Paul Lazarsfeld

Paul Felix Lazarsfeld (1901-1976) was one of the major figures in 20th century American Sociology. The founder of Columbia University's Bureau for Applied Social Research, he exerted a tremendous influence over the techniques and the organization of research. "It is not so much that he was an American sociologist," one colleague said of him after his death, "as it was that he determined what American sociology would be."

Lazarsfeld was born in Vienna, Austriawhere he attended schools, eventually receiving a doctorate in mathematics (his doctoral dissertation dealt with mathematical aspects of Einstein's gravitational theory). In the 1920s, he moved in the same circles as the Vienna circle of philosophers, including Otto Neurath and Rudolf Carnap. He came to sociology through his expertise in mathematics and quantitative methods, participating in several early quantitative studies, including what was possibly the first scientific survey of radio listeners, in 1930-31.

Lazarsfeld came to America shortly thereafter, securing an appointment at the University of Newark (now the Newark campus of Rutgers University) as head of a new research center based upon the institutional structures he had created in Europe. Under "Administrative Research," as he called his framework, a large, expert staff worked at a research center, deploying a battery of social-scientific investigative methods--mass market surveys, statistical analysis of data, focus group work, etc.--to solve specific problems for specific clients. Funding came not only from the university, but also from commercial clients who contracted out research projects. This produced studies such as two long reports to the dairy industry on factors influencing the consumption of milk; and a questionnaire to let people assess whether they shop too much (for Cosmopolitan magazine).

While at Newark, Lazarsfeld was appointed head of the Radio Project, which was later moved to Columbia. There, it grew into the acclaimed Bureau for Social Research where he spent the rest of his career. One of Lazarsfelds' successful students was Barney Glaser - propounder of grounded theory - the worlds most quoted method for analyzing qualitative data. Index formations and qualitative mathematics were subjects taught by Lazarsfeld and are important components of the GT method according to Glaser.

Lazarsfeld died in 1976.