions in the field of private life". The core category in this study is "integrated and postmodern emerging identity" that encompasses other categories. Also, in the category of process identification, three types of antique identity types, face-to-face identity and posterior identity have been formed. The component of types is a priori the product of certain frameworks such as education and employment, while the component of identity in the face of voluntary expression and posterior identity is fluidity and change.

In general, in order to answer the research questions, the above results show that in most cases, the acquisition of identity for Iranian women users before working on Instagram (former identity) has been through education or employment in the community and less want the opportunity to implement informal identities they have had and traditional female roles, although this identity has sometimes been internalized by gender beliefs and the rules of the family institution. With the proliferation of identity-building resources and the entry of social networks, including Instagram, these women have the opportunity to perform and informally represent arbitrary, created identities that take the form of a combination of traditional (maternal, housekeeping) and modern female roles (identity in confrontation). Over time, from their continuous and daily membership and activity, they have been able to constantly rethink their position and identity in order to strengthen their purpose and agency, and to build their own self, which is only in the form of defined frameworks in a set. It should not be a specific time and on the other hand it should not be free and unrestrained (posterior identity). Also, women who follow themselves should be clearly influenced by this.

The activities of the scientific association in the academic space as a multi-level phenomenon has an extensive theoretical literature in the form of individual actions to interactions in organizational structures as well as organizational structure independent of individuals. The purpose of this study is to investigate the functions and dysfunctions of student scientific associations at Ferdowsi University of Mashhad.

The research is applied in terms of purpose and qualitative in terms of approach. The research method used to analyze and interpret the findings is thematic analysis and also descriptive-explanatory analysis. According to the careful analysis of the performance and conditions of the scientific associations of the university and to extract its strengths and weaknesses, in-depth interviews were designed with the cultural director, students of the scientific associations and the administrative expert of the scientific association of Ferdowsi University of Mashhad (24 interviews). In interpreting interviews with experts, the main purpose is to analyze and compare the content of experts' knowledge. Coding was done manually with tabulation. A total of 290 codes were extracted from the interview texts, of which 129 are related to the positive functions (advantages and strengths) and 161 are to the malfunctions (issues and problems (of the scientific associations.

The findings of the present study are discussed separately in three sections: benefits, problems and solutions to the problems of the scientific community. These findings showed that gaining dignities are always among the most important social privileges that stimulate individual and collective action that provide a form of volunteer participation and activity. There are many issues regarding the student scientific associations stemming from poor communication, poor structural supervision, poor management of officials, legal ambiguities and the personal interest of the members that have resulted in serious disregard for them.

By examining the history of scientific associations, the type of student activity has shifted from cultural and social concerns to individual concerns; So that Students' top priorities are to further evaluate the benefits of working according to self-interest, regardless of its overall goals and structural plans in scientific associations. The solutions offered are generally stated to solve the problems of the organization and the by-laws. Attention has been paid to the type and level of interaction and internal and external relations, such as creating interaction between the cultural director, the vice chancellor of the faculty and students, using cyberspace in advertisements and information, creating a communication channel to transfer experiences of previous groups, etc. The main concern of many interviewees is financial issues; the solution to this problem is the tendency to financial self-sufficiency through the provision of financial sponsors, holding internal and external university programs, preparing a financial contract with the university and selling scientific research achievements.

Development is a process that leads to human domination of nature and the environment, and changes in lifestyle, social relationships, different emotional conditions, and new attitudes. In addition, in developing countries such as Iran, there are problems such as growth in crime commitment which is the result of the confrontation between modernity and adherence to the past traditions and customs. Hamedan province, like other provinces of the country, follows the rule of center-periphery, so that most economic activities are concentrated in Hamedan city. Meanwhile, all the cities of Hamedan province each have different potentials for investment and sustainable development. On the one hand, this situation has caused population movements to the city of Hamedan and on the other hand, it has caused the underdevelopment of other cities in the province. The present study aims to investigate the relationship between development and crime in social, cultural and economic dimensions in Hamadan province by secondary analysis method. The collected data were analyzed using Excel, GIS and SPSS software and different levels of development of the cities of Hamadan province were determined by TOPSIS method. The statistical population in this study is 9 cities of Hamedan province, namely Hamedan, Malayer, Nahavand, Asadabad, Tuyserkan, Bahar, Kaboudar Ahang, Razan and Famenin. Due to the fact that the size of the statistical population is limited (9 cities of the province) and also the number of samples and the statistical population are equal, the census method was used. In terms of development, the city of Hamedan has a favorable situation, the cities of Malayer, Bahar and Nahavand are semi-privileged, the cities of Tuyserkan and Kaboudar Ahang have a low status and the cities of Famenin, Asadabad and Razan have been deprived. In terms of development rank, Hamedan, Malayer and Bahar counties had the highest and Razan, Asadabad and Famenin counties had the lowest development rank among the counties of Hamedan province, respectively. Also, in terms of general crime levels, Hamedan, Malayer and Tuyserkan cities had the highest crime rate and Famenin, Razan and Kaboudar Ahang cities had the lowest crime rate among the cities of Hamedan province, respectively. The findings showed that there is a significant direct relationship between development (and its social, cultural and economic dimensions) and crime (and its social, cultural and economic dimensions). Although economic, social, and cultural development has its benefits, if it is uneven and unequal, it has negative consequences, including an increase in crime .Therefore, it can be said that development in the cities of Hamadan province has ominous fruit of the spread of crime. In this regard, it is necessary to analyze the place of criminal policies and policies in macro development programs, crime reduction as one of the main issues in achieving development goals and greater synergy and convergence of criminal policies and development to be considered by planners and policy makers.

Fertility decline has become global in recent decades, and researchers are seeking to discover various factors associated with fertility changes in different societies. Accordingly, fertility theories have been proposed to explain fertility patterns, but these studies have focused almost exclusively on the role of women and their fertility patterns, and the role and participation of men in the process of fertility decline has rarely been considered. In Iran, men are often overlooked in fertility studies. Given the lack of a study on men's socio-economic determinants affecting fertilty patterns, the fundamental question is ‘what is the impact of men's socio-economic characteristics on fertility intension and behavior in Tehran? There are two theoretical approaches to the effect of men's socioeconomic characteristics on fertility. One approach states that increasing men's socioeconomic status increases fertility. In this approach, it is assumed that men with a higher level of education due to the accumulated human capital, higher level of income and better job prospects have a better chance of providing for the family expenses with more children. Another theoretical approach argues that increasing men's socioeconomic status reduces fertility. Increasing men's human capital may reduce the demand for childbearing or change childbearing preferences and replace quality with quantity.

Data was extracted from a survey of married lifestyle and its determinants. The statistical population of this survey was married people in Tehran. The population of Tehran in 2011 according to the data of the Statistics Center of Iran was 8153974 people who lived in 4336 district and 4262047 of them were married (results of the 2011 census). The sample size is based on sampling error at 95% confidence level and with sampling error of 0.05 based on Cochran's formula is 384 people and considering that Cochran's formula is a simple random sampling formula, taking into account the design effect of 2 and coefficient The unresponsiveness adjustment is considered to be 0.25 of the sample size of 1728 and has been increased to 2000, taking into account the possible decline of the sample households (approximately equal to 0.15, proportional to this rate in the family census of the Statistics Center of Iran). The sampling method is multi-stage clusters and the samples were selected from 50 district of Tehran. The questionnaires were reviewed by the project manager, unreliable questionnaires were discarded and finally 1736 questionnaires were selected. 844 samples of this survey, were men, and 619 married men that their wives were in fertility age, have been analyzed.

The results showed that the average number of intended children was 1.89 and the average number of children ever born was 1.37. 25.1% have no children and 47.3% have 2 and more children ever born. While only 3.8% intend to have no children and 70.6% intend to have 2 or more children. Bivariate and multivariate tests have shown that men with higher education, higher income, higher parental socioeconomic status, and higher occupational status have fewer intended children and children ever born. The socioeconomic characteristics of men have a negative relationship with fertility intention and behavior and this finding is consistent with the pattern of male fertility in developing countries.

In general, it can be said that there is a negative relationship between men's socio-economic status and fertility intention and behavior, and this finding is consistent with the pattern of male fertility in developing countries. Considering the positive relationship between men's socio-economic status and fertility in developed countries and the negative relationship in the present study, the implementation of policy packages with different cultural, economic and social dimensions in different groups with different views and socio-economic is necessary and will be effective in increasing childbearing.

Acquisition of philosophy and its related conceptual system are considered necessary for carrying out of a social research. Indeed, in every scientific era, the subject and features of a specific science has been much more determined by ontological mechanism, then exploration, description, explanation or even analysis or prediction will be possible. The nature of reality and the objects that we can know more, are the main ontological questions. Investigation of “Existence” is considered as the heart of ontology. It also determines assumptions representing social research approaches considering reality. Essentially, ontological and epistemological paradigms available in every scientific approach as its paradigm foundation, directly represent the specific science and its methodological features.Thus, using a paradigm approach, the present study, characterizes Iranian sociologists Research ontological orientation in term of the logical process of science generation into positivism, interpretation and critical sciences and then describes these sociologists’ conceptual system. Discovering and analysis of the sociologists’ research ontological presumptions both reveal the directions of science generation through social realities, and offers comparison within the current ontological paradigms over sociological research. It is suggested that in addition to identifying the sociologists’ scientific identity, challenges related to their research paradigm foundations be understood.

The present research conducted upon the logical foundation of qualitative research. In this line, we have applied interpretation approach and interrogative strategy. The current article results have been collected by using directed content analysis through criterion sampling and document review of interviews contents, including 55 scientific samples related to 6 participants of the study.

The results show that the interpretation paradigm has been dominated in the Fayaz, Mohadesi and GhaneiiRaad’s research ontological, while in the AzaadArmaki, RafiPour and Chalabi’s research ontological, the positivism paradigm plays the key role. But, there is no single and discriminative discourse border among the scientific research, and for describing these scientist’s thought combination of paradigms must be addressed.

Practical directions toward research and investigation about social world mainly depend on theories, approaches and strategies carried out by a researcher. Social researchers are encountered with many options that force them to apply different research strategies, which consequently results in different outcomes and findings. It is supposed that these above mentioned variables are determined by the researcher ontological approach.The present study was trying to find out the Iranian sociologist’s ontological paradigm and then their conceptual system. The study results show that the selected researcher ontological approaches are different in term of positivism, interpretation, critical approaches, however, deep analysis demonstrated that this ontological bordering is not so stable. Indeed, the findings reveal paradigm combination among AzaadArmaki, GhaneiiRaad, RafiPour and Mohadesi’s sociologically studies. So, drawing out a distinctive ontological border among these sociologists or even their own single research is not so easy. That resulted in disorder to addressing the dominant ontological approaches over the Iranian sociologists' studies.

The issue of addiction not only causes physical problems but also has many social consequences for consumers and those around them that change the social behavior and social isolation of individuals. Every country, with every history and background, has faced the problem of addiction and has tried various ways against this problem, such as extensive rehabilitation programs for addicts, disruption of drug production, or support for the vulnerable. These solutions have sometimes been positive and sometimes in complete futility have not had any positive effect on resolving this social harm. Therefore, it seems that each country can achieve its goal in this field by implementing "its own" programs and according to its own local conditions. Therefore, by recognizing the underlying and local causes of addiction in Iran and its different regions, the puzzle of this constant struggle can be completed and an effective solution can be reached. Lorestan province is one of the provinces where according to statistics it can be said that the issue of addiction has become a social crisis. The aim of this study was to discover the contexts of addiction in Lorestan province.

Research method, thematic analysis; The study population was people who understood the phenomenon of addiction (addicts and their families); Purposeful sampling method; Number of samples, 64 people; The method of data collection was in-depth interviews and the text of the interviews was encoded by NVivo8 software.

Findings showed that the person due to 1) driving mechanisms (individual contextual variables; paternal contextual variables; socio-economic status; existence of infected pattern; physical and mental pain; love failure, education , Occupational, financial; ignorance and weak socialization; weak parent-child bond; separation (homelessness, divorce / parents, death of loved ones), non-adherence to norms; inefficiency of legal rules) and 2) attraction mechanisms: (Access to drugs; physical, sexual and mental success; curiosity; entertainment; self-affirmation) tends to addiction.

The results of the study indicate that in order to prevent addiction, in parallel with weakening and eliminating the driving mechanisms, we should strengthen and provide the absorption mechanisms in the field of healthy attractions. Therefore, in order to achieve the important and necessary goal of addiction prevention, in addition to "economic" and "political" plans to combat the production, trafficking, distribution and consumption of drugs, it is necessary to address "cultural" and "social" plans. In order to prevent the harms caused by the spread of addiction by creating a culture of addiction prevention and creating cohesion and social control among individuals.

This study aimed to analyze the causes and consequences of the networked life of the youth of Yazd by investigating their activities in virtual social networks, as an attempt to explore the paths through which these networks direct the users’ performance. It also tried to interpret the causes and consequences of the expansion of networked life as well as the strategies adopted by the youth to cope with it. To ensure theoretical sensitivity, the theories of Giddens, Manuel Castells as well as the Network Theory were examined.

The qualitative methodology with the Grounded Theory approach as well as the theoretical and purposive sampling method were utilized. Twenty youths of Yazd were selected for in-depth interviews. The interviews continued until theoretical saturation was achieved. After each interview, the recorded conversation was transcribed and analyzed. In the data analysis process, line-by-line analysis was used for open coding, and as the concepts developed and became abstract, axial and selective coding steps were simultaneously applied on the text. Ethical considerations such as lack of violation, informed consent, privacy, anonymity and confidentiality were complied with. A total of about 50 hours of interviews were conducted, the duration of which ranged from 95 to 160 minutes. Pseudonyms were used to meet the anonymity criterion, and the participants' private information was protected in order to meet the confidentiality criterion. The validity of the research findings was confirmed via long contact with the research environment and continuous observation in the research field, peer exchange, adequacy of references, rich description, and approval of the participants. The research reliability was confirmed by complying with the principles and rules of a favorable interview and recording and implementing the entire events. Ethical considerations were also observed and the reflection process was performed before, during and after the interviews.

The results revealed that the networked life of the youths under study was mainly an outcome of factors such as communication and entertainment, network activities, occupational/educational dependence on cyberspace, (mainly psychological) dependence on cyberspace and under the influence of a set of underlying and intervening factors. Youths adopt different strategies against their networked life. Account blocking, removing the hassle of filtering, and displaying true identities are among the strategies activated among young users. Besides, the networked life has been associated with consequences such as the collapse of family power relations, the breakdown of family relationships, and the fluidity of values, behaviors, and attitudes. This process was presented based on a grounded theory in which the interaction of the constructors of networked life and reflexive currents were shown.

In line with Giddens' theory, the new networked life has given rise to new relationships in the lives of individuals and families in such a way that the crushing wheel of modernity has made citizens reflect on many values and attitudes and turn to a radical, repetitive and pervasive reflection.

Research projects into Akhbārīsm seem to be taking for granted that Akhbārī doctrines imply any refutation of socio-political role for the religious scholars. Not only studies concerned with the establishing period of the school but also those devoted to the decline period of the school treat Akhbārīsm as an apolitical fraction in Shi’ite scholarship. This is what might be called secularist notion of the Akhbārī theory. However, the main Akhbārī texts do not leave a room for such an interpretation and moreover the social roles and state functions performed by Akhbārī ulama are strong negations to this understanding. 

In order to evaluate the secularist notion of the Akhbārī Theory and thus to criticise it, this article makes use of a textual analysis method to examine the ideas and the discussions generated by the most prominent scholars in the field and then focuses on two particular academic researches whose theoretical framework takes root in the existing Akhbārī literature.  

The contesters who evaluate the role and the function of the Akhbārīsm negatively, believe that Akhbārī ulama failed to play a socio-political role in decisive episodes of the history because Akhbārīsm lacked a political theory while on the other hand their Uṣūlī counterpart were capable, in theory and practice, to lead the society in fatal events. During the second phase of Perso-Russian war, for instance, Uṣūlī mujtahids issued fatwas urging Muslims to defend their homeland. Tobacco fatwa by which Shi’ite Muslims were prohibited from smoking tobacco is another occasion declaring the role and importance of Uṣūlī doctrines. Additionally, Iranian Constitutionalism is a significant event for the glorification of the Uṣūlī School. During victorious Constitutional Revolution the importance of theory of ijtihad and the role of Uṣūlī agenda is far beyond denial. Reportedly, Akhbārī ulama did play no role. Supposedly, they are all scenes wherein Akhbārī ulama were absent.Similarly, the appreciators depict an apolitical portrait of the Akhbārī ulama who, historically, did their best to preserve the social integrity and to oppose the unlimited power of the mujtahids. They suggest that Akhbārī ulama believed in no political role for the religious scholars. Therefore, central to their attention was how to maintain integrity of the society by guaranteeing a life safety for Sufis as well as Sunni minorities. Akhbārī refutation of emulation theory by which they meant an opposition against mujtahids was positive in function because it was capable to accredit laypeople understanding of the sacred texts. This linear epistemology was an absolute threat to social position of mujtahids who defended some hierarchical epistemology based on which the society was divided into two groups: a majority of laypeople who ought to emulate a minority of knowledgeable ulama.     

These apparently adversaries seem to share the same idea based on which Akhbārī ulama were propagating a notion of secularism. Reviewing well-known researchers in this field, this article focuses on two academic theses authored in a ten-year-period. Relying on different methodological and theoretical bases, Mohsen Al-e-Ghafour (2000) and Rouhollah Eslami (2010) share the same idea and conclusion that according to Akhbārī doctrines religious scholars are not allowed -and must not be- to play any political role. However, referring to Amin Astarābādī himself, this article reaches this conclusion that their argumentations are not documentarily satisfied and fail to confirm their interpretation. Besides, the so-called Akhbārī ulama were in close contacts with the state and people as well which makes us regard this interpretation historically indefensible.