Aki
Koivula
Areas of expertise
Biography
I am a docent in Economic Sociology and currently work as a Senior Researcher at the INVEST Flagship, where I lead a research group focused on implementing the INVEST Longitudinal Survey on Well-Being. My research focuses on citizens' well-being and engagement with state institutions, and I have published extensively in leading academic journals, including European Political Science Review, Sociology, Social Science & Medicine, and New Media & Society.
From 2020 to 2023, I led the KRIME research group, which examined the social impacts of the pandemic. I am also actively involved in several domestic and international research networks, such as the Emerging Technologies Lab at Tampere University. In addition to my research activities, I currently serve as the Co-Editor-in-Chief of the Finnish Journal of Social Research.
Before joining INVEST, I served several years in different teaching positions, being also as head of the Economic Sociology Unit for two years.
Teaching
- INWS0014 Social Inequality
Research
My research bridges sociology, political science, and social psychology to explore the interplay between citizen political engagement and societal change. My research extensively examines the development and consequences of political trust, as well as other forms of trust, while also exploring the transformative impact of technology on human interaction and participation.
My dissertation (2014–2019) examined how political preferences shape citizens' behaviors and attitudes, laying the foundation for my first PI project (2021–2023), which investigated the complex role of political trust in crisis situations. This work challenged individualistic perspectives and refined social theory. More recently, my focus has shifted to welfare state reform, where I develop methodologies to assess both the impact and public acceptability of social investments.