DISCUSSION.

The article presents comments of the author on a paper related to the applicability of the Guttman scale in rural sociological research merits the attention for two reasons. First it directs the attention of rural sociologists to a relatively little known research technique, which has proved to be of great value in other research areas. Secondly, it explores the possibilities of this technique for action research; in the words of their summary: how to apply research in the service of policy makers. However, it seems that the authors have stated their case a bit overoptimistically, where they describe the possibilities of the Guttman scale as an "instrument d'action et de pedagogie." The authors speak of elaborating standards for the measurement of attitudes, capable of showing the characteristic stages in the process of evolution of farmers, to indicate the exact place of each category in the process, to make possible comparisons--on the psychological level--between the different categories and to control the effectiveness of the actions undertaken.