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Sociology 67
I. Imagery. The thought and analysis which culminate in a classificatory in-
strument begin with a rather vague image or construct. The investigator might
perceive disparate phenomena as having some underlying characteristic in
common, or he may have observed certain regularities and is trying to account
for them. In any case, the concept, when first created, is some vaguely conceived
entity that makes observed relations meaningful.
Suppose someone wishes to ‘measure’ the ‘integration’ of communities. He
might think of people who like each other, who cooperate in the improvement
of their city, who walk in peace and would hate to live elsewhere. Authors wil
vary according to the precision of their imagery. They wil also have different
problems in mind. What accounts for degrees of integration? What consequen-
ces has it for the life of the citizenry? Whatever the starting point, a second step
in variate formation will gradually appear necessary.
2. Concept specification. This step is to divide the imagery into components.
The concept is specified by ‘aspects’, ‘dimensions’, etc. They are sometimes
derived sociologically from the over-all concept, sometimes deduced from em-
pirically observed correlations. The concept is shown to consist of a complex
combination of phenomena, rather than a single direct observation.
In the case of integration of communities, for example, Landeckee has ex-
pressed the following idea. The elementary units of social groups are norms and
people. Integration then has to begin with two dimensions: a cultural one,
which requires that the prevailing norms may not be too contradictory, and a
personal one, referring to relations between people. The latter leads to a com-
nzunicative dimension, requiring the exchange of symbols, and a functional one,
referring to the exchange of goods and services. Finally, it is necessary that
people obey the prevailing norms, which brings out a normative dimension of
integration. The next problem then is to find concrete indicators for these di-
mensions.
3. Selection ofindicatous. How does one ‘think up’ indicators? The problem is
an old one. William James has written in The Meaning of Truth: ‘Suppose that
we say a man is prudent. Concretely, that means that he takes” out insurance,
hedges in betting, looks before he leaps ... As a constant habit in him, it is
convenient to call him prudent in abstraction from any one of his acts.’ James
proceeds from an image to a series of indicators suggested directly by common
experience. Actually one would not expect a ‘prudent’ man always to hedge in
betting, or to take out insurance on all possible risks; instead one would talk
about the probability that he wil perform a specific act as compared with a less
prudent individual. And one would know that the appropriate indicators might
vary considerably, depending on the social setting of the individual.
To find indicators for the integration idea, the dimensional analysis provides
good leads. What conflicts of norms - love thy neighbor but maximize profit -
occur in belles-lettres, in court decisions? How much communication is there
between people, how much prejudice between groups? To what extent does
everyone’s daily life depend upon others, how often or how easily is the circula-