At the end of the 19th century, the consequences of the Industrial Revolution were dominant issues in public debate in many Western countries. In this context, the widespread practice of ‘slumming’ emerged (Ross, 2007). Well-to-do people made their way into the slums to encounter the lives of the ‘other half ‘ (Riis, 1890). This was based on the idea that first-hand experiences among the poor are essential to deal with social problems (Koven, 2004). In particular, metropolitan living conditions, the risks of industrial work, moral decay, upheaval of the family and the situation of immigrants and socalled ‘coloured people’ were examined in this manner. As one of the largest social reform movements of the late 19th and early 20th century, the Settlement House Movement also embraced this idea, and often based its practical work on groundbreaking empirical investigations on the living conditions of slum dwellers, not only to provide first-hand accounts, but also to promote social reform.

Subsequently, between the 1890s and the 1930s, US progressive reformers produced a tremendous volume of research, which comprises very diverse topics and approaches. The investigations arising from settlement houses oscillate between small, local and short-term studies and research projects with huge samples, some of which were carried out nationwide and over decades. The choice of methods in the studies also reflects a broad spectrum that is difficult to capture in a nutshell, but was crucial to the development of empirical social research in many respects and – in addition to the new discipline of sociology (Lengermann and Niebrugge, 2002) – to the emerging profession of social work (Shaw, 2014a).

Despite all this heterogeneity, the settlement studies jointly interlinked the production of scientific knowledge with reform-oriented political activism. This political foundation appeared in various forms. First and most obvious, the findings represented a basis for political reform proposals and scientific treatment in the sense of ‘social engineering’ (Giddings, 1924; Brückweh et al, 2012). Second, these studies sought to give rise to new forms of social action. Thus, the profession of social work, which emerged during the height of the Settlement House Movement, was shaped by its concerns and put them into action (Muncy, 1991; Lau, 2019).