Sociology and the Study of Values

Bibliographic Data

ID5636090
AuthorsArnold M Rose (corresponding author)
Year1956
Volume7
Issue1
Pages1
Publication date1956-03-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueBritish Journal of Sociology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0007-1315 • E-ISSN: 1468-4446
PublisherJSTOR (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.2307/588127
OpenAlexW2316319221
LanguageEN
Citations received9

AHILOSOPHERS, economists, and other social scientists tend to consider as given-as assumptions or data and seek to determine the , . consequences of their use in a policy recommendationX whereas the sociologists, anthropologists and psychologists are more interested in ascertaining the distribution of values, investigating the origln of vallles in the person and in human interaction, an(1 determining the processes of change ill as they are held by people. The complementary nature of these interests may be illustrated by a contrived example. The economist raises the question during wartime as to what are the value premises and what are the economic consequences, given the agreed-upon value of reallocating productive resources rapidly toward the producticon of military goods, of two policies: one of allowing windfall profits and permitting the unfair redistribution of wealth which this entails and the other of forcing this reallocation by political controls which coerce people but which minimize the chances of wiping out savings through inflation. The sociologist raises the question as to what people's are with respect to political coercion for the sake of carrying on a war and with respect to profiteenng in war industry, and as to what is likely to happen to people's generally when either of the economist's policies is put into effect. In nrder to indicate the sociologist's multiple but interrelated interests in regard to values, this paper will describe (I) how American sociologists regard the study of in relation to their discipline, (Z) what they consider to be the nature and ongin of values, (3) how they go about studying them in dif{erent fields of hllman endeavour, and (4) how they go about using them in relation to social policy. The concept of values will be defined in connection with the discussion of the nature of values. Examples and illustrations will be chosen from science as a field of human activity since it is a major interest of sociologists and since it will indicate how sociologists go about studying values

Social science · Sociology · Anthropology · Contemporary Sociological Theory and Practice

Tools

Open DOISci-Hub