ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that the "traditional" stance taken by sociologists regarding methodology has decreasing relevance for research activity in our discipline. It convinces that the characteristic definitions of both "the methodologist" and "methodology" within many academic settings never were totally appropriate to the sociological enterprise. Courses in methodology have proliferated in most major universities. Given the rapid growth of the area since World War II, a strong justification for such proliferation can be forwarded. After all, when important, specialized and technical bodies of knowledge grow, the typical academic response is to expand the curriculum in those areas. Criticism of methodological practice is not a new parlor game but a well-established form of professional recreation. Two types of response to such criticism continue to be typical of the devotee of standard methodological practice. A man's work in methodology tends to be appraised in terms of its precision, its simple elegance, and its logical consistency.
