Developing Applied Sociology Programs: Some Results.

T he academic employment squeeze of the past decade (Demerath, 1971; Wilkinson, 1980), coupled with growing student demands for applied training options, has confronted graduate educators (Levine, 1970) with the urgent necessity for reevaluation of traditional scholar-oriented sociology programs. With satisfactory employment in community settings already available to a significant number of sociologists (Panian and DeFleur, 1976), applied-oriented faculty have a timely opportunity to implement service-directed educational tracks that would address realistic employment opportunities. Subsequently, the newly developed genre of practicing, community-based sociologists could provide academic-based sociologists with pragmatic validation for sociological perspectives. There is evidence that other social sciences have already recognized the challenge to advance their field through the applied training and placement of a segment of their graduates in community settings (Terrell, 1979). However, new challenges are accompanied by uncertainties. The literature reveals perplexities as a number of concerned sociologists advocate different training directions for applied programs. Controversy even prevails over what constitutes the