Three Departments in Search of a Discipline: Localism and Interdisciplinary Interaction in American Sociology, 1890—1940

American sociology from 1890 to 1940 provides an example of defining the boundaries of social science research in a flexible process. Three academic departments engaged in localism and interdisciplinary work, using different concepts of the mission of sociology. These were Columbia, Harvard and the University of Chicago. In modern times, social inquiry is well served by approaches that do not fit traditional research categories.