BOOK REVIEWS
207
than the study of a social situation at one point in time. It poses many exacting requirements, among which are (1) the definition of a baseline, or previous situation with which the post-change situation is being compared; (2) a systematic comparison of the pre- and post-change situations; and (3) a delineation of the factors which are hypothesized to have caused the specific changes to take place, so that some explanation of the nature and direction of the change can be arrived at. It is extremely difficult to gather sufficient information to meet these demands, and like many other studies of social change this study sometimes fails to do so. As the study was begun after the removal to Tai Po had taken place, it depends for its description of the pre-change situation on the villagers' own recollections of the rural situation and of their religious practices there. Not infrequently, however, the information supplied by the villagers is inadequate (especially as concerns the meaning of their religious practices) and the authors are forced to rely instead on materials from the works of such writers as Eberhard and Burkhardt. This reliance on materials from other sources means that it is not always possible for them to make a systematic comparison between the villagers' practices before and after removal. With reference to the third requirement, the authors present ample information on the characteristics of the urban environment which might be expected to cause changes in the villagers' religious practices, such as loss of agriculture and increased dependence on modern occupations and a money economy, greatly increased wealth, break-up of the old residential patterns, and extensive contacts with outsiders. If it had been possible for the authors to set down these variables systematically and to specify the probable effects of each upon religious practices, the book might have been more valuable in helping us to predict change in other situations of rapid urbanization.
There is one pitfall which writers on social change must try to avoid, which is to make the assumption that social change has taken place before this has been demonstrated. In the case of the Plover Cove study, it is all too easy to assume that since the villagers' environment has been changed, therefore their religious practices must also have changed. In general, the authors of this study provide adequate documentation for their assertions that change has taken place, but they at times make statements which their data do not fully support. The most serious are those made
BOOK REVIEWS
207
than the study of a social situation at one point in time. It poses many exacting requirements, among which are (1) the definition of a baseline, or previous situation with which the post-change situation is being compared; (2) a systematic comparison of the pre- and post-change situations; and (3) a delineation of the factors which are hypothesized to have caused the specific changes to take place, so that some explanation of the nature and direction of the change can be arrived at. It is extremely difficult to gather sufficient information to meet these demands, and like many other studies of social change this study sometimes fails to do so. As the study was begun after the removal to Tai Po had taken place, it depends for its description of the pre-change situation on the villagers' own recollections of the rural situation and of their religious practices there. Not infrequently, however, the informa- tion supplied by the villagers is inadequate (especially as concerns the meaning of their religious practices) and the authors are forced to rely instead on materials from the works of such writers. as Eberhard and Burkhardt. This reliance on materials from other sources means that it is not always possible for them to make a systematic comparison between the villagers' practices before and after removal. With reference to the third requirement, the authors present ample information on the characteristics of the urban environment which might be expected to cause changes in the villagers' religious practices, such as loss of agriculture and increased dependence on modern occupations and a money economy, greatly increased wealth, break-up of the old residential patterns, and extensive contacts with outsiders. If it had been possible for the authors to set down these variables systematically and to specify the probable effects of each upon religious practices, the book might have been more valuable in helping us to predict change in other situations of rapid urbanizations.
There is one pitfall which writers on social change must try to avoid, which is to make the assumption that social change has taken place before this has been demonstrated. In the case of the Plover Cove study, it is all too easy to assume that since the villagers' environment has been changed, therefore their religious practices must also have changed. In general, the authors of this study provide adequate documentation for their assertions that change has taken place, but they at times make statements which their data do not fully support. The most serious are those made
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