The Established and the Outsiders. N. Elias & J. L. Scotson. Cass. 30s.

This interesting study deals with a small Midland community which has a relatively old settlement around which two newer settlements have formed. A number of important theoretical issues are considered in relation to this selected social field. The limitations of a purely quantifying approach are discussed and the authors make clear the need to enrich sociological investigations with concrete description. Analysis of configurations and synopsis need not be imprecise and merely subjective’. They discuss the tendency for some studies (they mention Young and Wilmott and Bott) to be family-centred, thereby losing sight of the interdependence of family structure and community structure. Apart from interesting conclusions about the community of ‘Winston Parva’ the heuristic import of the author’s treatment of the relation of the micro- to the macrosociological gives this work a special significance.