Sociology and Statistics in Britain, 1833-1979

At the beginning of the twentieth century, Britain stood at the forefront of science and statistics and had a long and respected tradition of social investigation and reform. But it still did not yet have a 'science of society.' When, in the early 1900s, a small band of enthusiasts got together to address this situation, the scene was set for a grand synthesis. No such synthesis ever took place and, instead, British sociology has followed a resolutely non-statistical path. Sociology and Statistics in Britain, 1833-1979 investigates how this curious situation came about and attempts to explain it from an historical perspective. It uncovers the prevalence of a deep and instinctive distrust within British sociology of the statistical methodology and mindset, resulting in a mix of quiet indifference and active hostility, which has persisted from its beginnings right up to the present day. While British sociology has thrived institutionally since the post-war expansion of higher education, this book asks whether or not it is poorer for having failed to recognise that statistics provides the foundations for the scientific study of society and for having missed opportunities to build upon those foundations. Ultimately, this important, revealing and timely book is about British sociology's refusal to come to grips with a modern scientific way of thinking which no discipline that aspires to an effective study of society can afford to ignore.

Investigates how sociology in Britain has developed as a non-quantitative subject and why this matters from an historical point of view Examines the history of sociology from a novel perspective; within the wider context of the development of modern science Contributes to the building of a healthy tradition within British sociology of studying its own history

Autorentext

Plamena Panayotova is a British Academy Postdoctoral Fellow at The University of Edinburgh. She is currently studying the popularisation of science in Britain since the eighteenth century and teaching quantitative methods and statistical literacy. She has published several studies on the history of sociology and statistics in Britain and edited a collection of essays on the history of sociology. Her broader research interests include the history of science in general and the history of statistics and quantification, in particular, as well as the history of education and learning.

Inhalt
Chapter 1. Introduction.- Chapter 2. The Traditional Viewpoint Philip Abrams' The Origins of British Sociology (1968).- Chapter 3. A New Perspective the Evolution of Statistics, 1660-1935.- Chapter 4. The Idea of Science in Early Nineteenth-Century Britain.- Chapter 5. The Statistical Work of Section F of the BAAS: Between the Hammer of Politics and the Anvil of Science.- Chapter 6. The Legacy of the Statistical Society of London Aliis Exterendum and Beyond.- Chapter 7. Non-quantitative Models Comte and Durkheim.- Chapter 8. Sociology and Statistics in the Sociological Society.- Chapter 9. Academic Sociology and Statistics in the Wake of the Sociological Society.- Chapter 10. The Intellectual Landscape in British Sociology, ca. 1930s-1970s.- Chapter 11. The Post-war Expansion of the British Education System and its Impact on Sociology.- Chapter 12. The Changing Face of an Expanding Sociology.- Chapter 13. The Teaching of Sociology to Undergraduate Students in Britain, 1904-1979.- Chapter 14. Positivism and Statistics in British Sociology.- Chapter 15. Hard Times.