ABSTRACT
Social history — especially that of our own time — has an immediate appeal. It is, however, far more difficult than economic history. It is complex, diffuse, partially subjective, and shaped by our own memories. Non-controversial quantitative data are available, such as birth and death rates, ownership of consumer goods, and distribution of population into occupational groups. Other quantitative data are normally used only with qualifications, and even then generate either controversy or indifference among many historians and social scientists. Among these are the structure of social class, the distribution of religious belief, and crime rates.
