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This paper explores the correlates of religiosity among blacks and whites, asking two questions: (1) Is the relationship between SES and religious attendance the same for both races? (2) What factors best predict church attendance among both races? The findings show that (1) SES is positively related to religious participation among whites; (2) the best non-religious predictors of attendance across all denominations and churches studied are SES and age; (3) including a measure of religious belief greatly increases the explanatory power of a predictive model; but (4) the relationship between SES and attendance varies by denomination and church among blacks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ecological models of black and white suburban socioeconomic status persistence/ change are explicated and evaluated utilizing data for 505 American suburbs for which status data were available. It was found that black and white status characteristics persist but the determinants of status change differed somewhat for each group. White status change was related to suburban age and region, while black status change was related to suburban percent black and age. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Causal models of initial occupational rewards for black and white males are developed from the responses of first-year workers in the National Longitudinal Surveys of Labor Market Experience. A comparison of the black and white models shows that while blacks have experienced considerable upward mobility, their income and prestige remain far behind their white counterparts. Two explanations for this racial gap are indicated by the data: (1) blacks begin work with lower levels of key background variables, and (2) racial discrimination in the labor market. Our measurement of racial discrimination in labor market entry accounts for only a small proportion of the gap between black and white levels of rewards; and when compared with earlier research, the data indicate a national trend of decreasing racial discrimination in the labor market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study analyzes the movement of blacks to the suburbs of American metropolitan areas, using the framework developed by Taeuber and Taeuber (1965) for the analysis of racial transition in inner city neighborhoods. The data are consistent with their model and suggest that the rate of black population growth is a function not only of the characteristics of individual suburbs themselves, but also of the central cities of the metropolitan areas within which they are located. The units of analysis are all suburbs with populations of 10,000 or more in 1960 and 1970. Suburban size is a key characteristic because the independent variables affect black population growth quite differently in different size categories. While there are clear differences between southern and nonsouthern suburbs in average levels of the push and pull variables, as well as the rate at which the black suburban population grew in the 1960s, the effects of these variables on black suburban growth were the same in both regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study is an attempt to replicate and extend past research dealing with the controversy over the existence of common versus class-differentiated success values. Three sets of hypotheses derived from Rodman's theory of the value stretch are tested. Two random cluster samples, one white, one black, were drawn from Roanoke, Virginia, yielding a total of 202 respondents. Results generally contradicted Rodman's theory; instead, a moderately class differentiated set of success values was found. Comparisons between blacks and whites surprisingly showed blacks with higher expectations when class was controlled. Age was associated with lower expectations as predicted. New directions for future research are offered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]