Multidimensional and reductionist strategies in Chicagoan sociologу: The case of human ecology
The author considers development of human ecology as one of important components in the Chicagoan sociological tradition. Its different versions are analyzed in terms of their presuppositional foundations. The general sociological frame of reference offered by R.E. Park is treated as a multidimensional presuppositional matrix and is taken as a point of departure for analysis of the later versions of human ecology. Two main lines in a development of human ecology are separated. The first (L. Wirth, E.C. Hughes) is characterized by maintaining the original Parks frame of reference and by incorporation of human ecology as one of perspectives into multidimensional sociology. The second (R.D. McKenzie, J.A. Quinn, A.H. Hawley) is characterized by a gradual transformation of human ecology into a separate discipline and then into a sociological paradigm. The author demonstrates how this development is secured by reduction of multidimensionality contained in Parks original frame of reference.