58 



National Resources Cormrdttee 



eral public. Furthermore, the refinements of scientific 

 reports often depend on the use of mathematical 

 formulas and technical terminology which are not 

 readily understood by the non-technical reader. The 

 needs of the Nation will not be met nor will the ordi- 

 nary citizens be satisfied until far more readable in- 

 formation on the social sciences than is now i^ublished 

 by the Government is made available. That there is 

 great eagerness for information on all social problems 

 is evidenced by the consumption of reading material 

 in newspapers and magazines and in serious books 

 which far surpasses what was common in earlier 

 periods. The research agencies of the Nation ought 

 to be aware of this demand for popular pi'esentation 

 of social science materials. The social scientists of the 

 country ought to realize that any exclusiveness or 

 aloofness on the part of social scientists is sure to 

 operate to the disadvantage of social science itself. 



Need for Widespread Dissemination 

 of Information on Social Problems 



Research has always been stimulated by the appear- 

 ance of conditions that need to be changed. The agri- 

 cultural investigations which have been referred to 

 several times in this report as extensive and well-sup- 

 ported resulted directly from recognition of the distress 

 in the agricultural areas of the country. There is some 

 indication that investigations in the social fields will 

 be greatly stimulated by the present-day problems of 

 industry, business, and family life. If these indications 

 are accepted at their face value, it follows as an in- 

 escapable corollary that this is a period when the social 



scientists should devote much effort to both the exten- 

 sion of their fields and the rendering of their findings 

 available for general consumption. 



The obligation of the Federal Government in the 

 premises is undoubtedly to provide for widespread dis- 

 semination of infoi-mation on all social problems. The 

 distribution of the jjopulation, the industrial and pop- 

 ulation conditions of different parts of the country, 

 and the biological facts about human life are as im- 

 portant for the people of this country as the facts with 

 regard to livestock and plant life. 



The Works Progress Administration has organized 

 in a number of typical counties of the United States 

 investigations of all the social conditions and possibili- 

 ties in these counties. A coordinator familiar with the 

 problems of a given area has been appointed. Usually 

 this coordinator has been a member of the faculty of 

 one of the etlucational institutions in the area. He 

 has been supplied with a plan of operation carefully 

 prepared in the Washington office of the studies. He 

 has also had the assistance of white-collar workers on 

 relief. 



The effectiveness of this organization is seen in tlie 

 discoveries which have been made of unused industrial 

 and recreational facilities in the areas. Above and 

 beyond anything that has issued immediately from the 

 studies, however, is the awakening of a consciousness 

 in the people of the communities in which the studies 

 have been made of the possibility of scientific attack 

 on their social problems. Materials have been accu- 

 mulated which will be of value during a long period 

 to come. 



