This is the fourth (and last) volume of Sociological Methodology (SM) at Pennsylvania State University under the editorship of Duane F. Alwin and the second for Ashton M. Verdery as Deputy Editor.¹ Our editorial team, along with an additional cast of characters to be implicated in the following, has worked hard to maintain the high standards held by SM. As a testament to these claims, we should first note that we have been blessed with a dedicated and highly qualified editorial board and a large number of outstanding extramural reviewers—as listed in the preceding pages. With their help, we believe SM is successfully tackling its mission: Subscriptions have increased, submissions are healthy, and the trend is upward. Significantly, the impact or influence of SM has been rising over the past decades. We are pleased to be able to pass along a healthy journal to our capable successors, co-editors David Melamed and Michael Vuolo of Ohio State University, who assume full editorial responsibilities for the next several volumes.

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序幕

这是宾夕法尼亚州立大学的社会学方法论（SM）的第四卷（也是最后一卷），由杜安·阿尔温（Duane F. Alwin）担任编辑，第二卷由阿什顿·韦尔德里（Ashton M. Verdery）担任副编辑。¹我们的编辑团队，以及以下涉及的其他角色，都在努力保持SM的高标准。作为这些主张的证明，我们首先应该注意到，我们有幸拥有一个专业而又高素质的编辑委员会，还有大量优秀的壁外审稿人（如前几页所述）。在他们的帮助下，我们相信SM正在成功完成其任务：订阅增加，提交健康，趋势呈上升趋势。值得注意的是，在过去的几十年中，SM的影响或影响一直在上升。我们很高兴能够将健康的期刊传递给我们有能力的继任者，俄亥俄州立大学的合编David Melamed和Michael Vuolo，他们将在接下来的几卷中承担全部编辑责任。