Encyclopedia of Sociology

AMERICAN SOCIOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION AND OTHER SOCIOLOGICAL ASSOCIATIONS

specialty groups. This approach has prevented the
ASA from becoming a federation of sections and
probably has minimized ‘‘split off’’ groups. The
annual meeting grew by a thousand participants in
the decade of the 1990s, now topping 5,000 people
who find professional development in the broad
program as well as in section involvement.

The growth of the ASA is also reflected in the
growth of the number of journal publications.
Since 1936, when the first issue of the American
Sociological Review was published, ASA publica-
tions have expanded to include seven additional
journals: Contemporary Sociology; Journal of Health
and Social Behavior; Social Psychology Quarterly; So-
ciological Methodology; Sociological Theory; Sociology
of Education; and Teaching Sociology. In addition, a
Rose Series (funded from the estate of Arnold and
Caroline Rose) publishes monographs that are
important ‘‘small market’’ books in sociology. That
series shifted from very specialized academic mono-
graphs to integrative pieces of broad appeal. The
ASA’s newest journal is a general perspectives
journal, aimed at the social science community
(including students), and the educated lay public.

The Sydney S. Spivack Program in Applied
Social Research and Social Policy (funded from a
donation from Spivack’s estate) sponsors Congres-
sional seminars and media briefings on timely
topics for which there is a body of sociological
knowledge. From these events, the ASA has pub-
lished a series of issue briefs on topics ranging
from youth violence to welfare-to-work to immi-
gration to affirmative action. These publications
are useful to ASA members but also to a wider
public audience.

The teaching of sociology in kindergarten
through high school and in undergraduate and
graduate schools has received varying degrees of
emphasis over the course of the ASA’s history. In
particular, in the late 1970s and early 1980s, when
sociology enrollments and membership in the ASA
were at a low point, the ASA Teaching Services
Program was developed. Now part of the Academ-
ic and Professional Affairs Program (APAP), the
Teaching Services Program includes providing op-
portunities through seminars and workshops to
improve classroom teaching and to examine a
wide range of new curricula for almost all sociolo-
gy courses. The Teaching Resources Center in the

ASA’s executive office produces over a hundred

resources, including syllabi sets and publications

on topics such as classroom techniques, curricu-

lum, departmental management, and career infor-

mation. APAP works concertedly with departments

and chairs to build strong departments of sociolo-

gy and excellent curricula. The ASA sponsors an

annual conference for chairs, a meeting of direc-

tors of graduate study, and an electronic broad-

cast, CHAIRLINK, for chairs.

Odd as it may seem, the ASA often did not

collect or have access to data on the profession. In

1993, the Research Program on the Discipline and

Profession remedied the situation by conducting

surveys of members and departments, and a track-

ing survey of a cohort of Ph.D.s. The program

routinely publishes ‘‘research briefs’’ that share

these data and aid departments and individuals

with planning and trend analysis.

TRANSITION FROM SECRETARIAT TO A

PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATION

The ASA has undergone an organizational trans-

formation over its century of serving the profes-

sional interests of sociologists. The shape and

mission of the executive office reflects the shifts.

In the early years, the office was essentially a

secretariat—a place where records were kept, and

dues and payments were processed. The first ex-

ecutive officer, Matilda White Riley, appointed in

1963, jokes that the office was a file card box on

her kitchen table.

As the American Sociological Society (as it was

named until 1959) grew and flourished, it adopted

the model of a ‘‘learned society,’’ primarily con-

cerned with the production of new disciplinary

knowledge. The society/association centered its

resources on the annual meeting and the journals.

The executive office personnel, primarily clerical,

staffed those functions.

The expansion period of the 1960s and 1970s,

and the societal context of those times, led the

ASA to add many programs and activities (for a

detailed description, see Simpson and Simpson

1994). The ASA transformed into a professional

association, with a wider range of services and

benefits to its members as well as to a broader