APPLIED SOCIOLOGY———, and Richard Rosenfeld 1994 Crime and the Ameri-
can Dream. Belmont, Calif.: Wadsworth.
National Opinion Research Center 1988 General Social
Surveys, 1972–1988: Cumulative Codebook. Chicago:
National Opinion Research Center, University of
Chicago.
Passas, Nikos, and Robert Agnew 1997 The Future of
Anomie. Boston: Northeastern University Press.
Rosenfeld, Richard 1989 ‘‘Robert Merton’s Contribu-
tion to the Sociology of Deviance.’’ Sociological In-
quiry 59:453–466.
———, and Steven F. Messner 1997 ‘‘Markets, Morality,
and an Institutional-Anomie Theory of Crime.’’ In
Nikos Passas and Robert Agnew, eds., The Future of
Anomie Theory. Boston: Northeastern University Press.
Wolff, Kurt H. 1988 ‘‘Anomie and the Sociology of
Knowledge, in Durkheim and Today.’’ Philosophy and
Social Criticism 14:53–67.
ROBERT CRUTCHFIELD
KRISTIN A. BATESANTI-SEMITISM
See Discrimination; Prejudice; Race.
APARTHEID
See African Studies; Discrimination; Race; Segre-
gation and Desegregation.
APPLIED SOCIOLOGY
Applied sociology is sociology in use. It is policy-
oriented, action-directed, and intends to assist
people and groups to think reflectively about what
it is they do, or how it is they can create more viable
social forms capable of adapting to changing ex-
ternal and internal conditions. The roots of ap-
plied sociology in the United States go back to the
publication in 1883 of Lester Ward’s Dynamic
Sociology: or Applied Social Science, a text in which he
laid the groundwork for distinguishing between
an understanding of causal processes and how to
intervene in them to foster social progress. Today
applied sociology has blossomed in every arena of
sociological endeavor (Olsen and Micklin 1981).
The nature of applied sociology can more
easily be grasped by examining those characteris-
tics that distinguish it from basic sociology. Differ-
ent audiences are involved (Coleman 1972). Basic
sociology is oriented toward those who have a
concern for the advancement of sociological knowl-
edge. The quality of such work (quantitative or
qualitative,) is evaluated in accordance with agreed-
upon standards of scientific merit. Applied soci-
ology is oriented more toward those who are
making decisions, developing or monitoring pro-
grams, or concerned about the accountability of
those who are making decisions and developing
programs. The quality of applied work is evaluated
in accordance with a dual set of criteria: (1) how
useful it is in informing decisions, revealing pat-
terns, improving programs, and increasing ac-
countability; and (2) whether its assumptions and
methods are appropriately rigorous for the prob-
lems under investigation.If we were to imagine a continuum between
pure research and pure practice, applied sociology
would occupy a space in the middle of this continu-
um. This space is enlarged along one boundary
when practitioners and applied sociologists col-
laborate to explain patterns of behavior or devel-
op causal models for predicting the likely impact
of different courses of action. It is enlarged on the
other boundary when applied and basic sociolo-
gists collaborate in the elaboration of abstract
theory so as to make it more useful (Lazersfeld and
Reitz 1975). There is always tension between the
two, however. In part, the tension is attributable to
the analytic distance that should characterize so-
ciological analysis more generally (Lofland 1997).
In part, it is attributable to the infusion of an
ethical position in applied analysis, a posture which,
if nothing else, is sensitive to the operation of power.The boundaries of applied sociology may also
be specified by enumerating the activities that play
a central role in what it is that applied sociologists
do. Freeman and Rossi (1984) have suggested
three activities: (1) mapping and social indicator
research, (2) modeling social phenomena, and (3)
evaluating purposive action. To this could be add-
ed at least one more activity: (4) conceptualizing,
studying, and facilitating the adaptability of alter-
native social forms. Examining these activities also
permits considering some of the presumed trade-
offs that are commonly thought to distinguish
basic from applied sociology.