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The article presents an explanation of the post-positivist conception of the progress of sociological theories in research programs, which was developed by J. Berger, M. Zelditch Jr. and D. Wagner. Their conception specified related types of theoretical structure and dynamics of research programs, as well as their functions in sociological theorizing. Structural and dynamic differences of research programs represent different types of conceptual connections between theories and their corresponding basic modes of theoretical growth. In particular, the elaboration of theories of certain explanatory domains by increasing their scope, rigor, precision, or empirical relevance is a mode of progress of linear programs. The proliferation of theories into new explanatory domains and the expansion of the subject range of their applicability is the mode of development of branching programs. The competition of theories in a certain explained domain for the best conceptual representation of its problems is a mode of progress of competing programs. Special types of conceptual connections and modes of theoretical progress may also emerge between theories in linear, branching, and competing research programs: variation of theories as a result of deepening them into their established subject domains due to increased conceptual insight, sophistication and detail; integration of theories. The theoretical development of research programs is provided by their functions, which are analogous to the functions of paradigms in mature sciences: determination of theoretical significance and doability of sociological problems; evaluation and cognitive-based selection of competing theoretical formulations of their solutions; ensuring synergy of the consequences of performing the above-mentioned functions.

The article presents an explication of the post-positivist typology of theoretical activity in sociology. J. Berger, M. Zelditch and D. Wagner argued for this typology in a set of their publications. They distinguished such types: unit theories of social phenomena, theoretical / orienting strategies, working substantive / methodological strategies for theories construction, theoretical research programs, empirical models. The functions of each of these types were determined within the framework of the theoretical research program. Orienting strategies are broad fundamental directives that provide value-ideological assumptions for the justification of working research strategies. Working strategies define what the core ideas of the research program should be, what questions should be raised by researchers and how they should be investigated within the program framework. In particular, substantive working strategies specify how social phenomena should be defined and conceptualized, what theoretical problems should be solved, and what conceptual tools should be used in doing so. Methodological working strategies specify how unit theories should be developed and what methodological tools should be used to test them. Unit theories are the form in which generated conceptual solutions to researched questions are constituted. Empirical models specify various cases of the studied social phenomena, identify methods of observation and procedures for measuring their manifestations. Within a scientific research program, different types of theorizing interact and complement each other. The growth of sociological knowledge is considered a consequence of this interaction and mutual complementation. As a result, Berger, Zelditch and Wagner significantly expanded the meaning of the concept of a scientific research program in the theoretical context of sociological science. The post-positivist typology of sociological theorizing has become a conceptual tool for empirically identifying trends and patterns of theoretical growth in sociology.

J. Berger, M. Zelditch and D.G. Wagner carried out a long-term reception of the ideas of postpositivism in sociology. In the 1970s, these researchers began to apply the concepts of scientific paradigm and research program to studies of the structure and dynamics of theoretical knowledge. They identified conceptual convergences and possibilities of combining various alternative post-positivist approaches in sociological studies. From the mid-1980s, they analyzed the metatheoretical implications of postpositivist ideas in sociology, defined the metatheoretical functionality of paradigms and research programs. In the early 1990s, the basic principles of postpositivism in sociology were systematized (the presence of non-empirical elements in empirical sociological knowledge, all facts are theory-laden, all theories are metatheory-laden). In the 2010s, the functional analogy of paradigms and research programs in sociology was discovered. Theoretical research programs at their local subject level function as universally accepted scientific paradigms and contribute to the theoretical growth of sociology.

The origins and content of the methodology of scientific research programs of I. Lakatos are considered taking into account the problems and tasks of the history of sociology. The reception of the methodology of research programs in sociology can be explained by the relevance of the analytical model of the structure and dynamics of the research program in the analysis of sociological knowledge. Within the framework of sociological knowledge, metatheoretical, theoretical and empirical structural levels are analytically distinguished. Certain structural analogies are observed: between the "hard core" and "negative heuristics" of the research program, on the one hand, and metatheory, on the other; between the "protective belt" and the "positive heuristic" of the research program, on the one hand, and theory, on the other; between the empirical content of the research program, on the one hand, and the empirical basis of sociology, on the other. One can observe a number of analogies in the dynamics of functional connections between the structural components of the research program, on the one hand, and the dynamics of functional connections between metatheorizing, theorizing, and empirical analysis in sociology, on the other.

The article discusses the conceptual foundations of the development of the general sociological theory of J.G. Turner. In this case, foundations should be understood as metatheoretical ideas formulated by the researcher, basic concepts, and the analytical scheme itself. Turner began to develop a general sociological theory with a synthesis of metatheoretical ideas of social forces and social selection. He formulated a synthetic metatheoretical statement, according to which there are certain social forces that exert pressure on the choice of individuals and force them to change the models of their social organization and create new types of socio-cultural entities, which is designed to ensure survival under conditions of this kind of pressure. Starting to systematize the basic concepts of his theorizing, Turner proceeded from the rationale for the differentiation of micro-, mezo- and macro-levels of social reality. Such an approach made it possible to build a substantiation of a simple conceptual scheme of social dynamics based on these principles. According to this scheme, it becomes clear how the forces of macro-social dynamics of the population, production, distribution, regulation and reproduction cause social evolution. Thus, Turner showed how these forces force individual and corporate actors to structurally adapt their communities in changing circumstances. Such adaptation helps to overcome or avoid the disintegration consequences of these forces. The initial stage of Turner's general theorizing is a kind of audit, modification, modernization and systematization of the conceptual apparatus of sociology. The initial results obtained by the scientist became the basis for the development of Turner's concept of the dynamics of functional selection in the social world.

This article explores the sources of legitimacy of private property in the means of production in Ukraine. The conceptualization of legitimacy of private property was made by analyzing theoretical approaches to the study of the foundations of private property relations in Western countries. The application of these approaches tests economic utilitarian, psychological, and sociocultural explanations of legitimacy of large and small private enterprises and private land in the process of activation of post-communist transition of Ukrainian society. The basic hypothesis was that the process of legitimation of private property in the means of production proceeds by uniting utilitarian and psychological adaptation with sociocultural agreement of ideological attitudes. This hypothesis was verified with the help of created legitimacy indices by comparison of linear regressions and data of the Institute of Sociology of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) of Ukraine for 2013 and 2017. The results indicate that the hypothesis has been held true only concerning legitimacy of small private enterprises. They have acquired a moderate extent of legitimacy owing to the fact that besides the factors of adaptation, social recognition has increased at the expense of people who support the multiparty system and the liberal and mixed methods of regulation of the economy. In contrast, the existence of large private enterprises and private land has not acquired the corresponding sociocultural foundation.

The article analyzes the results of a sociological study of the socio-political consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic in Ukrainian society. The economic and social difficulties faced by people during the lockdowns have, as expected, caused dissatisfaction with the actions of state institutions. Public opinion on the government's efforts to combat the pandemic was based on its chaotic, inconsistent and often belated actions regarding the introduction of quarantine, mass vaccination and information policy. Our assumption was that the ineffective opposition of the Ukrainian authorities to the COVID-19 pandemic led to a negative perception of Ukrainians' democratic legitimacy, their distrust of state institutions, growing social tensions, and increased support for paternalism and authoritarianism. To test this hypothesis, the dynamics of assessments of the government's actions in the confrontation with the pandemic, the determinants of trust in state institutions, attitudes on ways to ensure living standards and means of maintaining order in Ukraine, protest potential were analyzed. The empirical analysis was conducted on the basis of a sociological survey conducted by the sociological firm HUMAN RESEARCH from July 28 to August 7, 2021 as part of a research project of the Institute of Sociology of NAS of Ukraine "Social consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic in the context of social transformation in Ukraine: sociological approach" under a grant from the National Research Foundation of Ukraine. Methods of multiple linear regression and binary logistic regression were used to empirically assess the influence of explanatory variables on dependent variables. According to the analysis, the main challenge to the legitimacy of the social order in Ukraine was the decline in confidence in the central government, mainly due to negative assessments of its response to the coronavirus pandemic. However, there have been no significant shifts in the mass consciousness in support of paternalism and authoritarianism. The small share of support for these attitudes has little to do with assessments of the government's response to the pandemic. The increase in protest potential is also little associated with assessments of the government's response to the pandemic.

The article is about specific features of the institutional development of Ukrainian sociology from 1990 to the beginning of 2004. Basing on empirical data related to the distribution of Candidate and Doctor's dissertations, the authors reveal the main tendencies in growth of the scientific and professional sociological community. There are discussed both current state and prospects of research by Ukrainian sociologists, as well as analyzed relations between sociology and the transforming society.