Sociologie en non-conformisme

Samenvatting

A study of the SR of sociology. In the Netherlands, sociology has hitherto had a rather marginal role; but the day is approaching when it will become a 'settled' science. How will this affect Dutch sociology? There are two ways in which sociology can create theories: (1) by extending existing knowledge, through intuition, a sense of combination, and the development of society itself, into new hyp's; and (2) by verifying existing hyp's, and applying appropriate methods and techniques. Their use is determined by social conditions: social unrest stimulated men like K. Mannheim and D. Riesman to propose hyp's, which are then verified by men like S. Stouffer and H. Zetterberg. There is a danger that in the Netherlands this social unrest will be absorbed by vested sociological interests (the Dutch Sociological Assoc. and the Society of Researchers in Social Sciences and the reviews (Mens en Maatschappij and Sociologische Gids), and fail to produce a Scientific ferment. I. Langnas.