Horkheimer’s Sozialforschung was an interdisciplinary program centered on social psychology, not traditional academic sociology.

Evidence

As Horkheimer explained in the foreword to the first issue’ Sozialforschung was not the same as the sociology practiced by von Wiese and other more traditional German academicians. Following Gerlach and Griinberg, Horkheimer stressed the synoptic, interdisciplinary nature of the Institut’s work. He particularly stressed the role of social psychology in bridging the gap between individual and society. — Martin Jay, The Dialectical Imagination, 151

Categorization

• DEFINE: Clarifies what Sozialforschung meant as distinct from conventional German academic sociology — the Institut’s core self-definition.
• XREF: Connects to Horkheimer’s later instrumental reason critique and to Adorno’s dialectical method in later Frankfurt School works.