Samuel Stouffer and the GI Survey: Sociologists and Soldiers during the Second World War

6. Structure and Findings of The American Soldier

Chapter 6 Structure and Findings of The American Soldier In the months following its publication, The American Soldier received both rapturous praise and scathing criticism. Breathless tones of admiration, “Here is a book! Not since Thomas and Znaniecki’s Polish Peasant has there been a sociopsychological work of such scope, imaginativeness, technical rigor, and importantresults ,”1 wereansweredwithoutburstsofexcoriation,“TheAmericanSoldier is a ponderous demonstration in Newspeak.”2 Reviewed heavily in sociological and intellectual journals, though less so in military and historical ones, the two volumes of The American Soldier also made a bit of a splash in daily newspapers. The dailies generally published the main points about the books given to them by Princeton University Press, which stressed the comprehensive nature of the work, as well as its use of new methods in sociological research. Princeton, with an eye toward sales, favored such adjectives as “largest,” “modern,” “unique,” and “scientific.”3 The dailies also focused on some of the more provocative findings of the books, headlining their articles with titles such as “America’s Citizen Army in World War II Deeply Resented Privileges Given to Officers According to Recently Published Book.”4 The volumes were handsomely bound in blue-gray cloth, with the title in gold print on a dark blue background and bordered in gold stripes— reminiscent of a naval officer’s sleeve insignia. They sold for $7.50 each, or $13.50 for the set of two. In September 1951, Princeton University Press reported to the 92 Structure and Findings of The American Soldier authors that over three thousand sets of the two volumes had been sold and that “there is no sign that the sale is tending to stop.”5 Prior to a detailed discussion of the structure and findings of The American Soldier, a note of explanation regarding the nomenclature and authors of the books may be helpful. The American Soldier consists of two volumes, the full titles of which are Studies in Social Psychology in World War II: Volume I. The American Soldier: Adjustment during Army Life, and Volume II. The American Soldier: Combat and Its Aftermath. Princeton University Press also published two volumes as part of the same series—Studies in Social Psychology in World War II: Volume III. Experiments on Mass Communication, and Volume IV. Measurement and Prediction . Over time, the first two volumes, published in 1949, have been lumped in with the third and fourth volumes, published in 1949 and 1950, respectively. All four volumes were written under the auspices of the Social Science Research Council, and funded with a grant from the Carnegie Corporation. For the sake of clarity and ease, as the volumes each have different and multiple authors, readers may find a complete listing of the four volumes, as well as additional explanatory information, below.6 The present study is concerned in the main with The American Soldier proper, which, again, refers to the first two volumes of Studies in Social Psychology in World War II. The American Soldier boasts ten authors: Samuel A. Stouffer, Edward A. Suchman, Leland C. DeVinney, Shirley A. Star, Robin M. Williams Jr., Arthur A. Lumsdaine, Marion Harper Lumsdaine, M. Brewster Smith, Irving L. Janis, and Leonard S. Cottrell Jr., All of the authors worked in or consulted with the Research Branch during World War II, and all of them were either former colleagues or students of Stouffer, and/or were prominent sociologists and psychologists. Most went on to have highly influential careers in foundations or academia, and three of them (Stouffer, Cottrell, and Williams) served as president of the American Sociological Association. The authors of The American Soldier confronted the myriad decisions common to all authors. Chief among these was what form The American Soldier would take, and how that form would then be subdivided. The challenge was to condense four years of Research Branch work, including five hundred thousand soldier surveys, into a coherent narrative. Stouffer chose a two-volume format, separating adjustment to the army from the signal event of a soldier’s life—combat . Within each volume, he further subdivided his categories into chapters. The chapters not only represent an organizational structure, but also give a major hint at both the concerns of the army and of American society as a whole regard- Structure and Findings of The American Soldier 93 ing their citizen soldiers. The chapters also reflect the major interests and findings of the Research Branch, which in...