Sociological perspectives of the profession of optometry: a new look at trends since 1958.

The paper identifies many features of optometry which have changed in the fifteen years since the last paper by Orzack and Uglum; other aspects have remained surprisingly unchanged. Some of these developments could have been predicted from the analysis of the original article in 1958. This paper will be useful in evaluation of the directions in which optometry seems headed and will stimulate some planning for the future. Some of the questions raised and areas discussed will provoke contention among the optometric community and among others, and this can serve as the impetus for some critical optometric-sponsored research.