Initiating and Maintaining Research Relations in a Military Organization.

Demerath, N. J.

The scientist is always related somehow to his subject. Where the subject is human, the relation is social. And where the subject is a complex organization, the relation is likewise complex. This article describes the experiences of a research group in relating itself to a number of military organizations, each composed of 1500-3000 men. The research was conducted over a two-year period at seven U.S. Air Force Bases in England and the U.S. The research was undertaken by the University of North Carolina under a contract with the U.S. Air Force. The problem was (1) to describe patterns of social organization, both formal and informal, of wings stationed at selected Air Force bases, and; (2) to analyze these patterns as factors in unit effectiveness and morale, relying principally on a comparative design.

SOCIAL structure; ARMED forces; COMPLEX organizations; MILITARY science; ORGANIZATIONAL sociology; ANTHROPOLOGY; SOCIOLOGY

Journal of Social Issues, 1952, Vol 8, Issue 3, p11

0022-4537

Academic Journal

10.1111/j.1540-4560.1952.tb01614.x