The Threat of Acromegaly in Survey Research

Survey research in many areas of sociology consists largely of a collection of uninterpreted, & often unvalidated, statistical data. These studies make no contribution to sociological knowledge, but are indicative of the bureaucratic, mass production, profit-making organizations that have taken...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Review of religious research 1977-10, Vol.19 (1), p.76-78
Main Author: Klausner, Samuel Z.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Acromegaly
Advertising research
Bureaucracy/Bureaucracies/ Bureaucrat/ Bureaucratic
Data
Religion
Research and Commentary
Research/Researcher/Researchers
Social research
Social surveys
Statistics/Statistical/ Statistically
Survey research
Survey/Surveys
Technology
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Survey research in many areas of sociology consists largely of a collection of uninterpreted, & often unvalidated, statistical data. These studies make no contribution to sociological knowledge, but are indicative of the bureaucratic, mass production, profit-making organizations that have taken over the role of social scientist as researcher. Surveys in the sociology of religion have escaped the fate of other studies primarily because few government agencies & grant foundations have been interested in funding large-scale research in religion. However, bureaucratic bigness is only symptomatic of a more significant threat to effective research. Social scientists in religious studies & elsewhere need to be aware of the dangers of ranking procedure before substance as increasingly technological & sophisticated systems of data analysis come int use. P. Hoye.
ISSN:0034-673X
DOI:10.2307/3509583