ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the notion of an Establishment in sociology and specifies five variables that would seem to demonstrate the existence of such a phenomenon. This is an excursion into the sociology of American sociology. It is an attempt to present a typology of the relationship between sociological empiricism as an ideology, and the preeminence and power of empiricist sociologists. Policies and orientations in social science are clearly related to the reconstruction of the image of sociology held in the past. While Lerner and Hilgard have indicated some of the major reasons for the attempt at mimetic reproduction of natural science methods, there remains the matter of the lingering identification of sociology with social reform. An English sociologist has pointed out the situation with respect of professionalization. "A professional association seeks privileges at the expense of the common good. The forging of a valuable sociology depends in part on the creation of a social science of values.
