The Prospects of Sociological Theory

Abstract

T WO YEARS ago at the annual meeting of this 'Society it was my privilege to act as chairman of the section on theory and thus to be responsible for a statement of its contemporary position, as part of the general stock-taking of the state of our discipline which was the keynote of that meeting. As that meeting was primarily concerned with taking stock of where we stood, the present one, with the keynote of frontiers of research, is primarily concerned with looking toward the future. It therefore seems appropriate to take advantage of the present occasion to speak of the future prospects of that aspect of sociological science on which more than any other I feel qualified to speak. history of science testifies eloquently to the fundamental importance of the state of its theory to any scientific field. Theory is only one of several ingredients which must go into the total brew, but for progress beyond certain levels it is an indispensable one. Social scientists are plagued by the problems of objectivity in the face of tendencies to value-bias to a much higher degree than is true of natural scientists. In addition, we have the problem of selection among an enormous number of possible variables. For both these reasons, it may be argued that perhaps theory is even more important in our field than in the natural sciences. At any rate, I hope I may presume to suggest that my own election to its presidency by the membership of this society may be interpreted as an act of recognition of this importance of theory, and a vote of confidence in its future development. Though my primary concern this evening is with the future, perhaps just a word on where we stand at present is in order. Some fifteen years ago two young Americans, who, since they were my own children, I knew quite intimately, and who were aged approximately five and three respectively at the time, developed a little game of yelling at the top of their voices: The sociology is about to begin, said the man with the loud speaker. However right they may have been about their father's professional achievements up to that time, as delivering a judgment of the state of the field as a whole I think they were a bit on the conservative side. It had already begun, but especially in the theoretical phase that beginning did not lie very far back. historians of our discipline will have to settle such questions at a future time, but I for *The Presidential Address read before the annual meeting of the American Sociological Society held in New York, December 28-30, I949.