Main trends of research in the social and human ... - unesdoc - Unesco

78 P. F. Lazarsfeld
ment’ is not yet well developed; as a matter of fact even our survey provides
food for thought rather than final clarification. The story then turns to macroso-
ciological explanations. The previous section was quite precise on the corre-
sponding points. It is possible to show that complex concepts like process and
structure can be reduced to combinations of variates as long as one deals with
survey data. In macrosociological work there does not yet seem to be a clear-
cut relation between individual variates and the explanation sketches into
which they enter. The best I could do was therefore to make an inventory of
the main paths along which the macrosociological trend seems to move.
Macrosociological variates
We begin with the relatively simple case of a single macrosociological variate.
Eckstein analyses why Norway is such a prime example of a stable democracy.
Among other factors, he stresses the country’s long profound sense of com-
munity. What are the cues he uses for this characterization? The basic concept
is divided into three elements: Norwegians a) avoid treating other people as
utilities, and wish their social relations to be exempt from economic considera-
tions; b) avoid competitive situations; c) are prone to cooperative activities
and favour organizations which serve this purpose. Here are some of the cues
Eckstein used to establish the preference for non-economic social relations :
medical doctors do not fight public medical care and like salaried jobs; having
spent some time in public service is almost a prerequisite for political success.
Eckstein draws on a cross-national public opinion survey where people were
asked whether their countrymen could be trusted; Norway leads the list with
77 % positive answers. Eckstein uses personal interviews to exemplify how
Norwegians avoid humiliating other people; he interprets their proverbial
desire for solitude as a way of suppressing their own hostilities.
The non-competitiveness is inferred from similar cues. Norwegians prefer
such sports as skiing where they are not pitted against each other. Many Nor-
wegian organizations follow the procedure of trial votes in order to end up with
a unanimous decision. In parliament, arrangements are made to play down
antagonism between parties.
The importance of organizations is attested to by their numbers and the broad
range of activities they cover. Even much commercial research and marketing
is done on a cooperative basis. Trade unions and employer organizations are
highly centralized; Eckstein believes that this facilitates negotiations. (Here is
an interesting parallel with Lipset who, as we shall note, uses the decentraliza-
tion of American unions as a cue for their essentially asocial militancy.)
To fill out this notion of ‘sense of community’ Eckstein draws on a number
of other cues among which material on suicide is the most interesting. Compared
to other Scandinavian countries, the Norwegian suicide rate is especially low ;
psychiatric case studies seem to show that it is guilt feelings rather than frustrated
success which account for suicidal tendencies. We now turn to a second example.
Runciman not only introduces macrosociological variates, but attempts to
show that their values change over time. In one chapter, he seeks to demonstrate
the thesis that the inequality of status between manual and non-manual workers