Response To Miller On Industrial Sociology.

The arguments presented by Professor Delbert C. Miller in his paper about the future direction of industrial sociology are examined. The paper manifests the espousal of applied interests. Miller has shown his desire to bring industrial sociology back to the glories of its past by raising the fundamental issues of what sociology is and is to become, which are issues at the heart of the contrast between the pure and the applied orientations. In one sense, it is a question of what kind of knowledge and theory is wanted. Applied interests, no matter how much they rely on deductive theory, are always single-case interests, the case that is here and now. Despite certain disclaimers, Miller sees industrial sociology as oriented toward the interests and problems of those who run industrial organizations and those whose job it is to keep the environment stable for such organizations.