| Group Experiment and Other Writings: The Frankfurt School on Public Opinion in Postwar Germany Contributor(s): Pollock, Friedrich (Author), Adorno, Theodor W. (Author), Perrin, Andrew J. (Editor) |
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ISBN: 0674048466 ISBN-13: 9780674048461 Publisher: Harvard University Press OUR PRICE: $66.33 Product Type: Hardcover Published: February 2011 |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Social Science | Sociology - General - Social Science | Research - History | Europe - Germany |
| Dewey: 303.380 |
| LCCN: 2010033603 |
| Physical Information: 0.9" H x 6.3" W x 9.3" (1.19 lbs) 268 pages |
| Themes: - Cultural Region - Germany - Chronological Period - 1940's |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: During the occupation of West Germany after the Second World War, the American authorities commissioned polls to assess the values and opinions of ordinary Germans. They concluded that the fascist attitudes of the Nazi era had weakened to a large degree. Theodor W. Adorno and his Frankfurt School colleagues, who returned in 1949 from the United States, were skeptical. They held that standardized polling was an inadequate and superficial method for exploring such questions. In their view, public opinion is not simply an aggregate of individually held opinions, but is fundamentally a public concept, formed through interaction in conversations and with prevailing attitudes and ideas "in the air." In Group Experiment, edited by Friedrich Pollock, they published their findings on their group discussion experiments that delved deeper into the process of opinion formation. Andrew J. Perrin and Jeffrey K. Olick make a case that these experiments are an important missing link in the ontology and methodology of current social-science survey research. |
Contributor Bio(s): Pollock, Friedrich: - Friedrich Pollock (1894-1970) was assistant director of the Institute for Social Research, the Frankfurt School, from 1928-1959.Perrin, Andrew J.: - Andrew J. Perrin is Associate Professor of Sociology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.Adorno, Theodor W.: - Theodor Adorno (1903-1969) was a leading figure in the Frankfurt School and one of the twentieth century's most demanding intellectuals. Recognized for his contributions to the fields of philosophy, sociology, aesthetics, literary criticism, and musicology, Adorno continues to be a thinker of extraordinary influence and importance in Germany, and his reputation continues to grow in the English-speaking world as his many works are translated.Olick, Jeffrey K.: - Jeffrey K. Olick is Professor of Sociology and History, University of Virginia. |