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Robert A. Wortham shines a light on W. E. B. Du Bois's role in shaping the scientific scope of the sociological perspective through his pioneering contributions in the areas of demography, urban and rural sociology, Southern Black Belt studies, and religion and society.

This paper focuses on patterns of population growth in Kenya. The historical pattern of population growth from the close of the nineteenth century to 1992 is explored in the first two major sections. Estimates of the annual rate of natural population growth have not exceeded 2.5 per cent prior to 1960. Since 1960 the annual natural population growth rate has increased from 3 per cent in 1962 to 3.8-3.9 per cent for the 1977-1990 period. The rate has fallen slightly to 3.6 per cent for 1992, and data from the 1989 Kenya Demographic and Health Survey indicate that the total fertility rate declined significantly during the 1980s. The applicability of demographic transition theory to the study of population growth and development in Kenya is addressed in the third section. A fourstage model grounded in the work of Petersen, Caldwell and Chesnais is developed and applied to Kenya. Kenya is observed to have passed through the underdeveloped stage characterised by increasing birth and death rates and entered the transition/developing stage during the 1980s. Issues concerning the prospects of substantial continued reductions in the fertility level are addressed in the concluding section.

W.E.B. Du Bois discussed key aspects of the new field of sociology in his early writings. This article presents Du Bois' conception of the developing field and his sociological perspective based on nine of his key original sociological writings. Rather than generating theoretical formulations and studying abstract concepts, Du Bois insisted that sociology be an empirical science adhering to the methods utilized by the physical sciences. Sociology's major objectives are to study the "deeds of men" and to provide a science of human action. Sociological research seeks the discovery of "truth" which can form the basis of social policy. Noting that the regularity of human behavior is evidence of laws and acknowledging that human behavior is also subject to chance factors, sociology must seek to determine the limits of each. Du Bois' research methods, based on methodological triangulation, were formulated to provide the "truths" which he eagerly sought. Du Bois was convinced that these truths were worth knowing and that sociology had the promise of becoming one of the "greatest sciences." Attention directed toward Du Bois' key sociological writings within sociology curricula will introduce current and future readers to the groundbreaking sociological work of the pioneer sociologist.

The Sociological Souls of Black Folk is a collection of sixteen sociological essays published by W.E.B. Du Bois between 1897 and 1902. The first eight essays included in the volume provided the foundation for The Souls of Black Folk, and collectively these sixteen essays showcase the work of one of the pioneering figures in the development of American sociology.