1. Introduction.
- Author
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Guttentag, Marcia
- Subjects
SOCIAL sciences ,POOR people ,SOCIAL classes ,POVERTY ,SOCIAL problems ,SOCIALIZATION ,SOCIOLINGUISTICS - Abstract
The article introduces the topics covered by the Spring 1970, volume 26, number 2 issue of "The Journal of Social Issues". The purpose of the issue is to gain fresh insight into the current state of some aspects of social science, rather than simply to further an understanding of the poor. Social science and psychology have, in some respects, been relevant to an understanding of the poor. Work with poor populations in both laboratory and field has brought new perspectives to the social sciences. It has exposed some of the weaknesses, inconsistencies, and lacunae in both theory and practice. The recurrent themes of the papers in this issue offer some generic lessons about the study of any multi-faceted and value-laden social problem. Each paper in the issue presents the modifications in research strategies and the new theoretical formulations which have evolved from work with poor populations. The papers cover both theoretical content, e.g., in social learning and in sociolinguistics, and questions which are basic to the logic of all scientific inquiry, e.g., generalizations beyond a specific context and the conditions under which causal inferences are feasible.
- Published
- 1970
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