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The article introduces as series of articles dealing in a variety of ways with critical theorists and critical theory. The first three papers offer insightful analyses of the work of several critical thinkers Erich Fromm, David Riesman, C. Wright Mills and Leo Strauss. Neil McLaughlin examines David's Riesman's synthesis of the German critical tradition and U.S. pragmatism in his best known work, The Lonely Crowd. In McLaughlin's view, Riesman's classic analysis of U.S. society in 1950 bears a strong resemblance to many postmodern writings, particularly since Riesman self-consciously assumed the mantle of the public intellectual. James Abbott examines the thought of political philosopher Leo Strauss, with particular attention to its relevance for contemporary controversies concerning facts and values. Abbott is drawn to Strauss's analysis of the crises of modern liberalism and of twentieth century social science, and brings this to bear on the contemporary paradox of a sociology that simultaneously advocates visions of the good society while denying the possibility of trans-historical standards that would validate such visions. Joel Best offers incisive reflections on sociology's status in the academic world. Ironically, despite its image as a minor field, sociology has arguably been among the most influential of disciplines and has spawned a series of specialties that migrated to independence.

In the history of American sociology, there have been two periods of clear theoretical domination, that of the Chicago school, from the teens until the mid-thirties and that of the functionalists, from about 1950 until the mid-or late-sixties. The remaining periods have been interregnums or "free for ails," in which no theory group or point of view has been able to establish supremacy. The article review some of the major trend in these articles and then consider what they mean for the current state of sociology. For those who may not be current on methods, new causal theory is an extension of correlational techniques, made possible by the computer and based heavily on the use of partial regression coefficients. Toward the end of the period, these articles began doubling up on themselves and bickering over methods, much as happened to the Warner and Hunter spurts. A third methodological grouping was historical sociology, which had a small but growing representation in these journals. Evidently the field of history itself, which has been switching from the qualitative study of elites to the more quantitative study of whole populations, has been quietly going sociological.

Effects of age, birth year, and observation year on work behavior are estimated by minimum logit chi-square regression, using data from Current Population Surveys. Most of the observation-year effect is captured by indicators of the business cycle. Further, a model which permits the cycle effects to vary by age is preferred over any additive model. The ratio for young women is most depressed relative to that for older women when times are "good". [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]