Toward a Codification of Typological Procedure.

This article focuses on codification of typological procedure. The construction of types is not confined to any particular science; it is a procedure applicable to the data of any science although obviously more characteristic of some than others. The device has played an undeniable role in the growth of sociological knowledge despite the fact that it remains a controversial item in the sociologist's kit of tools. Unfortunately, it is not possible to turn to the work of those who have used typologies in the past to gain a clear idea of the steps involved. There does not seem to be any standardized procedure used by all typologists. However, given the work of the past and an extension of this work in the light of relatively simple sociological methods, it is possible to develop a series of typological operations or procedural steps that may help to make explicit both the utility and the limitations of constructive typology in sociology. The typologist, as all sociologists, works with some substantive area of inquiry.