We design research methods both qualitative and quantitative, skillfully selected and applied based on the goals and objectives of a given educational or sociological research or project. The Center regularly updates and improves its activities by selecting innovative methods of research, data collection and analysis. We use the following quantitative and qualitative data collection methods: 

Quantitative methods

• Face-to-face quantitative vox populi polls
• Monitoring and evaluation via application of quantitative methods,
• CAPI - Individual face-to-face interview through a computer program,
• CAWI – web based interviews conducted through a computer program.

Qualitative methods

• In-depth interviews,
• Expert interviews,
• Key informant interviews,
• Observation,
• Focus group discussions,

• Case studies, etc. 

Guided by the international and local research findings and best practices, the Center has developed an in-depth methodology and a toolkit specifically tailored for the educational research. It helps to guide our research in the frames of the following educational processes and activities of educational institutions:

• Research methodology design
• Data collection 
• Expert examination of institutional documents (assessment of document functionality),
• Qualitative and quantitative data processing and analysis,
• Analysis of the entire institutional activity or selected fields of activity 
• Development of methodology for data collection on all criteria included in the institutional self-analysis 

One of the key objectives of the Center is to highlight the importance of sociology as a discipline, contribute to the increase of its credibility and prioritize sociological research in Armenia by providing quality services as follows:

• Research methodology design
• Development of research tools (questionnaires, surveys)
• Organization of data collection process
• Organization of focus group discussions
• Document analysis with application of traditional and content analysis methods, including statistical data and secondary analyses
• Sociological examination of documents (assessment of functionality of documents, including research tools)
• Data processing and analysis (quantitative data  processed and analyzed through SPSS software package).

The Center conducts combined analyzes of quantitative and qualitative research results. Our analytical services can be part of a comprehensive research, or simply provided as a stand-alone service. We pay special attention to the secondary analysis of documents and research reports related to the issues of education and youth, protection of children's rights and other relevant fields that allow us to compare and get a complete picture of change in various phenomena over the course of years. The Center offers a full sociological toolkit for analyzes.

We greatly values our clients’ and beneficiaries’ opinions and requirements concerning the logical structure and content of the reports. Similarily, the Center's experts and researchers pay special attention that video-methodological and scientific grounds backbone any report developed. 

The Center regularly updates, improves and supplements its toolkits for quantitative and qualitative analyzes. For quantitative data analysis, the specialists of the Center use SPSS, Stata and other statistical software packages, as specified by the project and/or the client requirements. For qualitative purposes, the Center uses MAXQDA and NVIVO programs. 

Design and implementation of professional capacity building courses, trainings, and organization of conferences

The Center offers the following courses on educational and sociological research:

• Research methodology design

• Quantitative and qualitative research methods

• The use of quantitative and qualitative research in education 

• Specifics and limitations of online research

• Special aspects of educational research

• Data processing and analysis tools (SPSS, Stata)

• Document analysis methods

• Questionnaire development techniques

• Monitoring and evaluation methods, tools and techniques

• Needs assessment methodology

• Project impact assessment methodology on topics.

The Center greatly emphasizes the development of professional capacities of education specialists, young people and all beneficiaries, hence, in addition to offering training, it also participates in conferences and discussions in the fields of sociology, education and youth.

The Center offers the following courses on educational and sociological research:

• Research methodology design
• Quantitative and qualitative research methods
• The use of quantitative and qualitative research in education
• Specifics and limitations of online research
• Special aspects of educational research
• Data processing and analysis tools (SPSS, Stata)
• Document analysis methods
• Questionnaire development techniques
• Monitoring and evaluation methods, tools and techniques
• Needs assessment methodology
• Project impact assessment methodology on topics.

The Center greatly emphasizes the development of professional capacities of education specialists, young people and all beneficiaries, hence, in addition to offering training, it also participates in conferences and discussions in the fields of sociology, education and youth.

As a rule, consultancy services provided by the Center are a logical continuation of our research services. Research papers and reports developed by the Center include recommendations that help the clients not only to form a general overview of the studied phenomena, but also to plan their actions guided by the research results. Following its main mission, over the last decade the Center has continuously put efforts to inform the decision-makers on its key research findings and advocate for evidence-based policy making in the fields of education, child protection, youth and other public areas. Thanks to growing collaboration between our Center and its partner structures, we see an increase in significance of sociology as a science, and raise in credibility of  sociological and educational research.