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The article presents proceedings of the 47th annual meeting of the American Sociological Society, held at Atlantic city, New Jersey in September 1952. The first meeting of the Council was called to order at 10 a.m. on September 2, 1952 by the President of the Society.. The general procedure for the conduct of the Council, as provided by the Constitution, was outlined, and it was informally agreed that a brief statement on the relationship between the meetings of the Council and of the general membership should be prepared for the first membership meeting. The minutes of the last meeting of the Council, held in Chicago on September 7, 1951, which have subsequently been published in the journal "American Sociological Review" as part of the records of the Society, were approved as therein reported. The matters which were pending from that meeting were reviewed and placed upon the agenda. The third meeting of the Council was called to order at 3:30 p.m. on September 3 by the President of the Society.

This article presents a commentary on a paper by Paul Kay in a previous issue of The American Sociologist which addressed the growing number of unemployed and underemployed doctor of philosophy degree holders in the U.S. According to the commenter, he sees little evidence of a burgeoning enthusiasm for nonacademic employment among sociologists. Nor he sees any substantial evidence that the scholarly emphasis of most doctor of philosophy programs in sociology is giving way to practical training and applied programs. To be sure, a number of sociologists have counseled such a shift, but their ranks are relatively small. With respect to the likelihood of any massive proportionate increase in nonacademic job opportunities for sociologists, the commenter explains that he comes to pretty much the same point that Kay makes for anthropologists. The estimates suggest that possibly one out of every five sociologists is employed in a nonacademic setting, and that this ratio has not varied much over the past quarter century. According to the commenter, this is not to say however that the number of nonacademic positions for sociologists will not continue to increase as it has for the past twenty-odd years.

The American Sociological Society's Delegate to the American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS) has, during the course of the year, taken steps to inform itself concerning the current programs and policies of the Council. This has involved several informal meetings with knowledgeable persons and also attendance, together with the Secretary of the Society, Wellman Warner, at the annual meeting of the Council which was held this year in Indianapolis, Indiana. By way of a preliminary report to the Council of this Society, the following observations may be made: There appears to be ample basis for a viable and significant organizational relationship between this Society and the ACLS. The intellectual connections between the humanities and the social sciences are complex and increased academic communication needs to be encouraged. The ACLS is currently sponsoring several programs of immediate interest to the members of this Society such as grants-in-aid of research, fellowships, and support of international congresses.

The article presents minutes of the business meetings of the American Sociological Society. The first business meeting of the Society was called to order at 11:00 a.m. on September 4, 1952, by the President of the Society. The minutes of the last meeting as reported in the December 1951 "Review" were accepted as published. The President commented briefly on the first activities of the council under the new Constitution, pointing out that the Council is "the permanent governing body of the Society" and that at the general meetings of the membership "the officers and the council shall report to the Society and any business of the Society may be transacted." The second business meeting of the Society was called to order at 11:00 a.m. on September 5, 1952. The minutes of the first business meeting and of the third meeting of the Council as reported by the secretary were accepted. After debate the three amendments to the by-laws pertaining to dues, assistant editors, and parliamentary procedure for business meetings were unanimously adopted.

Acting on the belief that the various agencies of the federal government in the U.S. have occasional need for American Sociological Association's advice on matters of programs and personnel, the article author has, during the year, made eight trips to Washington D.C. He has advised and conferred with such agencies as the U.S. National Institutes of Health, the U.S. Department of Defense, the Civil Service Commission, the Department of State, the National Science Foundation, the Department of Commerce, the Office of Education.