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- Title
Rejoinder to Theodore Caplow.
- Authors
Smith, Mark C.
- Abstract
In the article, the author presents a reply to Theodore Caplow's comment on the author's review "From Middletown to Middletown III," published in the 7th vol. of this journal. According to the author, Caplow has either misunderstood or ignored the central point of the article. Caplow sets up a straw man accusing the article of arguing that all sociological research simply reflects the personal biases of the author. Then he ignores every one of its specific criticisms and recounts the many very real accomplishments of the Project. The author admits that did say that sociologist Roger Lynds proudly admitted choosing research topics which he hoped would help create a more humane society. The author indicates that his criticism is not based upon some dark vision of his own but upon the Project's own material. If these numerous specific examples do not disprove some of the Project's optimistic conclusions, then all Caplow needs to do is to demonstrate the logical fallacies of these specific points. Instead, he has chosen to ignore the specific arguments and attack a foolish philosophical position that the article does not entertain.
- Subjects
CRITICISM; SOCIOLOGICAL research; SOCIOLOGISTS; CAPLOW, Theodore; LYNDS, Roger; SOCIETIES
- Publication
Qualitative Sociology, 1985, Vol 8, Issue 1, p63
- ISSN
0162-0436
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1007/BF00987014