Publication Details

Abstract

The author analyzes and examines the questions of fundamental methodological and also of concrete methodical procedures necessary to be applied in the process of preparing concrete sociological research. He divided the whole procedure of the preparatory phase of sociological research into the following stages: a) choice of the scientifie-research problem, its formulation, and determination of the aim of the research to be carried out; b) preliminary theoretical analysis of the problem examined and elaboration of the statement of the working hypothesis; c) delimitation of the content and extension of the problem examined, i. e., the determination of phenomena, their signs, groups of phenomena, relationship and reciprocal influences of the phenomena, which is absolutely necessary to examine with respect to the aim determined; d) determination of the size of the representative group; e) choice of adequate research methods (observation, interview, inquiry, study of statistical data, and the like); f) determination of the number and selection of co-workers needed for the research work in question, particularly for work in the field; g) determination of the time necessary to obtain the supposed, scientifically verified set of empiricalfacts, further of the time needed for their theoretical analysis and generalization; h) solution of the questions bearing to the material ensurement of the sociological research action. Based on the conclusions of the different stages (a—h) the research project is to be elaborated or the research methods are to be chosen according to which the research procedure will take place. The author emphasises the scientific accuracy of marxistic sociological research and the necessity to make use of precise scientific methods; elements of dogmatism, pedantic schoolmanship and subjectivism are — owing to their extreme noxiousness — to be excluded from sociological research procedures.