From 1915 to 1935 the inventive community of social scientists at the University of Chicago pioneered empirical research and a variety of qualitative and quantitative methods, shaping the future of twentieth-century American sociology and related fields as well. Martin Bulmer's history of the Chicago school of sociology describes the university's role in creating research-based and publication-oriented graduate schools of social science.
This is an important piece of work on the history of sociology, but it is more than merely historical: Martin Bulmer's undertaking is also to explain why historical events occurred as they did, using potentially general theoretical ideas. He has studied what he sees as the period, from 1915 to 1935, when the 'Chicago School' most flourished, and defines the nature of its achievements and what made them possible . . . It is likely to become the indispensible historical source for its topic.--Jennifer Platt, Sociology

How do academic social scientists and survey professionals use social measurement techniques? How are these techniques applied to specific concepts in empirical research? This book is an important resource for students, academic and professional researchers, offering an overview of both new and practiced methods of social measurement for quantitative survey research. It will provide readers looking to investigate "hot" social science topics with a way of learning how key measurement techniques can be utilised in that topic in a practical way. Emerging from the editors' widely used work on an online social survey resource offering information on key social surveys and their questionnaires entitled 'Question Bank', this book aims to take this material further. It elaborates on the problems involved with this resource type, providing a comprehensive and unique volume that will enable the reader to have the confidence to use this technique in their own research.

Care for the elderly, disabled and mentally-ill within and by the community forms a vital part of current social policy. Martin Bulmer argues that this policy is inadequately thought out and rests on a series of poorly founded sociological assumptions. As a result there is a vacuum at the heart of government's social care policy which is likely to lead to ineffective or deteriorating provision for those in need. This book, first published in 1987, will be essential reading for all those concerned with the organization and delivery of social care, whether as students, practitioners or teachers. It will be particularly useful for courses dealing with social policy, the personal social services and the social context of social work.

This volume celebrates the 40th Anniversary of Ethnic and Racial Studies. It reproduces eleven classic papers published in the journal, accompanied by discussions of each paper by invited specialists, and responses from the original authors. The various discussions in this volume provide an insight into the evolution of contemporary debates and controversies in the field of ethnic and racial studies. By bringing together these papers in one volume for the first time, this book explores a number of on-going debates about race and ethnicity.

The main objective of this edited collection is to provide an insight into key facets of contemporary research and scholarship on race and ethnicity. The various chapters were presented at a conference to celebrate the 40th Anniversary of the international journal Ethnic and Racial Studies. Given this context, contributors reflect on the evolution of scholarship over the past five decades, and look forward to the range of issues that we shall need to research and understand more fully in the future. In doing so they both provide an overview of the shifting boundaries of the field of ethnic and racial studies and display an engagement with emerging fields of scholarship and research. The volume brings together leading scholars who have experience of researching race and ethnicity in various parts of the globe, and combines conceptual reflection with empirically focused analysis. This book was originally published as a special issue of Ethnic and Racial Studies.

Multiculturalism, Social Cohesion and Immigration brings together original research that addresses key facets of the changing dynamics of race, multiculturalism and immigration in contemporary British society. The various chapters in this volume tackle important social and political issues such as ethnic diversity and segregation, post-race politics, contact and threat hypotheses, national identity, anti-racist mobilisation and whiteness. It provides an important insight into the dynamics of contemporary British society. This book was originally published as a special issue of Ethnic and Racial Studies.

Social scientists have proposed several different models for the relationship between social science theory, empirical social research and the actual making of public social policy. This book, first published in 1980, seeks to provide a critical analysis of the impact of research on policy through the detailed examination of the part which research played in the work of Royal Commissions of Inquiry, the bodies set up by government to consider, gather evidence on, report and make recommendations about specific policy areas. This titles varied and stimulating chapters will serve to shed considerable light, not all of it positive, upon the potential contribution of the social sciences to the practice of government. This book will be of interest to students of the social sciences, particularly sociology and politics.

For the past hundred years, the social survey has been a major tool of social investigation, and its use has also been linked to social reform. Starting with the landmark surveys of Charles Booth in London and Jane Addams in Chicago, social surveys in both Britain and the Unites States investigated poverty, unemployment and other difficult social conditions. While in Britain there was marked continuity between the early studies of Booth and others, in the US the social survey movement exercised curiously little impact upon empirical social science. This 2001 book traces the history of the social Survey in Britain and the US, with two chapters on Germany and France. It discusses the aims and interests of those who carried out early surveys, and the links between the social survey and the growth of empirical social science. The contributors are drawn from a range of disciplines, including history, sociology, political science, demography and geography.

This collection of original essays considers the relationship between social science research and government during the last 30 years in Britain and the United States including the consequences of policies towards social science of the Reagan and Thatcher governments to frame economic and social policies. What sorts of social science research are available and how are they used? How has the use of the social sciences grown and with what consequences? What is the role of such expertise in the democratic political process? These are some of the questions which the book seeks to answer by a detailed comparison of two of the leading Western nations in social science. Twenty authoritative contributors, most of whom work or have worked in government, review the general features of government/social science interaction, and examine in detail the institutions and methodology by means of which such knowledge-use is fostered. This is a unique collection, of general interest both to social science staff and graduate students and to policy-makers working inside government.

This book traces the history of British sociology and empirical social research over the last hundred years. Its coverage includes the census of population, the classic poverty surveys of Booth and Rowntree, the slow growth of social science between the wars, mass-observation, the rise of the Government Social Survey, the establishment of academic sociology after 1945 outside Oxford and Cambridge, and independent initiatives such as the foundation of the Institute of Community Studies. A concluding section considers the uses made of British sociology, the place of the citizen as the subject of research, social surveys for policy-making, and the success of social science in predicting the future. These essays reflect the interests of the distinguished British sociologist, the late Philip Abrams. In addition to him the contributors include a number of distinguished sociologists such as A. H. Halsey, Hannan C. Selvin, Edward Shils, Peter Townsend and Peter Willmott, as well as several well-known younger scholars.

Full Contributors:
Gargi Bhattacharyya, University of Birmingham, Maria Lauret, University of Sussex, Sian Jones, University of Southampton, Linda Alcoff, Syracuse University, Clive Harris, University of Warwick, David Mason, University of Plymouth, Professor Richard Jenkins, University of Sheffield, Panikos Panayi, De Montfort University, Karen Henwood, University of Wales, Ann Phoenix, Birkbeck College, Alastair Bonnett, University of Newcastle upon Tyne, Rupert Taylor, University of Witwatersrand, South Africa, Caroline Knowles, Concordia University, Montreal

Neighbours is a study in both sociology and social policy. We all have neighbours, yet what is their sociological significance? How do we get on with them? What relationships do we establish with them? What kinds of everyday contact, help and support do they give? Why is social distance and even conflict also characteristic of relations between neighbours? This book, which presents and extends the work of the distinguished sociologist Philip Abrams (d. 1981), is the first major study of neighbours in Britain since the 1960s. It makes an important contribution to urban sociological theory and to understanding actual patterns of neighbouring in widely different parts of England. Neighbourhood care - help for the elderly, infirm and sick by those who live near them - is potentially a very important kind of informal social care, and the second part of the book examines by means of ten detailed case studies the potential for neighbourhood care in contemporary Britain. A central philosophical chapter suggests that pure ???goodness of heart??? is rarely a motive for helping others.

This book traces the history of British sociology and empirical social research over the last hundred years. Its coverage includes the census of population, the classic poverty surveys of Booth and Rowntree, the slow growth of social science between the wars, mass-observation, the rise of the Government Social Survey, the establishment of academic sociology after 1945 outside Oxford and Cambridge, and independent initiatives such as the foundation of the Institute of Community Studies. A concluding section considers the uses made of British sociology, the place of the citizen as the subject of research, social surveys for policy-making, and the success of social science in predicting the future. These essays reflect the interests of the distinguished British sociologist, the late Philip Abrams. In addition to him the contributors include a number of distinguished sociologists such as A. H. Halsey, Hannan C. Selvin, Edward Shils, Peter Townsend and Peter Willmott, as well as several well-known younger scholars.

Gender, Race and Religion brings together a selection of original papers published in Ethnic and Racial Studies that address the intersections between gender relations, race and religion in our contemporary environment. Chapters address both theoretical and empirical aspects of this phenomenon, and although written from the perspective of quite different national, social and political situations, they are linked by a common concern to analyze the interface between gender and other situated social relationships, from both a conceptual and a policy angle. These are issues that have been the subject of intense scholarly research and analysis in recent years, as well as forming part of public debates about the significance of gender, race and religion as sites of identity formation and mobilization in our changing global environment. The substantive chapters bring together insights from both theoretical reflection and empirical research in order to investigate particular facets of these questions. Gender, Race and Religion addresses issues that are at the heart of contemporary scholarly debates in the field of race and ethnic studies, and engages with important questions in policy and public debates.

This book was originally published as a special issue of Ethnic and Racial Studies.

W. E. B. DuBois wrote in 1903 that `the problem of the twentieth century is the problem of the colour line - the relation of the darker to the lighter races in Asia and Africa, in America and in the islands of the sea'. As the century draws to its close, this remains true; if anything the salience of race and racism in all its manifestations has grown in the recent past. The last few years have witnessed a growth in academic interest in racism, and in related issues such as nationalism and ethnicity, as well as an increasing general awareness of various kinds of racial conflict and violence in a range of countries and regions across the globe. This Reader provides a critical overview of the historical development and contemporary forms of racist ideas and institutions. It brings together material from different theoretical perspectives in an attempt to make sense of the way in which racism has exerted such a powerful influence on the history of humanity.

This volume celebrates the 40th Anniversary of Ethnic and Racial Studies. It reproduces eleven classic papers published in the journal, accompanied by discussions of each paper by invited specialists, and responses from the original authors. The various discussions in this volume provide an insight into the evolution of contemporary debates and controversies in the field of ethnic and racial studies. By bringing together these papers in one volume for the first time, this book explores a number of on-going debates about race and ethnicity.

First published in 1975. How do men come to perceive and evaluate a world in which marked inequalities of class and status exist? This book considers the nature of class images and their underlying work and community structures. Beginning with the argument that the perception of society varies according to type of work and community milieux, it first considers the social imagery of working-class professions and their sources of variation, and then examines some of the methodological problems of the study of class imagery. The nature of proletarian traditionalism and radicalism in then contemporary Britain is discussed in conclusion. This title will be of interest to students of sociology.

This edited collection brings together original research papers that explore an important aspect of race and ethnic studies, namely the processes that are shaping the making of Latina and Latino identities in contemporary America. This is a question that has received much attention in the USA over the past decade, and these papers make an original contribution to these debates. Much of this attention towards Latino/a communities in the USA can be seen as the outcome of public debates about the growth of these communities over the past three decades, and the consequences of this growth for social and political change. The papers in this collection highlight some of the key facets of contemporary research in this field. As original pieces of research they are at the forefront of current debates about Latino/a identities in contemporary America, and they provide research based insights into the changing experiences of these communities. This book was originally published as a special issue of Ethnic and Racial Studies.

The growth and health of the social sciences owe a good deal to the generally held belief that they are socially useful, but is this really so? Do they deliver the goods they promise? In The Uses of Social Research, first published in 1982, Martin Bulmer answers these and other questions concerning the uses of empirical social science in the policy-making process, and provides an extended analysis of the main issues. This title provides a valuable introduction to the patterns of influence exercised by the social sciences on government. It shows how the results of social research feed into the political system and what models of the relationship between research and policy are most convincing. This book will be of interest to students of the social sciences.

The strong community ties of mining villages are the central concern of this book, which deals with the social history and sociology of mining in County Durham in the twentieth century. Focusing on the country as a whole, this title, first published in 1978, asks what is most distinctive about the area in the past and how it is changing in the present. The personal documents presented in the first chapters of the book bring to life the local mining community with an evocative picture of village life at the turn of the century. These first-hand accounts are integrated with the results of social research carried out at Durham University over a number of years. Mining and Social Change will be of interest to students of history and sociology.

Migration and Race in Europe covers various facets of the interplay between migration and race in Europe. Over the past two decades there has been a growing public policy and political debate about questions linked to migration and refugee movements across the borders of Europe. This has been evident in countries such as the UK, France, the Netherlands and Germany that have had long-established experience with questions about immigration and race. But what has also become clear is that these debates have also become an established part of political and civil society discourses across both Southern and Eastern European societies and beyond. The contributions to this volume draw on the latest research in order to provide an insight into the changing dynamics of migration and race in a number of European societies. This book was originally published as a special issue of Ethnic and Racial Studies.

A rich source of ideas about sociological research methods to assist the researcher in determining what method will provide the most reliable and useful knowledge, how to choose between different methodologies, and what constitutes the most fruitful relationship between sociological theories and research methods.

Despite questionnaires being one of the principal research tools in social research, there remains a glaring lack of material on this method. Following on the success of his first set, Martin Bulmer once again tackles this lack by bringing together a wealth of material - both the classics and difficult-to-find key material - to create a second invaluble resource on questionnaires.

Volume 1 reviews the place of questionnaires in the social world. It examines pre-testing questions, types of question, question order, mode effects and further questions the implications of attitudes and behaviour for questions.

Volume Two addresses methodological issues and approaches. Topics considered include question wording, response effects, the effect of respondent and interviewer characteristics on outcome and randomised response.

Volume Three presents an issue only lightly examined in the first set: Computer Assisted Interviewing [CAI]. The history and varieties of CAI are thoroughly explored and response bias, mode interactions, coding, email questionnaires and web questionnaires examined.

Volume Four is a conclusive treatment of the varieties and problems of research involving questionnaires. It brings together key material on using projective tests, vignettes, constructing questions for qualitative interviewing, the role of questions in the focus group, attitude measurement and measurement problems in general.

With entirely new material and a shift in emphasis, Questionnaires 2 is sure to make the SAGE Benchmarks coverage of this key method even more complete.

Bringing together ten research based contributions, Muslims, Migration and Citizenship addresses questions about the changing experiences of Muslim communities, or specific groups within them, in various national and localised environments. Although not an exhaustive survey of the broad range of scholarly research in this evolving field, this book covers issues that are likely to be of some importance in the coming period. In particular, the contributors highlight the complexity of the experiences of Muslim communities in different national and cultural environments, and the evolution of both policy discourses and debates in civil society. This book was originally published as a special issue of Ethnic and Racial Studies.

Diasporas, Cultures and Identities brings together a range of original research papers from Ethnic and Racial Studies that are concerned with the question of the role of diasporic ties and the social, cultural and political processes that are engendered by the changing experiences of these communities. Chapters cover a range of geopolitical and empirical contexts and serve to highlight the diverse theoretical and empirical questions that have become an integral part of the study of race and ethnicity in the contemporary environment. The study of the role of diasporas in modern societies has proceeded apace over the past two decades. Although the role of diasporic communities has been the subject of historical reflection for some time, it is only now that the concept of diaspora has become a core theme in the social sciences and humanities. We have seen an ongoing discussion about notions such as diaspora, transnationalism and cosmopolitanism and their appropriateness as conceptual frames of reference for analyzing the diverse experiences of communities that have become dispersed across the globe. This collection makes an important contribution to this body of scholarship and research.

This book was originally published as a special issue of Ethnic and Racial Studies.