APPENDIX 

 General Statistical Method 



The first objective of social science in accurately analyzing its 

 problems is to state them in terms of definite forces which oper- 

 ate in well defined groups and are associated with resultants 

 which can be measured and counted. The next is to group these 

 elements logically and determine the real importance of each. 

 When this is accomplished it can give descriptions of the ele- 

 ments of the problem which are as clear and significant as the 

 diagram of a mechanical engineer. 



This often means an analysis of human motives, which, in 

 many of their aspects are too intangible to be easily measured. 

 A mixture of motives is always at play in the complex medium 

 of society, and it is accordingly difficult to separate one from 

 another or to measure their influence on individual behavior 

 apart from the influence of the forces of the physical environ- 

 ment. Motives are intangible and hard to measure because they 

 are, to such a large extent, mental phenomena. From this point 

 of view all motives are desires. But for any desire to become a 

 motive there must be movement, effort aimed at satisfaction. 

 Such reactions constitute human behavior. The number of 

 times they manifest themselves, under certain conditions, can be 

 measured and counted; and if, when a certain condition occurs 

 in a number of areas, or, if when it recurrs a number of times, 

 the same behavior manifests itself in the large majority of in- 

 dividuals, the trait of behavior may be said to be associated with 

 that condition. But, for the inference to be of scientific value, 

 the condition must be as definite as the behavior. This definite- 

 ness can be secured by describing conditions in terms of mea- 

 surable elements, such as "increase in number of farms operated 

 by independent owners of the land." The presence or absence 

 of such an element can be verified by observation. In these 

 terms, the problem of scientific social research is, to describe 

 the true relationship between definite traits of group behavior 

 and definite elements in the situations in which groups are 

 found. 



