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These reflections on the state & problems of Czech sociology after twelve years of free development include thoughts on its seven weaknesses that either at present or at least potentially pose a threat to Czech sociology, deprive it of the ability to compete, & lower the level of its prestige in society & the value of its scientific results. These weaknesses include: (1) the division of Czech sociology into qualitative & quantitative sociology, including the intolerance that accompanies this state; (2) the uncritical acceptance of only the most basic & superficial results of sociology by the political sphere in the form of percentages & speculations relating to them; (3) the somber state of under-financing in academic sociology; (4) the difficulties affecting post-secondary school teachers on the one hand & researchers at the Academy of Sciences on the other; (5) the need for cooperation with other sociologists in the region; (6) cooperation with Europe & the world; & (7) morals & integrity, without which, in the author's firm opinion, it is impossible to conduct sociological research.

Paul Lazarsfeld contributed to unemployment research, public opinion & market research, mass media & communications research, political sociology, the sociology of sociology, the history of empirical social research, & applied sociology. His methodological innovations -- reason analysis, program analyzer, panel analysis, survey analysis, elaboration formula, latent structure analysis, mathematical sociology (especially the algebra of dichotomous systems), contextual analysis -- are of special importance. This study responds to the critiques of Lazarsfeld's "administrative research" by Theodor W. Adorno, of "abstract empiricism" by Charles W. Mills, & of the "Columbia Sociology Machine" by Terry N. Clark. The paper discusses the merits of the team-oriented style of work presented in Lazarsfeld's "workshop," his teaching by engaging in professional activities in social research & methodology, & his consecutive foundation of four research institutes, Vienna's Wirtschaftspsychologische Forschungsstelle, the Newark University Research Center, the Princeton Office of Radio Research, & the Bureau of Applied Social Research at Columbia U in New York. By his manifold activities, Paul Lazarsfeld decisively promoted the institutionalization of empirical social research. All these merits make him the founder of modern empirical sociology. 34 References. Adapted from the source document.

Presents a selected bibliography of Lazarsfeld's work, 1929-1996.

Intro -- Contents -- Preface -- Introduction -- Acknowledgments -- References -- 1 Six Examples of Collaboration Between Paul F. Lazarsfeld and Robert K. Merton -- 1. The Program Analyzer and the Focused Interview -- 2. "Mass Persuasion" and the "Firehouse Projects" -- 3. Patterns of Influence: "Influentials" - the Siblings of "Opinion Leaders" -- 4. Interplay of Theory and Empirical Research -- 5. Theory and Methodology in Teaching Seminars and "Friendship as a Social Process" as an Example -- 6. "A Professional School for Training in Social Research" (PFL and RKM 1950) and the Battle for a Model of Post-graduate Study (1952-1956) -- Conclusion: Two Evaluations of the Collaboration between Lazarsfeld and Merton -- References -- 2 Paul Lazarsfeld: Marginality, Migration and the Institutionalization of Research -- Importance -- Methods and procedures -- Columbia and dominance -- The irony of marginality -- Social change and the fate of ideas -- References -- 3 Asking for Justifications: An Aspect of Paul Lazarsfeld's "Reason Analysis" -- An Observation about Emotive Trigger Events -- A Commentary -- References -- 4 Lazarsfeld's Approach to Researching Audience -- The Context of Media Research -- Coverage Analysis -- Audience Segmentation -- Evaluative and Affective Reactions -- Methods and Techniques -- Program Analyzer -- The Program Analyzer at Work -- Customary Applications and the Later Use of the Program Analyzer -- After the Program Analyzer -- The Legacy of Lazarsfeld's Approach -- References -- 5 Straw Polls in the U. S.: Measuring Public Opinion 100 Years Ago -- The Literary Digest -- Business and Politics -- Today's business-news poll links -- References -- 6Hadley Cantril's Theoretical and Methodological Legacy in Current Public Opinion Research -- Cantril as a Prominent Public Opinion Theorist -- Toward Methodological Knowledge.