Reflectons on Community Studies

Vidich, Bensman and Stein collaborated on this unique study of the methodologies used in the study of community studies.  As numerous positive reviews of this book declared, social science research can't be objectified.  The role of the researcher in participant observation studies is central to the analysis and outcome of these studies. Inherent in social science research - especially community studies - is the influence of the observer over the events and social interactions with which he or she is engaged. The editors of this classic collection of eleven articles clearly demonstrate that the act of observation itself influences the social phenomena that are observed. What makes this collection remarkable is the wide range of case studies in which these insights are revealed.  The first section, titled the "community sociologist discovers the world" highlights the classic work of William F. White and his study of Street Corner Society. We learn of the wide range of errors White makes in working within an Italian neighborhood of Boston including egregious errors of judgment that side tracked his participant observation work beyond the norms of "participant" losing track of his role as observer. Morris Schwartz' study of the Mental Hospital is an excellent example of the double spy game of observation - with the psychoanalysts analyzed by an outsider analyst while the outside analyst is analyzed by the psychoanalyst. The second section addresses the community sociology as self discovery with essays by John Seeley, Maurice Stein and Kurt Wolf. Seeley's Crestwood Heights critique demonstrates the unique role that his own upbringing played in his understanding of social structure and social interactions. The final section, Public Responses to the community study includes an essays by Vidich and Bensman that explains the ethical issues they faced in publishing a study about a town called "Springdale" located in upstate New York.

This book was well received by the academic world and received very positive reviews when it was published in 1964. Jack Rothman reviewed the book and said "...there is much here that is provocative and absorbing. I especially recommend the volume to doctoral students setting out to attack a dissertation." Charles Wagley, said  "The editors and the authors of the present volume have made an important contribution in a neglected area of sociology and anthropology."