American Sociological Association

3 Key excerpts on "American Sociological Association"

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  eBook - ePub

  21st Century Sociology: A Reference Handbook

  • Clifton D. Bryant, Dennis L. Peck, Clifton D. Bryant, Dennis L. Peck(Authors)
  • 2006(Publication Date)
  • SAGE Publications, Inc

    (Publisher)

  The history of the American Sociological Association (ASA) and its attention to teaching show intertwined, evolving patterns. Around 1970, the association was undergoing a transformation to a larger, less-elite organization. Most disciplinary associations traditionally function as societies of knowledge producers; the well-being of the discipline generally takes precedence over its application. In the 1970s, the Executive Office functioned like a secretariat—collecting dues, offering an annual meeting, publishing several journals, and maintaining the governance system to support this work. There was little programmatic work, including sparse attention to teaching and sociological practice. Elected leaders were primarily from Ph.D.-granting institutions.

  Shifts in ASA to become more programmatic and to have initiatives centered on teaching did not always meet with enthusiasm. As with any change in function and power, some parties push back, advocating the merits of the status quo. In their article “The Transformation of the American Sociological Association,” Simpson and Simpson (1994) describe the evolution of that association from a learned society to a professional association:

   

  Since the 1950s, the American Sociological Association (ASA) has expanded its activities beyond its original disciplinary focus. It has taken more interest in non-disciplinary activities and has expended effort and resources on them. It has become not just a body of scholar/researchers, but increasingly a professional association. (P. 259)

    In describing new emphases on applied or nonacademic positions and on formal ways to improve teaching and political activities, they conclude by saying the following:  

  These actions embody cherished democratic values, but as organizational goals and actions they have blurred the disciplinary focus of the ASA. They have structurally differentiated ASA’s disciplinary functions from its professional and adaptive activities, and the different functions now compete for resources. The changes have diluted the control of the association by disciplinary elites and have channeled ASA resources into activities that do not advance the discipline. (P. 259)

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  Modernism, Science, and Technology

  • Mark S. Morrisson(Author)
  • 2016(Publication Date)
  • Bloomsbury Academic

    (Publisher)

  Sexology, eugenics, and the American back to nature movement emerged from this environment, and these areas have drawn the most interest in modernist studies in recent decades. Institutionalizing sociology and anthropology Sociology sought its own professional identity within an already existing field of other social science disciplinary organizations. The American Sociological Association was founded in 1905 by C. W. A. Veditz of George Washington University. Respondents to his survey of prominent American sociologists (all at universities) suggested the possibility of simply forming a new section of the THE SOCIAL SCIENCES 119 Economic Association, to which many of the sociologists belonged, or of forming a society like the Historical or Political Science Association. Ultimately, they decided to form their own separate association. Beyond the concern about the public perception of sociology as a science, as Veditz explained, “sociologists have been so largely accustomed to working along divergent lines, and so frequently hold radically different views, that there seems to be peculiar justification for some sort of an organization which shall bring together at regular intervals those interested in the same group of problems, and permit of that interchange of ideas and comparisons of projects which in other fields of knowledge has so frequently contributed to the advancement of science” (qtd in Rhoades, Chapter 1). American sociology in 1905 had neither a “paradigm,” in Kuhn’s sense, nor really even the institutional infrastructure for the functioning of “normal science.” The situation was much the same in anthropology. There were already several anthropological societies in the country, and the American Anthropological Association was founded in 1902 to provide a national organization “to promote the science of anthropology, to stimulate and coordinate the efforts of American anthropologists, .

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  History of Science in United States

  An Encyclopedia

  • Marc Rothenberg(Author)
  • 2012(Publication Date)
  • Routledge

    (Publisher)

  For its first fifty years, the council focused its energies on training researchers, improving methodology, and on supporting basic and applied research by individual and collaborative groups of social scientists. As the only autonomous international group exclusively committed to the advancement of the social sciences, it operates free from disciplinary boundaries and the constraints of governments and universities. It pursues important efforts without concern for quick or politically correct results. During World War II, the council added a new mission when it entered into a partnership with the American Council of Learned Societies and others to overcome the parochialism of American social science and holistically study the cultures of major foreign areas. These joint committees now support collaborative work in twelve areas including Africa, Latin America, China, the Middle and Near East, and Eastern Europe.

  While the Social Science Research Council has maintained an influence disproportionate to its size and program expenditures, it has not been without critics. Historically, social scientists have worried that the council stratifies the disciplines, defines their theoretical, research, and methodological paradigms, and participates in a funding elite that sets future scholarly priorities and concerns. Regardless, the council remains an influential organization among the social sciences.

  BIBLIOGRAPHY

  Sibley, Elbridge. The Social Science Research Council: The First Fifty Years. New York: Social Science Research Council, 1974.

  Social Science Research Council. 1996–98 Biennial Report. New York: Social Science Research Council, New York: 1999.

  Barry V. Johnston

  Societies and Associations

  Voluntary associations are the earliest and most enduring formal scientific organizations in America. The American Philosophical Society, founded by Benjamin Franklin and members of the Philadelphia elite in 1743, and its weaker counterpart, the Boston-based American Academy of Arts and Sciences (organized 1780) were the first permanent scientific institutions in America. Wherever and whenever circumstances have permitted, scientific researchers, educators, and enthusiasts have formed societies to further their interests. No single type of organization could fill all the varied, and sometimes conflicting, roles required of them by their members. Ultimately, scientists created four distinct types of associations to meet their needs, all of which had come into existence by the end of the nineteenth century. Since they were shaped by and for scientists and represented all parts of the scientific community, local and statewide academies, national associations, and disciplinary societies are the key to understanding the changing structure of science and the multiple roles of scientists in American society and culture.

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