The Sociologist and Social Action

Abstract

WHAT has been the trend in the sociological field in the United States during the past thirty years regarding social problems and social action? Analysis of the content of a few of our sociological journals shows a decreasing proportion of space given to such matters as social service and charity work, race relations, penology, social legislation, labor and the economic order, civil liberties, government, and church activities. The American journal of Sociology, for instance, for the year I937-38, had i i articles out of 46 in these fields, roughly 23 percent. Thirty years ago in I907-08, The American Journal of Sociology had I7 out of 34 articles, or exactly So percent. In the American Sociological Review for 1937, there were only i i out of a total of 62 articles in this field. No article in either The American Journal of Sociology for I937-38 or the American Sociological Review recommended any specific social action. In The American Journal of Sociology thirty years previously, however, several articles urged specific types of action. Based on this and other evidence, sociology has been becoming more theoretical, more scientific, and less preoccupied in the field of social action than formerly. Most sociologists would doubtless agree that they should do research in the field of social phenomena. They would further agree that the field is complex, that predictability is difficult, and that quantitative methods cannot always be used with exactitude. On the other hand, we are coming more and more to the realization that, in spite of the complexity, there are certain patterns, sequences, and order in the behavior of a social group. Within limits, predictions can be made even about group response to certain stimuli and, increasingly, quantitative tabulations are being used. We are not agreed, however, as to the extent to which a sociologist should apply the sociological data which he secures through research to the field of social action. Some may say that such action behavior belongs to the social engineer rather than to the scientific sociologist. It is perhaps not always easy to agree as to where social action begins and teaching ends. For example, William G. Summer of Yale believed from his investigations into social phenomena that a high tariff was injurious to the group and should not be adopted. In doing this, he not only got into difficulty at Yale which almost cost him his position but he had certainly entered the field of social action. Investigation seems to indicate that a scientific sociologist, no matter how much he may desire to confine himself to research and teaching, finds it difficult to isolate the sociologist, as a scientist, from the sociologist who is