De plaats van statistische methode in de sociologie (II)

Samenvatting

In Part II, the relation between the statistical method and the verstehende (understanding) method is discussed in connection with 'case studies,' in which the investigator is a nonparticipant 0. The statistical method serves to refine and systematize the verstehende method at certain definite points; the 2 methods are complementary. The statistical method has not made the verstehende method obsolete; this is demonstrated by examining the role of such imponderabilia as sympathy or empathy in the development of concepts and the interpretation of statistical data before, during and after actual research. Statisticians play a useful role in sociological research and sociologists benefit from statistical training; it helps them to clarify their thinking and keep in touch with the progress of their own discipline, which is becoming increasingly quantitative, esp in the US. I. Langnas.