How did rational thinking and emotions impact the Progressive Era?

The reform movements during the Progressive Era were in many ways an attempt to bring a rational, scientific approach to the problems of society. The belief of many reformers was that science, technology, and a rational approach to government could improve the conditions in which people worked and lived.
Many of the reformers were college-educated, including many women who put their education to use in reforming social problems and developing the new field of social work. This field used scientific methods to try to reform social problems. Other academic fields developed and became more scientific during this time, including economics and business. The administration of business became a scientific discipline with college and graduate schools attached to it. In addition, the study of political science became an academic field. No longer were business and politics left only to practitioners; instead, academics played an important role in studying these fields and attempting to regulate them. The Progressive Era was essentially rational in its approach to regulating and reforming society and to solving problems that were at times emotional in nature, including alcoholism, poverty, and family dysfunction.