Werkterreinen voor de sociologie

Samenvatting

A discussion of 3 'working areas' which represent the chief interests of sociological research: (1) HR in small groups. Here the methods of clinical observation and experiment can be applied so that the results have a high degree of accuracy and controllability. The theory and practice of 'group dynamics,' as developed by Kurt Levin, can serve as useful models. (2) Social research, ie the study of larger groups whose members do not all know each other, eg workers of a factory, inhabitants of a city, or people hit by a disaster. Most factual studies in the Netherlands are in this area. Here clinical observation and experiment cannot be applied; statistics offers an objective and controllable method of study but with some obvious limitations due to the differences between the statistical 'aggregate' and the social 'group.' (3) Cultural sociolit is historical in nature; it aims at determining the elements which condition the development of a culture and offer clues as to its future course. Its chief practitioners have been Catholic and Socialist critics of society; but sociology must also practice a dynamic study of society as a whole. I. Langnas.