Sociometry, being a scientific branch of relatively recent development, employs an experimental method quite original in itself and which has never been seen in the field of social sciences. And I am confident that the method will give in the future a benificient influence and suggestion to other methodological maneuvor of social sciences in general. In sociometry, an experiment is understood as a method par excellence and not as a mere technique. It should be noticed that sociometry aims at modelling a novel type of experimental method, considering it as a modus vivendi of methodology in social sciences rather than as a simple remodelling from experimental operations of natural science, and thus at opening a new experimental possibility for amelioration of human group.
There remains, however, a problem on sociometric results. Although sociometry, by its practicability and productivity, is confident and optimistic enough to be able to create a better community, the group therapy and the adjustment of human relations actually operated by sociometry are, after all considerations, frankly to de criticized as superficial and ineffective. Such deplorable circumstance comes from the fact that sociometry arbitrarily treats its sociometric interpersonal and intergroup relations derived through individual observation as the basis of all social phenomena, so that it can not deal with the relation of global society versus individual, and also from the fact that operations of sociometry is restricted by its own narrowness of purpose. From this point of view, there are inevitably some limits in utilizing the results of sociometry. Thus the sphere where the sociometry's therapy can most effectively be practised are only those groups with homogenized social background.
Nevertheless, such limitation of the product of sociometry does not obscure to the importance and value of the essential experimental method of sociometry. Its positive intention and practicability to operate and adjust human relations as well as its scientific attitude in the capacity of a science concerning human action to establish a method of experiment in substatial and unified conbination between the subject and the object will surely furnish a new problem and hope to the methodology of social sciences in general. And the science that strives to operate and control social human relations based upon such methodological consciousness can not fail to accumulate a lasting merit in its method and technique inspite of its historical restriction of the age.

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The purpose of this article lies in tracing historically the development of the rural community research in U.S.A. from its origin to the present.
At first, discussions are focussed upon the ideas of the pioneers in rural sociology. Galpin's work, in 1915, was the first to see the real nature of rural community and to develop the method of delimiting its boundaries. After this pioneering work, two types of studies followed the one was that of neighborhoods and the other, that of town-country relationships. Kold led the way of the neighborhood study. He defined the neighborhood as the rural primary group and emphasized its importance in rural areas. Other neighborhood studies also came to the same conclusion as this.
On the other hand, Sanderson explained well-definitely Galpin's rurban community through the detailed analysis of modern rural life as well as the older forms of group living, and predicted the absorption of smaller centers into larger ones. Zimmerman, in contrast with Sanderson's explanation based on the gesellschaftlich principle, took into consideration the gemeinschaftlich characters of smaller centers and insisted the persistence of them.
Secondly, discussions concern with criticisms posed against the above stated pioneer's works and new types of community study in connection with changes occurring in the country. As for the neighborhood, the first question raises against the fixed conception on the existence of the neighborhood and the method of identifying it by local name alone, with weakening and losing importance of neighborhoods. Through this criticism, Mayoproposes the field reconnaissance survey, and Slocum, the cognitive research.
The second question is made on the problem that by what group the function of the neighborhood in local programs should be performed. Loomis emphasizes the importance of the informal group in action programs, and Ryan, the special interest group.
While the rural community enhances its solidarity, it becomes complex and loses its self-suffiency. In the series of “Rural Organization Study” many writers doubting the validity of the classification between community and neighborhood, use the conception of the locality group including both and give ratings on services and group identification in eachlocality group. The interdependence among centers asserts itself, along with the loss of self-sufficiency in the rural community. In this process, the dominance of larger centers such as countyseat tow ns becomes more and more conspicious.
Brunner, however, points out through the analysis of village population that smaller centers persist even under these circumstances. Kolb recognizes the interrelatedness and interdependency among centers through the repetitive researches in Walworth county and concludes that each locality group must be wayed out and have the flexibility to adjust to the changing situation.
In concluding the report, a great deal of data on the rural community have been accumulated, indeed, but there has been, as Smith puts it, no throughgoing analysis of the evolution and present status of neighborhood and community. It seem safe to say that only the series of “Rural Organization Study” and “Culture of Contemporary Rural Community Study” intend to make generalization and comparative study of these locality groups.

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Social measurement is the one which shows the most conspicuous development in the recent twenty years among research methods. The instruments of social measurement contains two types ; (1) scales and (2) indexes. Scales take the form of linear function of items and indexes do not. In this paper we are concerned with scales only.
As we know, scales should have reliability and validity, and there are rather few obstacles about reliability. As for validity of scales, the situation differs among predicting scales and internal scales.
Predicting scales, e. g. marital adjustment predicting scale, parole prediction scales, Warner's I. S. C., which have external criterion to be predicted, can use the correlation coefficient (or corresponding summarizing mesaures) between the external criterion and the scale scores, as a coefficient of validity.
By internal scales I mean the ones which have not an external criterion, and are examplified in socio-economic status scales and attitude measurement scales in general. Internal scales, which have internal consistency, are considered at present time also to have validity. Therefore, scaling theories of internal scales have endevored to obtain internal consistency.
The first scholar who gave attention to internal consistency and carefully constructed internal scales, was L. L. Thurstone. After his equal-appearing interval scale, there appeared Likert's scale which uses item analysis as a means of obtaining internal consistency. But item analysis could not secure complete internal consistency, as R. F. Sletto and L. Guttman indicated. Before the invention of Guttman's scale, factor analysis was considered the only means of securing internal consistency.
Guttman's scale analysis was a splendid and epoch-making scaling theory, but the fact that his scalability is a special case of internal consistency, was discovered in the light of L, azarsfeld's latent structure theory. This latent structure theory, which introduced the concept of trace line and defined unidimensionality definitely by mathematical formula, offered a common theoretical foundation to various scaling techniques. But it is not yet completed as a new technique of scaling. We expect that it will be further developed in the future.
Meanwhile, does internal consistency guarantee the validity of an internal scale? I cannot but say “no, ” because it is only a formal property. Still there remains the question concerning what the scale measures. Unfortunately at present, we have no way except to rely upon face-validity or validating the scale through long pragmatic processes.
There is another important problem to be solved. Should all internal scales have an internal consistency? Does the situation exist where a multi-dimesional internal scale is necesitated? If this is the case, such a third scale would involve a future problem in my judgment.

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The laborers in the salt fields are working under the specific environments, influenced by the particular climate and weather conditons there. A great number of them pursue the agriculture as a side job, and under the circumstances there has been brought up a specific labor consciousness like it in peasantry. I have enquired into the afore-mentioned points from the various angles as follows :
1. General labor feelings ;
2. Their consciousess towards the managements ;
3. Their companionship ;
4. The consciousness of their promotion and wage increase ;
5. The security feelings in their positions ;
6. The consciousness of their own works ;
7. The changes in their own jobs ;
8. Their consciousness of the labor law ;
9. Their consciousness of the labor union ;
10. Theirupholding of the political parties.
Item 1 : An overwhelming majority of the laborers feel that their works are realy very hard work.
Item 2 : Whiile we find a great number of the workers that support their employers with the warmth of parental affection, there are also no small number of workers who maintain rather non-committal attitude towards their employers.
Item 3 : The laborers works on fairly good terms, but no particular and special relationships exist among workers themselves.
Item 4 : We find more of those of who feel stabilized in their works than those who are not so considered, but the difference between the above two is not so much noticeable.
Item 5 : The majority of them are dissatisfied with the present promotion and wage increase.
Item 6 Many of them are willing to change their jobs for better ones should there be any good chance there of, and there come next those who would like to stay in their own present positions. The difference between the two of the above workers is not very much ; as for their own children, however, almost all of them are disposed never again to let their youngsters follow the same job as their own.
Item 7 : The number of the changes in their jobs is comparatively small and those who have made only one change there of predominate.
Item 8 : They take almost no interest in that sort of the labor legistrations.
Item 9 : The majority of them rely on the labor union, on which they place their positive hopes.
Item 10 : A very great number of them support the Socialist Party.
The salt field laborers have such labor consciousness as above enumerated, and in our study there of we should probe deeply into the matter by comparing it with the general labor consciousness. The general points on the problems for labor consciousness can be devided into : (1) the general feelings for labor, (2) their consciousness towards the managements and (3) the mutual consciousness of the laborers.
The (1) indicates the laborers' feeling for pleasure and pains and their labor sentiments. No.2 comprises the parental management consciousness, the antimanagement consciousness and other kind of consciousness. No. 3 denotes the mutual perental feelings, antagonistic sentiments and other general feelings.
These laborers' consciousness is regulated according to the existence of the laborers and consequently it must first be brought light on the subject of the existence of the laborers, and then look further into the questions of their consciousness.
With respect to these items of the problem, such indusial sociologists as E. T. Hiller, L. Warner, A. M. Rose, D. C. Miller, U. S. A., and Kunio Odaka, Shizuo Matsushima. Japan, are investigating the matter from their respective point of view, and as a result of my tracing the valuable researches made by those authorities on the subject concerned, I have now been able to grasp the aforementioned itemes of the question.
Under such circumstances, I have tried to reexamine and scrutinize many of those valuable and interesting questions in comparison with labor consciousness in this brief article.

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