San Francisco ; Washington ; London : Jossey Bass, 1977
Abstract: The question of what to do and how to do it in sociological investigation and analysis is as open to innovation and change today as it ever was. In a field that studies a subject about which it can never be said, “This is final,” styles and trends develop as rapidly as new informaticon is discovered. Sociological Methodology 1970 is the second yearbook in a series that endeavors to keep the social scientist abreast of the methodological changes in his field. The series is sponsored by ...; [Read more...]
The question of what to do and how to do it in sociological investigation and analysis is as open to innovation and change today as it ever was. In a field that studies a subject about which it can never be said, “This is final,” styles and trends develop as rapidly as new informaticon is discovered. Sociological Methodology 1970 is the second yearbook in a series that endeavors to keep the social scientist abreast of the methodological changes in his field. The series is sponsored by thè American Sociological Association for the purpose of advancing the development of methodology in sociology. Edgar F. Borgatta and George W. Bohrnstedt have put together a collection of originai essays that touch upon the most current topics in the field and give a rapresentative sampling of the thinking of leading spokesmen. No one methodological area dominates the 1970 yearbook, but several aspects of the book deserve special mention. Part One continues the concern of the 1969 volume with models for causal analysis, which has become an important tool in the development of methodology itself as well as in data analysis per se. Part Two is also of special interest, for, although nontechnical presentations of the measurement problem have occurred in sociology, relatively explicit technical papers have for the most part been absent from the literature. Pare Three deals with several statistical techniques which may prove useful to sociologists and provides introductions to two important branches which sociologists have largely ignored—Bayesian statistics and uncertainty analysis. The 1970 yearbook concludes with three chapters on mathematical sociology. Suitable for profcssionals, graduate students, and serious undergraduates in sociology and related social sciences, "Sociological Methodology" 1970 contains the most important current methodological developments. Ultimately, however, the tools discussed in this book are only as good as the scientific intuition and imagination of the social scientist who uses them.
