1. Comparing sociology in postwar Japan with that in prewar Japan, the following remarkable differences can be found:
(1) The decline of the grand theory which was modeled after German Formal sociology, and the appearance of Parsonian ideas which resulted from the introduction of American functional theory.
(2) A gradual decrease in groups carrying out actual reseach on the family and villages, and diversification of research into such themes as industry, city, stratification, labor, social pathology, mass communication etc., the utilization of the results of research and increasing preciseness in research method.
(3) A revival of criticism of sociology by Marxists, backed up by more actual proof.
2. From the standpoint of the main current of world sociological history, however, it can be said that the methodology of Formale=Verstehende Soziologie since Simmel=Weber is fundamentally confirmed both in America and in Japan. But to those who study modern Japanese society, as well as to Weber, the main problem about methodology exists in comparing the methodology of twentieth century sociology with that of the Marxists and applying properly each of them to the analysis of the present situation to find out “
Principia media” (K. Mannheim) of Japanese society.
3. In order to find out useful ways of applying both methodologies, it is necessary to provide precise concepts of each, especially to analyze the concept, “the situational prescription” (W. Thomas), and to deal with the personality element properly. At the same time we should carefully examine the interrelation between the economic theory of Uno, a Japanese Marxian economist, and sociological studies. Recently the strong tendency to revalue the religious Sociology of Weber has appeared and this shows the necessity of this.
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