Social Reality Examination As a Social Process

This study analyses the methodological conception of humanistic sociology based mainly on the ideas of two. currents of contemporary social thought — symbolic interactionism and phenomenological sociology. The methods of sociological research ought not to imitate the methods of natural sciences. They depend on the nature of social reality, i.e., 1) they must be well adapted to the subject- -matter of their inquiry, not only able to detect general regularities but also to grasp the concrete and changing nature of every individual phenomenon; 2) the operation of understanding (Verstehen) is considered as the most important method of the socialsciences. It is conceived not only as the discovery of the covert part of human behaviour (intent, attitude) but also as an attempt to sieze and typologise individual behaviour in terms of socio-cultural patterns, while, at the same time, doing justice to the dynamic organisation of every personality and interaction processes; 3) we must take into account the fact that the sociologists particular knowledge and interests cannot be excluded from the inquiry, which is itself only an instance of the social process of interpreting the worlds The sociologist's scientific role is only a part of his personality, and sociology is only a part of social life.Digitalizacja i deponowanie archiwalnych zeszytów RPEiS sfinansowane przez MNiSW w ramach realizacji umowy nr 541/P-DUN/201