Fast-track Sociology? Reflections on Research During a Pandemic

When the coronavirus spread globally in early 2020, many governments issued national lockdowns of schools, institutions, and businesses. As the epidemic turned into a pandemic, the health crisis also became a societal crisis, and many universities and research foundations issued COVID-19 grants to study the societal implications of the crisis.

In this article, we discuss sociological research during the corona crisis and ask the questions: What role did sociology play in the pandemic – and how did the pandemic affect sociology? We argue that trends of a fast-track sociology can be observed, which
has implications for methods, theory, analysis, and societal impact. Fast-track sociology is often faster, more interdisciplinary and dialogue-based, disseminates more preliminary results, and has potential of more societal impact. However, it also contains challenges if it is not interlinked with more critical and slower research processes, which are core to the sociological profession.