124 



(3) the criterion of convergence of the natural sciences and 

 social sciences; and 



(4) the criterion of basic research/^ 



Shortly before this report was completed, the Study Director 

 for Social Science Research in NSF, Harry Alpert, noted that the 

 extent of NSF support for tlie social sciences depended mainly on 

 the social scientists themselves. He called attention to the need of 

 social scientists to address themselves to such "strategic considera- 

 tions" as those suggested by Charles Dollard, president of the Carnegie 

 Corp., at a mid-century conference on the social sciences.^'' The overall 

 goal of the social sciences according to Dollard was acceptance — 



Acceptance, at least by the literate public, including scholars in other fields, 

 of the fact that the behavior of men, like the behavior of materials, is charac- 

 terized by certain uniformities and patterns which can be studied systematically, 

 and further that the discovery of these uniformities and patterns is a matter of 

 importance to society at large. It is important because presumably a better 

 understanding of the springs and patterns of human behavior would help us to 

 construct a more rational world. ^^ 



The obstacles to the achievement of acceptance were three: (1) the 

 urgency of the problems meant that the application of results was 

 too often premature; (2) the social scientist was forced into social 

 contact, with many claims on his time, instead of remaining secluded 

 to reflect on his research; (3) the social scientist was viewed with 

 suspicion as one who would change society rather than one who 

 sought to study it. The natural allies of the social scientists were 

 felloM'' scientists in the older fields who were aware of their own long 

 struggle to overcome resistance of society to their efforts and their 

 findings; there were also allies m business and Government among 

 those aware of the need for more systematic ways of achieving order 

 and management in large human organizations. 



To meet the needs of business and government, the social sciences 

 needed to deliver theh products in neat packages of completed and 

 proved work. These customers had money to spend. If the legitimate 

 scientists failed them, the charlatans would move in. 



To meet the needs of the universities, the social sciences needed to 

 allocate much of their time to teaching. This function was of "immense 

 strategic importance" in winning acceptance for the social sciences. ^^ 



The demands of the physical sciences upon the social scientists were 

 that they discipline themselves to adhere to the scientific method, 

 the proof of hypotheses by hard data and meticulous analysis, to 

 yield predictive findings. 



To satisfy these requirements, DoUard proposed that the social sci- 

 ences accelerate the sorting-out process by which the social scientists 

 went into basic research teaching, and applied service. He urged 



" Fifth annual report, National Science Foundation, op. cit., p. 60. 



8" Harry Alpert. The National Science Foundation and Social Science Research. American Sociological 

 Review (April 1954), p. 209. The Dollard paper was pubUshed in: The Social Sciences at Mid-Century, 

 papers delivered at the dedication of Ford Hall, Apr. 19-21, 1951. (Published for the Social Science Research 

 Center of the Graduate School, by the University of Minnesota Press., 1952), pp. 12-20. 



81 Ibid., p. 12. 



82 He noted, for instance, that "A Congress which contained even a few men with undergraduate training 

 in the social sciences might well have given us a very different National Science Foundation bill from the 

 one we got" (p. 17). 



