From 1970 to 1973 Gudkov worked for the department of methodology of researching social processes at the Russian Academy of Sciences.

In the following four years until 1977, Gudkov was an employee of the department of philosophy and sociology at the Institute for scientific Information on social studies, which belongs to the Russian Academy of Sciences.

His dissertation concerned Max Weber's concept of the methodology of social sciences and the German tradition of the understanding of sociology.

Between 1984 and 1986 he worked as one of the leading scientific employees at the Sociology Department of the Design Research Institute (VNIIITE).

In 1988 Gudkov started working for VCIOM, and became one of the leading scientists of the research center after a short while.