Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography

Anthropology of Social Processes and Institutions Department

The task of the Department is:

To study modern socio-cultural processes, institutions, various groups and interactions between them occurring in Armenia (globalization, family and intergenerational relations, religion and festive-cult complex, professional culture, linguistic behavior of the population, changes in the social structure of society as a result of external and internal migration, refugee flows, ethnodemographic processes, transformation of cultural values, issues of intra-ethnic harmony and tolerance, intercultural interactions, new achievements in the cultural practice of tourism, etc.) using quantitative and qualitative methods.
From the temporal perspective - to deal with the 20-21st centuries.
To develop the anthropology of social processes and institutions in Armenia, providing practical recommendations based on the results of the research conducted, and to contribute to the training of personnel and natural generational succession.
The unit carries out its work in the following forms of activity: quantitative and qualitative surveys, semi-formal questionnaire surveys, in-depth individual and group interviews, using document analysis and review methods.
The output of the Department is measured by quality scientific publications (monographs, collections, articles), which must be relevant and innovative, using modern methods and laboratory analyses, events participated in and organized (conferences, seminars, etc.), field and laboratory work, effective development of international relations (attraction of foreign resources, access to laboratories, participation in international scientific conferences), personnel inflow, defense of theses, provision of professional opinions.

The past and present of the Department

Introduction

The Department got its current name in 2023. Before that, it was known as the Department of Ethnosociology. The prerequisites for the development of the discipline of Ethnosociology in the former Soviet Union were primarily due to the fact that the population was multi-ethnic. Taking into account the factor of ethnic diversity, serious studies of social changes became almost impossible in that country. Being a multinational country, the study of the interaction of national cultures and issues related to interethnic relations was of great importance for the USSR. Since the 1960s, after the Khrushchev thaw, numerous sociological studies have been conducted in the USSR, despite certain ideological restrictions, in economic life, migration, urban and rural population, family, and other important areas. The field of Ethnosociology was formed in the former Soviet Union, which is an interdisciplinary scientific field combining ethnography and sociology. One of its founders was the well-known scientist Yuri Harutyunyan, who headed the Department of Sociological Studies created at the Miklukho-Maklai Institute of Ethnography of the USSR Academy of Sciences. Under the program "Socio-cultural Conditions for the Development and Rapprochement of Nations of the USSR" developed by him, ethno-sociological studies were carried out in the Tatar Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, Moldova, Uzbekistan, Georgia, and Estonia, where the task was to find out how the peculiarities of the cultural past, the level of development of their own national cultural fund, and the historical experience of cultural, social, and political relations between nations and other important factors affecting the development and rapprochement of nations.

Creation of the Department of Ethnosociology

In order to conduct similar research in the Union republics, as well as in Armenia, relevant scientific structures were formed with the direct support of Yuri Harutyunyan. Doctor of Historical Sciences Emma Karapetyan made a great contribution to the development of this field in Armenia. Through her efforts, the Modern Ethnography Group was created in 1974 at the Institute of Archeology and Ethnography of the Academy of Sciences of the Armenian SSR, which in 1976 became the Department of Ethnosociology Group, and in 1981 received the status of the Ethnosociology Department. The Department operated under the leadership of Emma Karapetyan for about a decade and a half.

At the beginning of the formation of this Department were scientists Ruben Karapetyan, Lilia Vardanyan, Mané Hakobyan, laboratory assistants Knarik Khanaghyan, and Petros Keshishyan. Since its creation, the Department has started to conduct the first ethno-sociological studies. The problems of ethno-sociological research in Armenia have been localized, including many new issues. One of the starting points was that Armenia is a republic with a predominantly homogeneous national composition, and the social changes taking place have their own specific ethnocultural manifestations, which also conditioned the peculiarities of the ethnosocial structure of Armenian society, social mobility, ethnodemographic behavior, ethnic self-consciousness, interethnic, intra-family relations. And their study was of great importance in scientific and applied terms. On the other hand, there were migration flows of Armenians and foreign populations from different republics of the USSR to Armenia. Therefore, it was an important task to study the ethnocultural features and main development trends of these migratory strata of the population of Armenia. The studies taking place in Armenia included ethnographic and other topics that were absent in previous programs prepared for other Soviet republics. Another position was that a historic approach should be taken in the study of ethnosociological phenomena, which would allow identifying the trends of their change and development and the determining factors. From this point of view, it was advisable to conduct repeated studies in Armenia with the same questionnaire and over a certain period of time, thanks to which a research database was also created at the Department of Ethnosociology.

Research in Yerevan as well as in historical and ethnographic regions

Based on the above-mentioned approaches, the Department conducted the first ethnosociological surveys in Yerevan in 1976, under the leadership of Emma Karapetyan. A questionnaire was compiled, which made it possible to collect a huge amount of material on the formation of the population of Yerevan, its demographic composition, socio-professional structure, culture, lifestyle, family and interethnic relations. 2000 people participated in the survey. Based on the results of the study, the researchers of the Department published a number of scientific articles, as well as reports were read at national and international conferences. The research materials were summarized in the collective work “Population of Yerevan. The Ethnosociological Studies" («Население Еревана. Этносоциологические исследования»). The publication of the book had important scientific and applied significance, since in the Soviet years Yerevan was a major economic, industrial and scientific center with a population of one million, and the new socio-cultural processes taking place, in particular the impact of urbanization on families, the formation of the city's population, the transformation of rituals, ethnic psychology, leisure and other important issues, required a deep and comprehensive analysis.

In those years, the Department also began training specialists. In order to improve the skills of young specialists Ruben Karapetyan, Ruben Ohanjanyan and Tamar Zakaryan were sent to study at the Department of Sociological Studies of the Miklukho-Maklay Institute of Ethnography of the USSR Academy of Sciences. Later, under the scientific supervision of Yuri Harutyunyan, Ruben Karapetyan (1979) and Ruben Ohanjanyan (1985) defended their dissertations. Admissions were also held at the postgraduate course of the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography of the NAS RA. Under the scientific supervision of Emma Karapetyan, Mihran Galstyan (1990) and Samvel Mkrtchyan (1997) defended their PhD theses.

Under the direct leadership and active participation of Emma Karapetyan, in 1980, large-scale ethnosociological studies were conducted on a representative sample throughout the republic, the need for which was long overdue, since the problem of studying ethnic characteristics in the socio-economic and cultural changes in the territory of the former USSR was relevant both theoretically and practically. The countries of the former Soviet Union, which had the same socio-economic and political starting conditions, also displayed a number of significant differences during the development of these processes in the transition period, which could later deepen and manifest themselves more clearly. Their discoveries and solutions had important cognitive and practical significance for that period, which could provide an opportunity for the development of a macrosocial model of the development of Armenia and the regulation of problems arising in various spheres of the life of population. On the other hand, in the conditions of the socio-cultural development and rapprochement policy of the Soviet Union, it was necessary to analyze the linguistic changes of the Armenian population, the preservation of identity, the relations between modern and traditional cultures in social groups, intercultural interactions, identify changes in the social structure of the urban and rural population, the sources of formation and migrations, reveal their socio-professional, educational potential, ethno-demographic behavior and other important issues. In order to identify them, the research sample was built according to the historical and ethnographic regions of Armenia, taking as a basis the peculiarities of the origin of the population (Eastern Armenians and Western Armenians) and their historically formed unique features of everyday life and culture. Based on this approach, 5 historical and ethnographic regions were selected for ethnosociological study: Ayrarat, Shirak, Gegharkunik, Lori-Tavush, Syunik.

A questionnaire consisting of 176 questions with about 2,000 indicators was compiled. The surveys were conducted among 4,000 participants from urban and rural settlements of the mentioned provinces. By the order of the Institute's management dated May 28, 1980, an expedition headed by Emma Karapetyan was formed to conduct ethnosociological studies in the regions, which included senior researcher Yuri Harutyunyan, Ruben Karapetyan (head of the team), junior researchers Lilia Vardanyan, Mane Hakobyan, senior laboratory assistants Tamar Zakaryan, Shushanik Shirakyan, Ruben Ohanjanyan, Armine Sargsyan. Later, a postgraduate student Hambardzum Galstyan joined them. Research on the ethnocultural processes of Armenia was conducted in Hoktemberyan, Ashtarak, Byureghavan, Hrazdan, Leninakan, Kalinino, Kirovakan, Ijevan, Kamo, in the cities of Yeghegnadzor, Sisian, and Ghapan. Then, expeditions were also organized to conduct surveys in 30 rural settlements of the mentioned regions. Thanks to this, a huge amount of material was collected about the population of Armenia, and a rich database was formed, which is stored at the Department of Ethnosociology.

The problems of the independence of Armenia from the perspective of ethnosociology

The collapse of the Soviet Union, the independence of Armenia and the establishment of new economic and socio-political relations, as well as the elimination of the consequences of the earthquake, the Artsakh war and the flows of refugees, the blockade, the energy crisis, etc. required not only a detailed and comprehensive scientific analysis of these processes, but also new approaches to solving the problems. Based on the new situation, the Department prepared and in 1992-1995 embarked on a new study, taking into account three important circumstances. First, in order to study the entire dynamics of these processes, it was considered appropriate to retain a number of questions from the previous questionnaire. Second, new questions were included in the questionnaire, which recorded the changes and new approaches that had occurred in our lives, on which the opinions of different segments of the population were collected. Third, the main criteria of the previous sample were preserved: historical and ethnographic region, etc. A questionnaire consisting of 126 questions was compiled, as well as its the model of mathematical analysis.

Along with Yerevan, the cities of Gyumri, Ijevan and Kapan were included in the survey. 1624 people participated in the survey, of which 792 were residents of Yerevan. Materials were collected from the rural population of Armenia through individual business trips. The analysis of the obtained materials allowed the researchers included in the scientific topic of the Department to conduct analytical work in 3 directions.

To identify and analyze ethnic characteristics in the forms of economic activity (research was carried out by Ruben Karapetyan, Migran Galstyan). The study discussed a block of questions that made it possible to identify the population's attitude to property, the real participation of social strata in privatization processes, the nature and intensity of interstate and intersectoral population movements, existing and preferred professions among the population, and other important issues. According to the results of the study, during that period there was a mass emigration of the population from Armenia, which had a negative impact on various sectors of the economy, demographic indicators, and the social structure.
To reveal the role of traditional values in the formation of new social relations (research carried out by Emma Karapetyan, Ruben Karapetyan, Tamar Zakaryan). During the transitional period, the direct intervention of the state in the regulation of social relations was limited, and the abandonment of some previous functions was compensated by the activity of the traditional social institutions already possessed by the ethnic group, which over the past 70 years were not only not pushed out of the cultural fund of the Armenian ethnic group, but also transformed under the conditions of the previous system. In the conditions of the crisis, the preserved traditions played an important role, which were manifested in family kinship relations. The economic situation in Armenia led, on the one hand, to the expansion of kinship relations, and on the other hand, to the expansion of the family. The strengthening of kinship relations was manifested in forms of mutual assistance, the creation of cooperatives, small and medium-sized enterprises, and other important issues. Social mobility was closely related to the intensity of family-kinship relations.
The preservation of ethnic culture and the prospects for its development were examined based on a comparative analysis of research conducted in 1976, 1980, and 1992-1994 (carried out by Emma Karapetyan, Ruben Karapetyan, Lilia Vardanyan, Samvel Mkrtchyan). These changes were particularly noticeable in the ritual system, which was closely related to the religious behavior of the population. The sharp increase in traditional religious holidays during that transitional period reflected not so much the profound shifts in everyday life as the value change in the self-consciousness of the ethnic group towards traditional culture and religion in particular. The research showed that certain changes were also made in wedding and funeral rituals.

In 1995-1997, Ruben Karapetyan became the head of the Department of Ethnosociology. Under his scientific leadership, the study of new processes taking place in the socio-political and socio-economic life of Armenia continued. A new project for the study of the rural population was developed on the topic “Privatization and ethno-social processes in rural areas of Armenia (problems and prospects for the development of the rural population)”. Armenia was the first of the former Soviet republics to implement land privatization. It brought about radical changes not only for the rural population, but also for the entire republic. In the conditions of new processes, the Department was tasked with analyzing the main forms of economic activity of the rural population and the role of traditional institutions - family, kinship and neighborly factors, values, ideas and stereotypes of behavior - in the formation of new socio-economic relations, as well as the process and prospects of the formation of new structures (state and non-state).

The study of socio-economic and ethno-cultural processes among the rural population of Armenia revealed ethnic peculiarities in economic development, in particular, traditional forms and methods of economic activity in the village, movements, reproductive behavior (carried out by Ruben Karapetyan, Mihran Galstyan), social mobility of family and kinship, neighborly relations and ethno-social changes in the village (carried out by Emma Karapetyan, Tamar Zakaryan), trends in the change and development of national spiritual life in rural life, in particular, issues related to the ritual system and socio-cultural behavior (carried out by Lilia Vardanyan, Samvel Mkrtchyan). Based on the results of this and previous research, several extensive works were prepared for publication. Ruben Karapetyan made reports based on these materials at international conferences organized in the USA, Canada, Cyprus, and the Russian Federation. Mihran Galstyan and Samvel Mkrtchyan defended their PhD theses. Mihran Galstyan published the works "Interstate Population Movements of the Republic of Armenia (According to Ethno-Sociological Research Materials)" («Հայաստանի Հանրապետության բնակչության միջպետական տեղաշարժերը (ըստ էթնոսոցիոլոգիական ուսումնասիրություն նյութերի», 1998) and "Social Inequality-Social Mobility-Social Conflict. Co-Production and Mobility Problems in Armenia" («Սոցիալական անհավասարություն-սոցիալական շարժունություն-սոցիալական կոնֆլիկտ. Համահարաբերակցություն և շարժընթացի խնդիրները Հայաստանում», 2000).

Expanding scientific cooperation

From 1998 to 2015 the Department of Ethnosociology was headed by Lilia Vardanyan. She did extensive work in the development of this branch of science and strengthening ties with specialists from similar scientific centers abroad, especially in the former Soviet republics. The scientist was engaged in the study of the survival phenomena of traditional Armenian life. In 1975, she defended her PhD thesis on the topic “Remnants of Male Age Groups among Armenians” («Տղամարդկանց տարիքային խմբերի մնացուկները հայոց մեջ»). In 2005, she published the monograph “Stepan Lisitsian and the Origins of Armenian Ethnography” («Степан Лисициан и истоки Армянской этнографии») and in the same year defended her doctoral thesis on the topic “Stepan Lisitsian’s Contribution to the Development of Armenian Ethnography” («Ստեփան Լիսիցյանի ներդրումը հայ ազգագրության զարգացման գործում»). Through her direct efforts and editorship, the volume “Armenians” of the “Peoples in Culture” series was published in Moscow (2012), which is an important contribution to Armenology.

In the first years of Lilia Vardanyan's leadership (2000-2003), the scientific topic "Armenians in their own and foreign environments" («Հայերը սեփական և այլէթնիկ միջավայրում») was jointly implemented with the Department of Sociology of the Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology of the Russian Academy of Sciences (headed by Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences Yuri Harutyunyan). The choice of the topic was not accidental, since the mass emigration of the population from Armenia was the basis for the formation of a new Armenian Diaspora, which required a deep and comprehensive analysis in political, economic, socio-demographic terms. An ethnosociological survey was conducted simultaneously in the two capitals - Moscow and Yerevan. In Yerevan, the Department staff conducted surveys in 721 families. In 2001, in order to discuss the results of the joint research and clarify thematic directions, the head of the Department of the Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Yuri Harutyunyan, was invited to Yerevan. It was considered expedient to also involve the Armenians of Krasnodar for a comparative ethnosociological study with Yerevan and Moscow. The results of that survey Comparative analysis made it possible to reveal the peculiarities of the preservation of Armenians' ethnic identity and culture in their own and other ethnic environments, as well as the changes taking place in their economic, social, and demographic behavior.

Through the efforts of the Department staff, a scientific conference dedicated to the memory of the outstanding scientist Emma Karapetyan was organized and a collection of scientific articles “Problems of Family Research” («Ընտանիքի հետազոտման հիմնախնդիրները») was published (2001). In the same year, Mkhitar Gabrielyan defended his PhD thesis on “Social and Cultural Processes in the Modern Village of the Republic of Armenia (Ethnographic Research)” («Հասարակական և մշակութային գործընթացները Հայաստանի Հանրապետության արդի գյուղում (ազգագրական ուսումնասիրություն)».

In 1999, a group of researchers of the Department established the "Akunk" Center for Ethno-Sociological Research, a non-governmental organization, which, thanks to cooperation and funding from international organizations, conducted ethno-sociological surveys on family conflicts among 1,626 people and 341 experts in 17 urban and 41 rural settlements of Armenia in 2001. Based on these surveys, the book "Domestic Violence in Armenia: A Sociological Study" («Ընտանեկան բռնությունները Հայաստանում. սոցիոլոգիական հետազոտություն») was published (2002), which for the first time comprehensively analyzes and reveals the causes, types, prevalence, subjects, frequency of use, consequences, and possible ways of prevention of violence in the family in Armenian reality.

In 1998-2004, some of the Department's employees also collaborated with the "Vostan" Center for Ethnocultural Research. Under the leadership of the distinguished scientist Yuri Mkrtumyan, an ethnographic study was conducted among the national minorities and small ethnic groups living in Armenia, in which the Department's researchers Mkhitar Gabrielyan, Mihran Galstyan, Samvel Mkrtchyan, and Tamar Zakaryan also actively participated. Based on the collected materials, the works "National Minorities of the Republic of Armenia Today I" («Հայաստանի Հանրապետության ազգային փոքրամասնություններն այսօր I», 2000) and "National Minorities of the Republic of Armenia in the Modern Conditions of the Formation of Civil Society II" («Հայաստանի Հանրապետության ազգային փոքրամասնությունները քաղաքացիական հասարակության կայացման արդի պայմաններում II» , 2005) were published under the editorship of Yuri Mkrtumyan, the co-authors of separate sections of which are the Department's researchers Mkhitar Gabrielyan and Mihran Galstyan.

The researchers of the Department also carried out extensive thematic and chronological work within the framework of the implementation of the theme "Ethnosocial Processes in the Republic of Armenia" («էթնոսոցիալական գործընթացները Հայաստանի Հանրապետությունում»). The following issues were particularly targeted: changes in public and family holidays, rituals, family relations, professional culture, the social structure of the population, and ethnosocial processes of labor migration. For this purpose, individual business trips and scientific expeditions were organized in 2005-2007 to the provinces of Shirak, Tavush, Vayots Dzor, and Gegharkunik. Satenik Mkrtchyan, the researcher of the Department, was sent to the Republic of Georgia to collect ethnographic and sociological materials on the ethnic identity of Tbilisi Armenians. In 2005, Ruben Karapetyan organized a survey on modern ethnosociological processes in the cities of Armenia in the cities of Yerevan, Gyumri, Kapan, Ijevan, and Gavar, in which 2,000 people participated. During the analysis, it was compared with the results of 1980 and with the results of the study conducted in 1993. Then, the Department's researchers conducted field research in the provinces of Tavush, Syunik, Lori, and Kotayk through individual and group business trips. The basis was a 1980 sample of the same urban and rural settlements of the historical and ethnographic regions of Armenia, and the goal was to obtain comparative materials on the main trends and ethnocultural and social changes taking place in qualitatively different periods of the Soviet and post-Soviet period. Based on the comparative materials, it was planned to publish separate works dedicated to the historical and ethnographic regions.

The first was Tavush. Hamlet Sargsyan, Mihran Galstyan, Tamar Zakaryan, Lilia Vardanyan, Samvel Mkrtchyan, and Ruben Ohanjanyan published “Tavush. Social and Cultural Processes” («Տավուշ. սոցիալ-մշակութային գործընթացներ»,), “The Population of Tavush Province in the beginning of 19th Century – 21st Century” («Տավուշի մարզի բնակչությունը XIX դ. – XXI դ. սկզբներին»), "Labor Migration in Tavush" («Աշխատանքային միգրացիան Տավուշում»), "Family and Family Relations in Tavush Region" («Ընտանիքը և ընտանեկան հարաբերությունները Տավուշի մարզում»), "Family Rituals of Tavush Residents" («Տավուշցիների ընտանեկան ծիսակարգը»), "Festive and Religious Behavior of Tavush Residents («Տավուշցիների տոնական և կրոնական վարքագիծը»)", "Artistic Culture in Tavush" («Գեղարվեստական մշակույթը Տավուշում») (2014). . Basing on the collected materials, Samvel Mkrtchyan published the monographs "Holidays: Armenian Folk Rituals, Customs, Beliefs (Tradition and Modernity)" («Տոներ. հայկական ժողովրդական ծեսեր, սովորույթներ, հավատալիքներ (Ավանդույթ և արդիականություն)», 2010) and "Armenian Festive Culture" («Հայոց տոնածիսական մշակույթ», 2016).

Formation and development of human resources

The mentioned ethnosociological researches also significantly contributed to the scientific progress of this field. Based on the obtained materials, doctoral theses were defended: "Ethnocultural peculiarities of the Armenian ritual system" («Հայոց տոնածիսական համակարգի էթնոմշակութային առանձնահատկությունները», 2011) by Samvel Mkrtchyan, "Migration and ethnosocial processes in the cities of Armenia" («Միգրացիան և էթնոսոցիալ գործընթացները Հայաստանի քաղաքներում», 2015) by Ruben Karapetyan, "Socio-cultural problems of labor migration in the Republic of Armenia" («Աշխատանքային միգրացիայի սոցիալ-մշակութային հիմնախնդիրները Հայաստանի Հանրապետությունում», 2016) by Mihran Galstyan. Narek Galstyan ("The Role of the Ethnocultural Factor in the Formation of Civil Society in the Republic of Armenia" («Էթնոմշակութային գործոնի դերը Հայաստանի Հանրապետությունում քաղաքացիական հասարակության ձևավորման հարցում», 2012)), Anna Mnatsakanyan ("Ethnocultural Peculiarities of the Socialization of Orphanage Graduates in the Republic of Armenia" («Մանկատան շրջանավարտների սոցիալականացման էթնոմշակութային առանձնահատկությունները Հայաստանի Հանրապետությունում», 2012)), Hasmik Abrahamyan ("Vardavar among Armenians (Ethnohistorical Study)" («Վարդավառը հայոց մեջ (պատմաազգագրական ուսումնասիրություն)», 2014)), Hripsime Asatryan: "Socio-Cultural Peculiarities of Games among Armenians (Tradition and Modernity)" («Խաղերի սոցիալ-մշակութային առանձնահատկությունները հայոց մեջ (ավանդույթ և արդիականություն)», 2018)) defended PhD theses.

Since 2015, the Department has been headed by Mihran Galstyan. In the topics carried out by the Department's researchers, the task is to identify the changes taking place in the current socio-cultural processes of Armenia and the newly manifested trends based on the comparison of the traditional and the modern. Based on the collected materials and the results of ethnosociological research, these new trends have been analyzed in the system of migration, family and kinship, ritual and religious, professional culture, identity of the Armenian ethnos, taking into account their gender, age, educational, socio-professional, economic and other important factors. In particular, it was discussed what impact globalization processes and new information flows have on changes in family values, civil and contractual marriages, the family model and functions performed, what new manifestations exist in the identity, Armenian ritual complex and the sphere of consumption of artistic culture. The socio-economic and cultural impact of migration at the individual, family, community and societal levels has been revealed.

Thematically, the research covers the following areas:

migration processes (conducted by Mihran Galstyan, leading researcher, PhD);
professional culture (conducted by Ruben Ohanjanyan, senior researcher, PhD);
family and family relationships (conducted by Tamar Zakaryan, researcher);
fasting culture (carried out by Hasmik Abrahamyan, researcher, PhD);
civil society and ethnocultural factor (Narek Galstyan, researcher, PhD);
social changes in tourism cultural practices in modern Armenia (conducted by Garik Atanesyan junior researcher, PhD);
problems of socio-cultural adaptation of Syrian Armenians (conducted by Gayane Hakobyan, junior researcher, PhD).

With the financial support of the State Committee for Science of the Ministry of Education ans Science of RA Mihran Galstyan and PhD student Anna Markosyan carried out a research on the problems of external migration of national minorities living in Armenia in 2013-2014, as a result of which the monograph “Migration of National Minorities of the Republic of Armenia (Ethno-Sociological Research)” («Հայաստանի Հանրապետության ազգային փոքրամասնությունների միգրացիան (էթնոսոցիոլոգիական հետազոտություն)», 2015) was published.

With the financial support of the State Committee for Science of the Ministry of Education ans Science of RA under the leadership of Mihran Galstyan and with the participation of the Department's researchers Ruben Ohanjanyan, Tamar Zakaryan and Gayane Hakobyan, work was carried out in the field of studying the problems facing the modern Armenian family. For this purpose, in 2016-2017, ethnosociological surveys were conducted among 384 families in 6 urban and 20 rural settlements in Yerevan and Shirak, Lori, Gegharkunik, Syunik, Armavir, Aragatsotn provinces, as a result of which the collective work "The Modern Armenian Family in a Transforming Society" («Արդի հայ ընտանիքը փոխակերպվող հասարակությունում», 2017) was published.

Particular attention was also paid to the issue of training new specialists and replenishing the Department with young researchers. For this purpose, admission was organized in the Department's full-time and distance learning postgraduate courses. Narek Galstyan (2012) and Gayane Hakobyan (2019) defended their PhD theses. Anna Markosyan completed postgraduate studies at the Department (2012-2016) and is engaged in the topic "Social and cultural peculiarities of the activities of compatriot unions in Armenia". Sona Melikjanyan, Lusine Angelush and Marine Ohanjanyan are currently studying in postgraduate studies under the scientific supervision of Mihran Galstyan. Sona Melikjanyan's dissertation work concerns the problems of women's labor migration from Armenia, Marine Ohanjanyan's - interethnic marriages in Armenia, Lusine Angelush's - ethnocultural manifestations of linguistic processes in Armenia. These research works have not only of scientific, but also of practical importance. In parallel with the implementation of scientific topics, the researchers of the Department Mihran Galstyan and Ruben Ohanjanyan are also engaged in lecturing at Yerevan State University.

In total, since the establishment of the Department of Ethnosociology, the Department staff has published 25 books, 218 articles, 83 theses and participated in numerous republican and international conferences. The researchers of the Department cooperate with several research centers in the USA, Western Europe, the Institute of Anthropology and Ethnology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Center for Research on Belarusian Culture, Language and Literature of the Belarusian Academy of Sciences. Together with the latter, since 2019, the international program “Armenians of Belarus - Belarusians of Armenia: Ethnic Identity and Intercultural Relations in the Modern Period” has been implemented with the funding of the State Committee of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Armenia. Based on the results of the above-mentioned scientific topics, methodological and applied proposals for the development of concepts have been made and are being made to the Government of the Republic of Armenia and public organizations.