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Sociology and Canadian Social History

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 November 2014

S. D. Clark
S. D. Clark*
Affiliation:
The University of Toronto
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Extract

This paper is an attempt to suggest methods of approach to the materials of Canadian social history. As such it is an appeal for a greater utilization of historical data in the development of sociological principles. It should be admitted at the outset that the point of view advanced is partly the result of a bias in favour of what might be described as the documentary as opposed to the interview method of research. Certain problems can be studied only by means of the interview. There are times, however, when a greater understanding could be gained from documentary records with much less expenditure of time and energy. Furthermore, the interview method, if it is to yield fruitful results, must be employed by those with a particular aptitude for “feeling out” information in this way. It is no accident that the most successful research students in sociology very often have been those with experience in journalism or those with a flare for journalism who found an outlet for their inclinations in sociological research. The penetrating insight of a Sinclair Lewis or Sherwood Anderson cannot be matched by the finest tools forged in the laboratory of the sociologist.

Type
Articles
Information
Canadian Journal of Economics and Political Science/Revue canadienne de economiques et science politique , Volume 5 , Issue 3 , August 1939 , pp. 348 - 357
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Political Science Association 1939

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References

1 Cf. Ginsberg, Morris, Studies in Sociology (London, 1932), chap. ii.Google Scholar Also Eliot, T. D., “The Use of History for Research in Theoretical Sociology” (American Journal of Sociology, 03, 1922).CrossRefGoogle Scholar

2 Cf. Hook, Sidney, “A Pragmatic Critique of the Historic-Genetic Method” (Essays in Honor of John Dewey, New York, 1929).Google Scholar

3 Cf. Parsons, Talcott, The Structure of Social Action (New York and London, 1937), pp. 564–72.Google Scholar

4 Cf. Smith, Adam, The Wealth of Nations (Everymans, ed.), vol. II, pp. 270–96.Google Scholar While many Anglicans joined the ranks of the Methodists, the Methodists, in turn, often went over to still newer religious sects. In Nova Scotia, for instance, many who were converted to Methodism, later became Newlights or Baptists (an interesting parallel to the history of political movements in Alberta since 1920).