Computer Use and Software Development by Sociologists: Current Practice and Future Prospects

Abstract

Although the American Sociological Association is moving toward formalizing a microcomputer users' group, there is still a shortage of authors of software products for teaching substantive sociology that are not tied to a specific textbook. New approaches to integrating textbooks with computers, generic computer tools for teaching and research, and the use of computers in qualitative sociology are covered. The essay concludes with speculations about the future of computing in sociology. Keywords: computmg, sociology, qualitative sociology, courseware, microsimulation, CAI.

Computing in Sociology: Promise and Practice

“…duced within a field is a measure of its creativity, and the software which is used in day-to-day work indicates a degree of technological sophistication. Recent status reports on computing in sociology (Hinze, 1987;Conklin, 1988) have taken this basic approach of evaluating the state of software in sociology. We broaden that tradition here by adding other criteria for evaluating the stature of computing in sociology.…”