| 英文摘要 |
Speaking historically, as an immigrant nation in birth, the United States of America has formed as a society in which the pursuits for individual freedom, equality and self-reliance in alliance with an attitude of pragmatism are imprinted as the fundamental spirit. Since the middle period of the 19th century, particularly after the end of Civil War, the rapid growth of industrialization in line with an averse effect caused by a great swarm of immigrants made the entire society in jeopardy. It was at this time, the newly-born sociology was regarded as the scientific knowledge beneficial for social reform by the religious and political elites in locality. The result was to formulate a so-called Christian sociology in practice. Late, when academic sociology was established, it kept a pace along with such a same pragmatic line. Speaking in a practical way, “pragmatic” meant that empirical research (particularly quantitative study) was composed in requirement. Till the late 1930’s, quantitatively oriented empirical research led by Lazarsfeld, under the rubric of Parsons’ functionalism inbreeded with Merton’s middle-range theory, endorsed the axiomatic-deductive notion of theory construction which eventually made up the mainstream of American sociology until now. |
