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Sociology 123
both rapid and uneven. Against this background it is understandable that much of
Finnish sociology has centered on research in social structure, political sociology,
cleavages and social change.I3O
Some national variations or ‘specialities’ arise for which there is no real ex-
planation :
There is an unmistakable quality of originality in Norwegian sociology. In spite of
great variety one approach in particular might be labeled typically Norwegian ... One
could perhaps say that the Norwegian sociologists are specialists in unveiling hidden
and latent role expectations, role strains, latent solidarities and group ties.”‘
Another category of variation occurs when a country is particularly well
equipped in one way or another to pursue a particular line of research. For
example, there is a
contribution that Dutch sociology might make to the discipline as a whole, [viz., in
analytical sociography which] involves the application of sociological theory to large-
scale unique historical phenomena with the aid of statistical data, handled by computer
techniques. Such data are more readily available in the Netherlands than anywhere
else. They would permit the study of such massive events as the import of moderniza-
tion on family structure, or the political consequences of urbanization. This type of
enquiry has already been undertaken to some extent, notably by Van Heek and by
Gr0enman.~3z
B. Cultural variations
Sometimes a pervasive cultural theme or tendency of national character
appears to influence the nature of sociological work. For example, den Hollan-
der, speaking of the Netherlands, suggest that there is a connection between the
latter and the absence of ‘grand theory’ in that country:
Neither is there any tendency to design and elaborate sociological systems in the grand
tradition. There is rather a distrust of all theories of an encompassing nature; theories
of the middle range and even more restricted than that, are definitely preferred. This
preference is in harmony with the Dutch dislike of the sweeping gesture, the overall
design, our predilection for prudent limitation, for careful restriction and going the
middle way. The Dutch aversion to intellectual system-building is striking when con-
trasted with German thought. Sociology in the Netherlands has had little or no ‘grand
theory’, whether of the state, the society or the culture ... A national imprint is unmis-
takeable, and in this respect sociology in the Netherlands does not differ from sociology
in any other country: it never operates in a vacuum, it wil always absorb and reflect the
national culture by which it has been conditioned. The sober, unphilosophical outlook
of the Dutch is probably responsible for their preference for the descriptive aspects and
for the short-range hypotheses over the systematization of philosophical axioms that
underlie any general system of sociology133
Moreover, he holds that Dutch ‘national character’ is responsible for the
interest devoted to the individual :
One also wonders whether another ‘trait’ of what is usually called the Dutch ‘national
character’, Dutch individualism, should be made responsible for the attention paid to
the individual, his attitudes, capacities, desires, opinions. This proclivity made some of
the founding fathers of sociology in the Netherlands noticeably susceptible to selec-
tionist views, even at a time when such theories had been definitely and convincingly
discarded elsewhere.
The pre-occupation with the individual also demonstrates itself, when after careful