Florian Znaniecki

Florian Znaniecki (1882–1958) was a Polish-American sociologist and philosopher who coauthored The Polish Peasant in Europe and America and developed the humanistic coefficient as a principle for studying social life.

Humanistic coefficient: A methodological principle that social facts must be studied in relation to the meanings people give them. Znaniecki’s signature principle requires sociology to account for participants’ interpretations.
The Polish Peasant in Europe and America: A five-volume sociological study of Polish immigrants and their families, published by William I. Thomas and Florian Znaniecki from 1918 to 1920. This landmark collaboration applied personal documents to the study of migration and social reorganization.
University of Chicago Department of Sociology: A sociology department founded in 1892 that became a major center of American sociological research. Znaniecki worked with Thomas in the intellectual setting of Chicago sociology.
Polish Sociological Association: A professional organization founded in 1930 to promote sociology in Poland. Znaniecki helped found the association and served as a leading figure in Polish sociology.
Analytic induction: A qualitative method that develops explanations by examining cases and revising hypotheses against exceptions. Znaniecki used case comparison and revision to build sociological explanations.
Personal document: A first-person record, such as a letter or autobiography, used as evidence about experience and social life. Letters and autobiographical materials supplied central evidence in his study of Polish immigrants.
Polish sociology: The study of society developed by scholars working in Poland and within Polish intellectual traditions. Znaniecki helped establish sociology as a discipline in Poland before his American career.
American Sociological Association: A professional organization for sociologists in the United States, founded in 1905. Znaniecki’s presidency in 1954 marked his standing in American sociology.
Culturalism: A philosophical approach that treats culture and values as irreducible dimensions of reality. His sociology rests on the view that cultural values cannot be reduced to natural facts.
Polish immigration to the United States: The movement of people from Poland to the United States, especially during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The migration furnished the transatlantic setting for his collaborative research.

Linked from 1 page

Chicago School (sociology)Related: His collaboration with Thomas produced a landmark study of Polish immigrant experience.