Bulmer, Martin Chicago sociology and the empirical impulse: its implications for

sociological theorizing.

Topic 1 The articles subject

Tension: to theorize about the nature of society x investigate society empirically

Contribution: one of the contributions of the Chicago School of sociology (CSS): []

blending empirical impulse with the search for theoretical understanding 75

Topic 2

While the Chicago School was strongly committed to empirical inquiry, there were
strong efforts toward generalization and much emphasis upon theory. 76

The polish peasant in Europe and America: combined empirical data and generalization.

Senior author W. I. Thomas had developed un enthusiasm for empirical research and
stressed the importance of having concrete, objective, detailed studies of social behavior
and attitudes 76. Empirical studies, he considered, must be undertaken as a basis for
generalization 76

Robert E. Park

Subjective point of view of the actor

Park and Ernest W. Burgess

The idea of the city as a social laboratory (Chicago as a social laboratory) = this means
the collection of materials upon the social life of the city; the organization of this
materials; and their social analysis 78.

Topic 3 Sociology and social research in the United States around 1915.

Streams

First stream: [] abstract and philosophical works with relatively little connection to
empirical data, and certainly not to the systematic testing of theory against empirical
evidence 79

Second stream: [problem-oriented] [] a tradition in empirical social enquiry toward

fact-gathering either in a spirit of disinterested enquiry or more commonly in the
context of social reform and the desire to influence local public opinion about the need
for social reform 79. [] they lacked [] any conceptions of social science or theory
as a basis for generalization 80

Topic 4 Other characteristics of the CSS

Subdivision I

[] scientific detachment and commitment to scientific generalization in terms of

theory 80

Gathering of data to check social theories

Subdivision II

They sought systematically to differentiate sociology from the study of social

problems 81

Subdivision III

A second feature of the work of Thomas and specially Park was their concern with
abstraction, conceptualization, generalization, and the development of theory. The
empirical impulse was developed in order to throe light on general processes and
outcomes 82

Empirical research general processes (generalization, theorizing)

Parks approach placed great emphasis upon categorization and classification 83

As Park observed in his preface to The Hobo, it is, in fact, the purpose of these generic
studies to emphasis not so much the particular and the local as the generic and universal
aspects of the city and its life 83

Topic 5

One of the main contributions of the CSS is the blending of empirical inquiry with
theory

Questions: why do you have to have a theory as a basis for generalization?

Notas

1. A Escola de Chicago ficou famosa por sua nfase em estudos empricos, no

entanto os estudos que fizeram parte da gerao de 1915-30, como indica Martin
Bulmer, tiveram tambm a preocupao com generalizaes. W.I. Thomas em
seu livro The polish peasant in Europe and America j enfatizava a
necessidade de estudos empricos como base para generalizaes.

2. Caractersticas dos estudos de alguns dos principais autores da Escola de

Chicago:

W. I. Thomas: estudos de comportamentos e atitudes sociais

Robert Park: ponto de vista do interlocutor

Robert Park e Ernest Burgess: a cidade como um laboratrio, o que significava,

segundo Matin Bulmer, a coleta de informaes sobre a vida social de Chicago
para sua posterior anlise.

3. Contexto de 1915: Martin Bulmer identifica duas tendncias principais na

pesquisa social nos anos de 1915: de um lado, havia uma tendncia teorizao
sem base emprica, ou seja, existiam muitos trabalhos abstratos e filosficos que
eram bem descolados de uma base emprica. E alm do mais no eram
submetidos a testes para comprovao de sua validade.

A segunda tendncia identificada por Bulmer fazia pesquisas e coletava

informaes apenas por fazerou usava-as para a promoo de reformas sociais

4. Outras caractersticas da Escola de Chicago:

Distanciamento cientfico

Generalizaes em termos de teoria: muitos dos estudos empricos de

Thomas e Park foram feitos para laar luz em processos gerais, isto ,
para a generalizao. Temos aqui um esforo de teorizao por meio de
estudos empricos. Park em seu The hobo diz claramente, segundo
Bulmer, que o que buscava enfatizar eram os processos gerais e
universais da cidade e sua vida social e no tanto casos espefcos e
genricos

Comprovao de teorias por meio de dados empricos