ABSTRACT
In The Philadelphia Negro, William Edward Burghardt DuBois presents his early "trademark" approach to sociological research design, methodological triangulation. Census data were utilized to document primary trends in racial inequality throughout Philadelphia, and, where appropriate, comparative census statistics were cited. Du Bois' contributions to the development of the scientific study of sociology in the United States were substantial. He first developed an interest in the social sciences while completing his undergraduate and graduate studies at Harvard. Du Bois begins the inductive study with a methodological primer and the framing of "the Negro problems" as social problems. Du Bois linked Philadelphia's "Negro problems" to the interaction among poverty, crime, prejudice and Philadelphia's unwillingness to acknowledge the degree of inequality present within the city and the Seventh Ward. Du Bois concluded the study by reminding Philadelphians that social uplift and the eradication of prejudice and discrimination were not mutually exclusive events.
