This volume commemorates two aspects of the work of the distinguished British sociologist, the late Philip Abrams, on the history of sociology and on the uses of sociology. Philip Abrams's sudden death on 31 October 1981 followed only two months after the 150th Anniversary Meeting at York of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, held from 31 August to 4 September. At that meeting, Philip was the President of Section N, Sociology. The core of this book is made up of papers delivered there, including Philip's Presidential Address to the section on ‘The Uses of British Sociology 1831–1981’ and several papers delivered at a Section N symposium on the British Survey Tradition. Dr Stuart S. Blume, Recorder of Section N, suggested that a selection of these papers was suitable for publication, and the resulting volume includes these with the addition of several other papers on related subjects in the history of British social research.

Philip Abrams's interest in the history of sociology reflected his academic origins as a historian. Born in 1933, he took a first in history at Peterhouse, Cambridge, in 1955, followed by three years as a research student and three years as a research fellow. In 1961 he was awarded his Ph.D. for a thesis on ‘John Locke as a conservative’. These six postgraduate years were also spent in the study of sociology, particularly political sociology, and his first teaching appointment in 1961 was as Assistant Lecturer in Sociology at L.S.E.