On “Methodological Monism” in Rural Sociology1

AbstractThis paper is a brief outline of the history of methods in rural sociology which suggests that the dominant methodological practice results from institutional arrangements and the traditions of the academic culture, as well as commitment to a scientific sociology. I note oft‐stated critiques of the positivist model relevant to rural sociology's “methodological monism,” including imprecise measurement, low levels of predictability, and a social psychological orientation. I suggest, in addition, that methodological homogeneity in rural sociology presents social life as social facts rather than social process, leads to a simplistic understanding of the interview, and separates the researcher from the experience of research. A wider methodological orientation would, I suggest, encourage the examination of a wider range of issues and encourage wider participation in a subdiscipline which, because of its particular history, has developed in isolation from mainstream sociology.