The Case Method of Teaching Human Relations and Administration.

In his introductory note, the editor of this volume characterizes it as a miscellany on the teaching of human relations and administration by the case method and as an interim statement to be modified, expanded, or contracted as time and experience indicate. The editor and the authors realize the very real limitations of their trial balloon and hope it will be a forerunner of really comprehensive treatments of its important subjects in the future. The nineteen separate essays by as many authors touch upon everything from the specifics of teaching by the case method to general semantics and the case method. This variety, of course, poses a difficult problem for the reviewer. The editor provides some cohesion, however, by separating the essays into three parts: Teaching and Learning, Training in Industry, and Research Problems in Human Relations. Part I, the largest section of the book, considers the case method of teaching human relations and the administrative process. In the very first essay, "Because Wisdom Can't Be Told," by Charles Gragg, the merits and limitations of the case method are presented. There are many advantages in this method, but the article lacks proper emphasis on the other side of the argument. Mr. Gragg's distinction between being responsible and expressing an opinion without any real responsibility, however, should be underscored again and again. In this same connection, although the reviewer may be regarded as Cro-Magnon for thinking so, even so complex a subject as administration can sometimes be taught by other methods. Why can't motivation, leadership theory, individual differences, group structure, and so on, be taught by more traditional methods? The range of other subjects covered in Part I can be appreciated by noting some of the essay titles: "Some Comments on Teaching by the Case Method," "General Semantics and the Case Method," "The Use of Lecture in a Case-Method Course," and "Administrative Practices and Human Relations For What?" At one point or another these essays explore all the ramifications of the case method, including the role of the teacher, the student, the case material, and the actual learning process. There is an unfortunate lack of continuity in these explorations which is sometimes confusing; but even more confusing is the sudden transition from a discussion of what one student learned to a discussion of general semantics and the case method. General semantics alone presents enough of a teaching problem without involving it in the case method. The very brief Part II consists of two articles on training in industry. A light but stimulating essay by Roethlisberger on the need for some re-examination of the methodology and objectives of supervisory training is one of the real gems in the book. The other article, by Andrews, describes a number of instances in which the case method has been used in executive training. Part III, "Research Problems in Human Relations," is a kind of appendage to the book. In this reviewer's opinion, it should receive fuller treatment. The material, concepts, and considerations are worthy of much more attention than they got in this tantalizingly brief portrayal. Questions of research methodology and objectives, which have long plagued the social scientist, are listed but not completely answered in all cases. For example, there has been and is a difference of opinion concerning the relative efficacy and desirability of careful observation of the specific case situation as compared with generalization from significant statistical data. Another important set of problems considered only cursorily are those of the role and training of the social science observer, his necessary skills, his impact upon the relationships under observation, and his interpretation of real-