An examination of the digital democracy levels of social studies teacher candidates

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine the attitudes of social studies teacher candidates toward digital democracy. Method: The study employed a quantitative approach and utilized three different research models: survey, causal comparison, and correlational (relationship-based). The study population consisted of social studies teacher candidates enrolled in undergraduate programs at universities in Turkey during the spring semester of the 2024-2025 academic year. A total of 1,174 social studies teacher candidates—including 887 women and 287 men—enrolled in undergraduate programs at 21 different state universities within the study population were selected as the study sample. When determining the sample for the study, the maximum diversity sampling method was used by including teacher candidates studying at three different universities in each of the seven geographical regions of Turkey. The data for this study were collected online via "Google Forms" from SBÖA students enrolled in undergraduate programs at the 21 universities comprising the study sample during the spring semester of the 2024-2025 academic year, in accordance with the principle of voluntariness. The 20-item 'Personal Information Form', developed by the researcher as a data collection tool, and the 37-item 'Digital Democracy Scale', developed by Doğan and Kırbaç (2025), were used. In the analysis of the data obtained, the "Independent-Samples T-test", "One-Way ANOVA", "Pearson's Correlation" and descriptive statistical tests were applied. The Jamovi 2.7.12 software package was used to carry out the analyses. Findings: The findings obtained in the study were analyzed according to the variables included in the study's sub-objectives and categorized into 21 groups. Conclusion: An evaluation of the study's findings revealed that social studies teacher canditates' overall attitudes toward digital democracy were at moderate levels. Furthermore, the findings relating to each category of variables were analysed in the discussion and conclusions sections, and recommendations regarding the findings were presented to researchers and practitioners.