BURGESS, ERNEST WATSON

born May 16, 1886, Tilbury, Ont., Can. died Dec. 27, 1966, Chicago, Ill., U.S. American sociologist known for his research into the family as a social unit. Burgess received his B.A. (1908) from Kingfisher College (Okla.) and his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago (1913). He taught at the universities of Toledo, Kansas, and Ohio State before beginning a long career at the University of Chicago (191666), becoming professor emeritus in 1951. Burgess' scientific inquiry into the nature of the family led him to investigate marriage stability and the possibility of predicting success or failure in marriage. He theorized that the quality of adjustment depended on the gradual coalescence of attitudes and social characteristics of the husband and wife. From his findings, Burgess developed his marriage success chart for predicting marital stability. His findings on the family are published in many works, including Predicting Success or Failure in Marriage (with Leonard Cottrell, 1939) and The Family: From Institution to Companionship (with others, 1945; rev. ed. 1960). Burgess began to study the elderly, editing Aging in Western Societies (1960), a work that studied the effects of retirement and the efficacy of government programs for the aged. One of Burgess' most important works was Introduction to the Science of Sociology (with Robert Park, 1921; reprinted 1929), a text that became a classic and steered new directions in sociology.