From Where I Stand I Can Almost See Society,or The Ups and Downs of Social Research

In a hierarchically structured society such as ours, the problem of the place the student of society occupies vis-à-vis those he or she studies is of critical importance. Several social scientists have recently appealed to their colleagues to turn their focus away from those at the bottom of the structure and to spend more time studying those at the top. The present article discusses the pitfalls of exclusively ‘upward’ or ‘downward’ research.