The Philadelphia Negro is a sociological study of African Americans in Philadelphia written by W. E. B. Du Bois. Commissioned by the University of Pennsylvania and published in 1899 with the intent of identifying sociological problems present in the African American community. It was the first case study of a black community in the United States[1] and one of the earliest examples of sociology as a statistically based social science. Du Bois gathered information for the study in the period between August 1896 and December 1896.[2]
In The Philadelphia Negro, Du Bois intended to identify Philadelphia Blacks' sociological issues. He deduced that, "the Negro problem looked at in one way is but the old world questions of ignorance,poverty, crime, and the dislike of the stranger." He supports these claims with examples and survey analysis breakdowns throughout the journal.
Survey Conduct
editIn order to collect survey data, Du Bois moved into the 17th ward and distributed the survey himself. He conducted over 2500 interviews
- ^ Horne, Gerald (2010). W. E. B. Du Bois: A Biography. Greenwood Press. pp. 23–24. ISBN 978-0-313-34979-9.
- ^ Du Bois, W. E. B. The Philadelphia Negro. New York: Cosimo, 2010, pg. 1.