ABSTRACT

Though academic specialists of a later time have described the American Social Science Association (ASSA) as little more than a coalition of reformers, contemporaries looked to the ASSA as a major source for guidance in adjusting to modern industrial society. Though ASSA activity reached in many directions, two definite impulses were always present: the urge to reform and the quest for knowledge. An assertive self-confidence was giving way to a more orderly quest for knowledge. With specific reform activities delegated to single-purpose organizations, the ASSA was free to devote more energy to the development and dissemination of knowledge. Most professional scientists had long since rejected the union of knowledge and practical application that many ASSA members desired. The ASSA still considered responsible social reform the ultimate motive for social science, but the professionalizing amateurs had realized the need to draw a line between reform and knowledge in order to establish their authority.