Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 2.djvu/688

 672 THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGY

This method is that of Le Play, who had the rare distinc- tion of discovering it and of making masterly applications of it. It is wholly an art to know thus how to penetrate into the intimacy of a family, to overcome its instinctive distrust, to elicit its confidences and direct them wisely, so as to fill out one by one the different compartments of a methodic plan, without omitting anything which is necessary, and without getting lost in useless details. For this there is necessary, along with much tact, a real sympathy for those whom one interrogates ; they feel this quickly and then surrender them- selves without reserve, whilst they will escape a haughty inquiry conducted by a grave pedant or a uniformed official through evasive replies, often systematically inexact. It is the friendly chats which get at the secret of a family ; interrogations must not in any degree take the character of questions before a court of justice or of an official proceeding.

2. The framework of the monograph. One of the essential traits which characterize the monograph in its several applica- tions, whatever be its object, is the invariability of its frame- work or outline. This condition is not less profitable to those who draw up the monograph than to those who consult it. To the first it serves as a guide and reminder, in order that they may omit nothing while upon the field of observation ; it puts them face to face with a very clear plan to which they have to conform and which directs them in their observations. As for those who have recourse to the monographs, they know imme- diately where to find the information they are looking for, since it is always placed under the same heading and in the same order. Thus all the portraits, in spite of the unlikeness of the originals, are rendered comparable.

IV.

The uniform outline for a family monograph according to the Le Play method is as follows :

I. The title of the monograph. Its significance and importance can best be seen by an example : "Carpenter of Paris (Seine, France), of the society of The Companions of Duty (day-