History of Survey Methods in Finnish Sociology

History of sociology has mostly been written as the history of theoretical ideas and methods of empirical research have been studied seldom, argues Jennifer Platt.

This paper explores the formation of survey methods in Finnish sociology after World War II. The presentation draws on an empirical analysis of two datasets: Finnish doctoral dissertations in sociology (N= 222) and Finnish textbooks on survey methods.

An overview will be offered of types data and methods used in Finnish sociology during that period. The paper considers the changes that have taken place both in position of survey methods in academic sociology and in practices of empirical survey research.

In conclusion it will be suggested that comparative research would be fruitful also on the history of research methods to separate national features of this history from international ones.