Social Forces, University of North Carolina Press

Light from the Near East

A Controlled Experiment on Rural Hygiene in Syria. by Stuart C. Dodd
Review by: George A. Lundberg
Social Forces, Vol. 14, No. 1 (Oct., 1935), pp. 149-151
Published by: Oxford University Press
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2569996 .
Accessed: 13/02/2013 22:37

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .
http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

.
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of
content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms
of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.

Oxford University Press and Social Forces, University of North Carolina Press are collaborating with JSTOR
to digitize, preserve and extend access to Social Forces.

http://www.jstor.org

This content downloaded on Wed, 13 Feb 2013 22:37:49 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 LIBRARY AND WORKSHOP
is a product of lectures delivered at the
Lowell Institute at Boston. The author
emphasizes the meaning, the content, the
expression and the motives of personality.
The psychiatric approach dominates. The
book is adapted to the needs of the lay
reader. It suggests the years of experience
and human sympathy which make Dr.
Campbell especially fitted to explore the
psychiatric aspects of human nature.

LIGHT FROM THE NEAR EAST

GEORGE A. LUNDBERG

ColumbiaUniversity

A CONTROLLED EXPERIMENT ON RURAL HYGIENE INunits and terms to be employed in the

SYRIA. By Stuart C. Dodd. Beirut, Lebanon
achievement of his purpose. He next
Republic: American University of Beirut Press,
addresses himself to the problem of
I934. 336 pp. (Also available from Near East
constructing a scale with which to meas-
College Association, so West 5oth St., New York
CitY). $3.00. ure hygienic status. The theoretical spec-
ifications of such a scale with respect to
I regard this work as one of the finest validity, reliability, and practical ad-
sociological monographs which has ap- ministration are first discussed with a
pearedup to the present time. In its own detail and a lucidity and yet with a
particularfield, namely, the technique of brevity that it would be impossible to
measuring social change, it is beyond improve upon. A trial schedule is then
question superior to anything heretofore prepared and rigidly tested on all the
published. To one who has had occasion points stated in the theoretical specifica-
redently to declare that the entire litera- tions. In addition to the usual test of
ture of social surveys, including his own sampling error, the schedule is tested for
contributions to that subject, is of very seasonal error, for reliability of the
minor scientific significance, it is a great informant, reliability of the interviewer,
pleasure to come upon, in this unpreten- error in scoring, ambiguity of the schedule
tious volume, a model of what a scientific itself, objectivity and quantitativeness of
piece of work in this field should be. the questions, and the ease and simplicity
The full merits of the book can be realized of the administration of the schedule.
only through careful study of it. But I It is impossible to give an adequate
shall call attention to the two main account of the ingenuity, perseverance,
groundsupon which I accord it the above and meticulous care with which the
high estimate, namely, (i) the rigor of its schedules and scales were constructed
scientific procedure and results and (z) and revised to conform to the requirements
its contribution to a phase of fundamental of a scientific instrument. Anyone in-
sociological theory. terested in techniques and methods of soci-
The problem which Professor Dodd ological study will find here a fascinating
undertook was to measure the hygienic story of weeks spent in villages of Egypt,
status of the population of certain Syrian Palestine, Iraq, and Persia to gain first
villages and the change in that status hand cultural background;the painstaking
over a period of years. That purpose is formulation of lists of items, patterns,
stated in the first paragraph. The author practice, or environment probably related
then proceeds to define precisely all the to health; the preparation of a trial list

This content downloaded on Wed, 13 Feb 2013 22:37:49 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
150 SOCIAL FORCES
of questions on these subjects; the thor-
ough criticism of this list by clinic
physicians and nurses as well as by others;
the trial of the schedule in the field and
resulting revisions. From this process
there emerged the first complete form, a
schedule of 27o questions with approxi-
mately 2,ooo possible answers for check-
ing. A detailed manual of instructions
for interviewing with this schedule was
also prepared. It was then administered
to 345 families in order to gain data for
still further improvement of the instru-
ment. Frequency graphs for the scoresof
eachof the 270 questionsfor eachof six sample
populations were then studied to locate
ambiguous and subjective questions, and
other defects in the schedule, as well as
for characteristics of the populations to be
studied and the reliability of the procedure
in general. On the basis of this experi-
ence and these data, subjected to the most
searching analysis, the final schedule,
abbreviated and corrected for all the
defects of the first, was finally formulated.
In short, no pains were spared to make the
instrument as perfect as possible under the
circumstances; to measure the unreliabili-
ties which remained; and, finally, to
report every step in the process. The
full description of this procedure will
stand for a long time as a brilliant example
of scientific technique in sociology.
As a piece of scientific reporting alone
the book is notable. I do not recall
having encountered in the whole literature
of social research a superior account of
exactly what was done, the results achieved,
and a full exhibit of the instrumentsused.
Sociologists will do well to consider the
book from this point of view alone.
Those who have been urged by their
university presses to eliminate even the
more important statistical material and
who have been compelled to exclude
entirely an adequate methodological ac-
This content downloaded on Wed, 13 Feb 2013 22:37:49 PM
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
count, thus violating the most elementary
and fundamental scientific requirement,
will appreciate the unusual character of
Dodd's work from this point of view alone.
While the methodological significance
of this book is of far greater importance
than any contribution to the knowledge of
contemporary hygiene in the Near East
could possibly be, the author never allows
himself to become so fascinated by meth-
odological considerations as to forget his
practical objectives. As a result, we have
here also an excellent account of one of the
culture complexes of Syria. I hasten to
reassure those who have been discouraged
by my emphasis upon the scientific
aspects of the work that there is also a
score of excellent photographs and much
juicy "case" material. The important
difference between Professor Dodd's use
of this material and its current use in
surveys is that Dodd is fully aware of the
purely illustrative and entertainment value
of the episodes portrayed and at no time
confuses them with his scientific data or
makes random incidents the basis of his
conclusions. This "warm," "human,"
"interesting," "readable" material is
always kept in its proper place with
reference to the rigorous requirements of
scientific methods. When used in this
way such material is, of course, very
valuable. But too often a serious study
is so deflected and diluted by a desire to
cater to tabloid tastes as to destroy its
scientific value. Journalists, novelists,
and other sociological clairvoyants who
are all too frequently scientifically illit-
erate are still regarded as proper reviewers
and critics of sociological monographs.
Their lamentations about "worlds on
paper," "encountering no human beings,"
and the failure of sociological writings to
conform to the stereotypes of contem-
porary cartoons, are taken quite seriously
and are not infrequently used by soci-
 LIBRARY AND WORKSHOP
ologists themselves as legitimate socio-
logical criteria. Obscurity should never
be confused with profundity, but neither
should scientific rigor be sacrificed to
popularization. There is no more reason
why a scientific treatise on sociology
should be pleasant Sunday afternoon
reading for the scientifically illiterate
than that a work on physiology or
chemistry should appeal to the lay
public. In this respect again, Professor
Dodd's treatise is a fine example. It is a
marvel of lucidity and coherence on its
own level. But it makes no cheap com-
promises with tabloid journalism in
either style or content. It is a brilliant
illustration, also, of how a statistical
approachresults in the only type of insight
into a culture complex which is of any
scientific significance.
To those who regard the field of social
measurement as but a naive and passing
aberration, even the high quality of the
work under review will seem of little
sociological importance. To those who
believe that a large part of future soci-
ological research must consist of a pains-
taking scientific check of the generaliza-
tions which today fill the Introductions to
Sociology, Dodd's book will be an
encouragement. It may be that a hun-
dred yearsfrom now sociology will still be
nothing more than a formidable collection
of droll stories, impressionistic generali-
zations, and windy dialectics. On the
other hand, it may be that we shall then
have a substantial set of generalizations
the probability of which, under given
conditions, can be stated with some
mathematical accuracy and reliability, as
must be the case in every true science.
Professor Dodd's volume proceeds on the
latter assumption. It demonstrates a
type of scholarship which does not rest
entirely upon the ponderousness and anti-
quity of his bibliography, and which is
This content downloaded on Wed, 13 Feb 2013 22:37:49 PM
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
as yet not very common in sociology.
Nor will the customary charge that
studies of this kind neglect the theoretical
side apply to Dodd's work. "The Theory
of the Measurement of Social Forces"
submitted in the Concluding Part (Part
IV) is one of the ablest and most stimulat-
ing treatises that has yet appeared on the
subject. Briefly, there is here submitted a
logical theory for the reduction of the
concept of social forces to an equation based
on measured entities.
I have touched here on only a few of the
original and ingenious features of this
unusual and excellent monograph. Nor is
a more detailed account necessary, for the
intrinsic merits of the book will sooner or
later compel recognition. In'so impor-
tant a work, however, even minor flaws in
the way of misprints must be noted: The
correlation coefficient in the second
paragraph on page 73 should be - .30
instead of + .30. The formula at the
bottom of page iio should read
Siv - Sii i -Si
Yiv_iii Yii -i
A iv
*5Y(iV_iii_ii_i)
In addition to these minor and self-
evident slips, an inferior job in book
manufacturing must be noted with regret.
But these flaws shrink to insignificance
when the extraordinarily high quality of
the work as a whole is considered. No
student or teacher of research methods can
afford to neglect this model monograph.
DYNAMICSOF POPULATION. By Frank Lorimer and
Frederick Osborn. New York: Macmillan, I934.
46I pp. Tables, charts, and graphs. $4.00.
If there are still those who believe that
population problems are dry subjects,
deserving of little concern outside of
academic circles, this book should do
much to thin their ranks. Of more
importance than the engrossing manner