In studying biology it is convenient to make cross-sections oflaboratory specimens in order to determine structure, and to watchplants and animals grow in order to determine function. There seems tobe no good reason why social life should not be studied in the sameway. To take a child in the home and watch it grow in the midst of thelife of the family, the community, and the larger world, and to cutacross group life so as to see its characteristics, its interests, andits organization, is to study sociology in the most natural way and toobtain the necessary data for generalization. To attempt to studysociological principles without this preliminary investigation is toconfuse the student and leave him in a sea of vague abstractions.
It is not because of a lack of appreciation of the abstract that theemphasis of this book is on the concrete. It is written as anintroduction to the study of the principles of sociology, and it maywell be used as a prelude to the various social sciences. It isnatural that trained sociologists should prefer to discuss theprofound problems of their science, and should plunge their pupilsinto material for study where they are soon beyond their depth; muchof current life seems so obvious and so simple that it is easy toforget that the college man or woman has never looked upon it with adiscriminating eye or with any attempt to understand its meaning. Ifthis is true of the college student, it is unquestionably true of themen and women of the world. The writer believes that there is need ofa simple, untechnical treatment of human society, and offers this bookas a contribution to the practical side of social science. He writeswith the undergraduate continually in mind, trying to see through hiseyes and to think with his mind, and the references are to books thatwill best meet [iv]his needs and that are most readily accessible. It isexpected that the pupil will read widely, and that the instructor willshow how principles and laws are formulated from the multitude ofobservations of social phenomena. The last section of the book sums upbriefly some of the scientific conclusions that are drawn from theconcrete data, and prepares the way for a more detailed and technicalstudy.
If sociology is to have its rightful place in the world it must becomea science for the people. It must not be permitted to remain thepossession of an aristocracy of intellect. The heart of thousands ofsocial workers who are trying to reform society and cure its ills isthrobbing with sympathy and hope, but there is much waste of energyand misdirection of zeal because of a lack of understanding of thesocial life that they try to cure. They and the people to whom theyminister need an interpretation of life in social terms that they canunderstand. Professional persons of all kinds need it. A world that ison the verge of despair because of the breakdown of harmonious humanrelations needs it to reassure itself of the value and the possibilityof n