Working on the issues of social change and Westernization, Göçek empirically analyzes the Ottoman Empire and the ensuing Turkish Republic after its demise. She specifically focuses on the experience of minorities within this empirical context; she has written a book on the collective violence experienced by Armenians and is now working on a book on the violence experienced by the Kurds in Turkey. She is also developing a theoretical framework that enables the simultaneous analysis of Western and non-Western societies.