It • is not improbable that greater changes may occur in the next decade in the character of sociology than in any previous decade. At the present moment it manifests six leading tendencies. The of these appears as "Methodology"; criticism of points of view, working presumptions, attitudes toward other divisions of labor and details of operative programs. Of this tendency the present paper may serve less as an example than as an index. Seud, the various forms of "group psychol Of these we may distinguish (a) the line of development from McDougall, 'An Introduction to Social Psychology) (1909), to Ellwood's volume with the same title (1917); (b) the variety represented by Cooley, 'Human Nature and the Social Order) (1902), and `Social Organization> (1909). Most prolific at the present moment is (c) that variety which generalizes types of group reaction in selected situations from large numbers of historical and contemporary instances. Examples are Ross, 'Social Control' (1901), the same author's series of papers in American Journal of Sociology, beginning Vol. XXI, p. 433, published in book form under the title 'The Principles of Sociology> (1919) ; and Cooley, (Social Process) (1918). _Thirsl, a tendency for which no name has been generally adopted, but for convenience we may call it social analysis.. It is an elabora tion of social psycholo& through selection of particular social groups or social situations, and study of cause and effect as there presented. "As a distinctive method it involves the detec tion, description and causal explanation of all the factors entering into the social situation, or de termining the behavior of the group studied. Social analysis is purely scientific in its interest, and is not immediately concerned with social action. Social laws discovered by social analy sis are, however, of value for the determi nation of fundamental policies of social con struction.° (Burgess). The most conspicuous example of this method is Thomas and Zna niecla, 'The Polish Peasant.' (Helen Culver Found.) Two of the five volumes announced have appeared (1918). The "methodological note" of 86 pages and the introduction to vol umes I and II mark the line of farthest ad vance at present in plans for this kind of research.
Fourth, Social Survey. It has been said that
analysis is to social survey as research in physics to a civil engineer's orientation. "The survey arose from the effort to substitute fact for belief as a basis of social action. As a distinctive method the survey involves study, by application of standards determined by ex perts, of the problems, institutions and social agencies of a community, as a basis for formu lation of a constructive policy or program, (Burgess). "It is the application of scientific method to the study and solution of social problems which have specific geographical limits and bearings, plus such a spreading of its facts and recommendations as will make them, as far as possible, the common knowl edge of the community and a force for intelli gent co-ordinated action." (Harrison, 'Commu nity Action through Surveys, p. 11, Russell Sage Found.). Social survey is so much more immediately available for practical purposes than either of the foregoing tendencies, that its bibliography deserves special prominence. On the methodological side, in order of publication, Gillin, 'Application of the Social Survey to Small Communities) (American Sociological Society Proceedings, 1911) ; Riley, 'Sociology and Social Surveys' (American Journal of Soci ology, Vol. XVII, May 1911); Kellogg, Harri son and others, 'Social Surveys' (Russell Sage Found. 1912) ; Elmer, 'Social Surveys of Urban Communities) (1914) ; Park, 'The City, Suggestions for the Investigation of Human Behavior in the City Environment' (American Journal of Sociology, Vol. XX, March 1915) ; Gillin, 'Social Survey and its Further Develop ment) (American Statistical Association Pub lications, September 1915) ; Burgess, 'The So cial Survey: A Field for Constructive Service' (American Journal of Sociology, Vol. XXI, January 1916); Aronovici, 'The Social Survey' (1916) ; Harrison, 'Community Action through Social Surveys' (Russell Sage Foundation 1916). On the operative side : Booth, 'Life and Labour of the People in London) (9 vols., 1892 97) ; Rowntree, 'Poverty: a Study of Town Life' (1902) ; Kellogg (Director), 'The Pitts burgh Survey) (6 vols., The Russell Sage Foundation 1904-14) ; Burns (Director ,'Cleve land Education Survey' (25 vols., develand Foundation 1915) ; Harrison (Director),
Fifth g contemporary variations of so eio is also without a conventional name. It is most frequently . referred to as the case method, or social diagnosis. °It is the differ ential method of case work, as it has developed in family and individual rehabilitation, as car ried on by charitable organizations. As a dis tinctive method, case-study involves determina tion of all the factors present in a given case, so far as is necessary in order to prescribe remedial treatment." (Burgess). Consult
Richmond,
ixt concrete programs for amelioration an construction. Charles R. Henderson in cluded all these in the term social technology. In his mind they were "social polity" passing into application. They are sometimes indicated by the more popular phrase social engineering (Earp. (The Social Engineer,' 1911). Discus sion of the movements thus suggested would require a treatise. They have a range from kindergarten to international reconstruction. Like all other technical problems after their kind, they draw at need from the whole extant body of knowledge and apparatus of execution. In so far as colleges and universities have provided instruction about these problems, it has most frequently been scheduled either in the department of economics or of sociology. This assignment obviously corresponds more to academic convenience than to intrinsic rela tionship.
What then is the technique which is now the distinctive equipment of the sociologist? Pri marily it is a collection of categories. First of all, these are categories of rationalization. They are sub-species in the gradations within the genus of thought forms which reflect human relations in the large. They begin with the most general, such as °group," "socius," °group structure," °group function," °group forces," "group process," °group interest," etc. These most general categories pass into subordinate forms which reflect descending orders of gener ality in observed group phenomena. The scale passes from least specific terms to most specific through categories for rough preliminary class ification of groups. The variations of these are innumerable, because there is no limit to the number of principles which may be made the basis of classification. Thus, for certain pur poses, objectivity is served by analysis of groups strictly on the basis of quantitative classifi cation (Simmel, Chap. II, °Die quantitative Bestimmtheit der Gruppe." Id. "The Number of Members as Determining the Sociological Form of the Group," American Journal of Sociology, Vol. VIII, pp. 1 and 158). For references to all of Simmel's papers on this subject which have been published in English, vid. American Journal of Sociology, Vol. XX, p. 629, note. For other purposes, objectivity is served by applying one or more of the grada tions of categories on the basis of race, industry, religion, culture, politics, language, etc. It is obvious that these less general categories need not necessarily in the first instance be original with the sociologists. The contrary is probable. They are more likely to be categories worked out by anthropologist, ethnologist, economist, etc., and taken over by the sociologist whenever his problem involves the previous work of other divisions of science. For example, few men within the ranks of the sociologists have exerted more influence upon sociological method than the anthropologist, Lewis Henry Morgan ((The League of the Iroquois,' So ciety,) etc.), or the English professor of juris prudence, Sir Henry Maine Law,' 1861; (Village Communities,' 1871; (Early His tory of Institutions,' 1875; on Early Law and Custom,' 1885, etc.). These categories do not of themselves constitute soci ology, any more than the categories °multi plicand," "quotient," °cube root," constitute mathematics. The uses of the categories con stitute sociology. The technique accordingly involves, second, a body of procedure. This varies, in accordance with the particular char acter of the problem undertaken, from the most abstract dealing with questions of epistemology and methodology to the most concrete questions of juvenile courts or milk supply. The generic factor in common, from one end of this scale to the other, is reference of the problem to its group attachments, instead of treating it as something isolated from the human process as a whole. The technique in volves, third, control of an enormous accumu lation of •knowledge about social reactions. A generation ago it was urged with much perti nence that colleges and universities should not academic standing to the new claimant until it could justify recognition by presenting an organized body of knowledge. Meanwhile the sociologists have accumulated an appalling volume of insights into social relation ships which had not been noticed by previous scholars. And the search with the new equip ment is hardly begun. It remains true that organization of this knowledge is far from adequate. (Vid. Hayes, as Ethics,' American Journal of Sociology, Vol. XXIV, p. 289). The most successful attempts to gather sociological results into textbook form are, on the side of social organization and operation, Blackmar and Gitlin, (Outlines of Sociology' (1915) ; on the side of ethical evaluation of social processes, Hayes, (Introduction to the Study of Sociology' (1915) ; on the side of social psychology, Bogardus, (Essentials of So cial Psychology' (1918).