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This article comments on the position papers in the June 1967 issue of Rural Sociology. The author asserts that the papers are a mark of growing maturity of the rural sociology profession. It took years before the state universities and colleges assumed the dominant role of that they have achieved in the development of rural sociology. Contributions of the early sociologists to the applied field are presented to emphasize their historical value.

This is the second of two papers which report on a survey of 600 articles related to marriage and the family. The articles were published in 12 journals between 1962-1968. This paper deals primarily with 444 of the articles which were based on empirical data and focuses on approaches to the family as a researchable unit, current trends and problems and prospects in the area of family study. Findings include: uneven attention to component parts and minimal attention to the family as a whole. Frequent use of data collection techniques which involve minimal contact with the family, increased use of very large and very small samples, increased use of longitudinal studies, and more efficient use of data through application of a wider range of statistical techniques were also noted. The predominant use of static variables as independent variables and dynamic variables as dependent indicates little progress in viewing the family as an institution which shapes its own course as well as that of other institutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the annual meeting of the Rural Sociological society. This is not a new experience, but some of the changes that are taking place in rural sociology programs and in society indicate that the need for discussion is not yet satisfied. This is also one way of reaching the many members, subscribers, and readers who axe unable to attend the Society meetings, and of including them in the circle of discourse. Accordingly, few persons from various sections of the country and one to represent a view of rural sociology as it exists outside the U. S. to offer some of their views on important issues in the future of rural sociology were invited. They were asked to respond briefly and quickly enough for the papers to be presented in the June issue before the 1969 meeting.

Presents news notes and announcements involving the Rural Sociological Society. Highlights of the 1971 annual meeting of the Rural Sociology Section of Association of Southern Agricultural Workers; Call for papers for the 1971 annual meeting of the society to be held in Denver, Colorado on August 27 to 29, 1971; Programs and projects of the society.

Presents news notes and announcements involving the Rural Sociological Society. Call for papers for the 1969 annual meeting of the society; Tentative session topics; Best dissertations in rural sociology for the years 1967 and 1968.

Presents a list of books on Sociology received for the "British Journal of Sociology." Some of the books are: "Democracy and Social Ethics," by Jane Adams; "Psychology and Social Problems," by Michael Argyle; "The New Frontiersmen," by G.S. Aurora; "The Penal Press," by Russell N. Baird; "Race Relations," by Michael Banton; "The Impact of Television: Methods and Findings in Program Research," William A. Belson; "The Social Construction of Reality," by Thomas Luckmann and Peter Berger and "Culture and Society in India," by N.K. Bose.

This article presents the author's reply to comments by Robert C. Bealer and Thomas R. Ford on his article "The Rural-Urban Variable: An Urbanite's Perspective." The author says that Bealer contrasts his position with that of Richard Dewey, as expressed in the latter's paper "The Rural-Urban Continuum: Real But Relatively Unimportant." Dewey's views stem from a consideration of the subject by eighteen authors of textbooks in urban sociology. The author is puzzled by Bealer's insistence upon the logical necessity of a focus on social-psychological variables. Certainly one can spend much effort analyzing the characteristics of communities without taking on the added burden of accounting for individual behavior. The author is content, at least for the moment, to leave such questions as the explanation of those persistent traits that rural-dwellers may carry with them when they move to the city to his colleagues in social psychology. All in all, the author takes Bealer's passionate remarks on the necessity for seeking global generalizations to be merely symptomatic of the present time.

This article presents the research papers published in this issue of the journal "Rural Sociology." The first paper by James H. Copp represents a stage in the maturation of research on farm practice acceptance. It is one of the first attempts to compare the results of studies conducted in different agricultural regions. Using data from Wilkening's study in Wisconsin and from his own study in Kansas, he developed comparable measures of certain personal, social, and economic variables. Another paper by Copp and colleagues deals with the informational aspect of the acceptance of new farm practices. They attempt essentially to specify the function of information sources in the adoption process. By asking a series of questions about the sources of information at various times, from the awareness of a new practice until its adoption, they find that institutionalized sources tend to perform a function separate from that of noninstitutionalized sources. The study by Charles R. Hoffer and Dale Stangland is a worthy attempt to take into account the farmer's value orientations as they affect his adoption of practices.

The tendency for neighborhood patterns of association to localize the exchange of farm information on a person-to-person basis is demonstrated in this paper by the analysis of two types of interpersonal relationships. Conditions which help to explain this relationship are examined and evaluated, and the relationship of neighborhood residence to the evaluation of sources of farm information is considered. Although consideration of the relative influence of neighborhood and clique patterns of association is beyond the scope of this study, the data show that clique members are more likely to live outside neighborhoods than inside. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The thesis of this paper is that farm tenancy is an attempted adaptation of land and other resources to human needs through definite socially sanctioned institutional channels. Thus far, however, sociological research, in farm tenancy has been incidental for the most part. Hence there is a need for more specific research on tenancy as a purely sociological phenomenon or as a pattern of social adjustment. The principal task of the paper is, therefore, to set up definite general propositions or hypotheses to be tested by research. In all, fifteen propositions are positioned which purport to cover, if not the entire sociology of farm tenancy, at least its major aspects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the author's comment on sociologists Kingsley Davis and Wilbert E. Moore's paper "Some Principles of Stratification." According to the author, the paper offers some important point but that the argument they advance is contradictory in certain of its implications and therefore defective. The source of the difficulty is to be found in one of the premises of their argument. To state it most simply, the premise asserts, "people desire rewards." This assertion is incontestable, but it is not adequately qualified in their argument. The author shows in the first part of this article how their argument, containing this premise, leads to contradictory implications. Then, in the second part of this article, the author attempts to provide qualifications which he believes will allow Davis and Moore's argument to avoid contradictions and thus give it greater force.

This paper attempts to show that the myth of the primal horde is of use in that: (1) It helps to account for behavior that is observable at formal meetings, (2) sheds some light on the earlier socialization process and (3) can give some insight into the operation of wider social groupings. This obviously is a formidable task, beyond the scope of any one paper. The author discusses the university seminar of the formal kind where there is a chairman and sometimes a vote of thanks. He hope to show that the myth of the primal horde not merely explains what goes on but can even be said to describe to some extent behavior at such meetings. There is also an attempt to show how the ideas first used in the context of the university seminar can be applied to formal settings that are apparently very different namely those of the military parade and the religious service. Formal behavior, according to the view expressed here, owes its significance to the triumph it celebrates. It must therefore be essentially unstable for where the triumph is too complete there will the need for defensive morality be dissipated.

The article focuses on the sociology in and of China. In the general history of social sciences it is assumed that the marriage between sociology and anthropology comes late, having been preceded by a long courtship. China does not fit this pattern. Almost as soon as social sciences were established there anthropology and sociology were intertwined, to be disentangled in a strange way when Communists arrived. To avoid a tedious recitation of evidence just one witness is called upon, a scholar whose later career in the U.S. makes his testimony underline the Chinese paradox. Writing in China in 1944 Francis L.K. Hsu has said in this paper that the word sociology is used synonymously with the term social anthropology. It is customary to date the beginning of sociology in China by the publication of Yen Fu's translation of two chapters of "The Study of Sociology" in 1898. Later a few original works were produced in Chinese and courses of instruction were introduced in universities, it was not until about the 1920s that sociological investigations of any great weight began to be made.

The article presents information on several articles and books relating to economics, sociology and forestry. The article provides information on major journals that published articles on rural life more or less regularly. Every year the Congress national des Sode'te's savantes includes many papers on rural history, subsequently published in its transactions. Those for the 89th and 90th congresses, held in Lyons in 1964 and in Nice in 1965, have appeared; those for the 91st congress, held at Rennes in 1966, are still awaited. In 1967, there have been two articles on economic thought which, significantly, were written by foreigners and deal with the second half of the eighteenth century. One of them is a contemporary text by Chydenius, who was a Swedish forerunner of Adam Smith. Some articles on social history touch on the interests of the economic historian, including Albert Soboul's on "Description et mesure en histoire sociale." As always, some French historians have published work on foreign history.

The article reports on news related to the field of sociology. Dean Hoge has accepted an appointment as Associate Professor in the Sociology Department of Catholic University. Information on recent publications in this field have been presented. Theology and Depth-Theology: a Heschel Distinction by S. Daniel Breslauer, An Interview With Karl Menninger: Pastoral Psychiatrist by David M. Moss. The annual meeting International Society for the Comparative Study of Civilizations to be held at the Center for International Studies, University of Pittsburgh. The topics of sessions planned include analytical problems in the study of civilizations, Islam in civilizational perspective and others. Interested scholars have been invited to submit papers on these and allied topics for presentation at sessions reserved for such contributions. There will be a special session on history and sociology of religion at the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion meetings in Milwaukee, Wiconsin.

Presents an index of various literature on rural sociology.

This paper seeks to improve the conceptualization and measure-merit of interorganizational fields and organization-environment relations. Cohesiveness of interorganizational fields and centrality of organizations vis-à-vis other units in their task environments are examined. Matrix algebra and sociograms are used to analyze data collected through interviews with the top administrator in 159 community development organizations. Cohesion of 16 interorganizational fields (counties) and centrality of 15 different types of organizations were determined using both high and low intensity of interaction measures. Three organizational coalitions were located and found to group around concerns about agriculture, social services, and natural environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents minutes of the Council Meeting on August 26, 1973. Attendees; Speakers; Balance sheet for the 1973-1974 proposed budget.

In this paper the conventional treatment of family harmony and conflict, in a consensus-equilibrium framework, is discussed and judged inadequate. Instead a view of the family as a system in conflict is suggested as an alternative and more fruitful theoretical approach. The major premises underlying such a frame of reference are briefly outlined. Its theoretical implications for the study of the family are explored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Framing this paper is the question: what research problem and hypotheses suggested by symbolic interaction theory give promise, if pursued, of significantly advancing the sociology of the family? The problem delineated revolves around the concepts of identity and commitment. After explication of a set of premises and needed refinements in concepts basic to symbolic interaction theory, a number of hypotheses are offered. These purport to account for the position of identities in a salience hierarchy and tie identity salience to role performance. Finally, it is noted that these hypotheses could profitably be studied in the research setting of responses to first pregnancy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Disability of the breadwinner has serious consequences for the family. In addition to severe economic problems, such families experience a disruption of roles and strained interpersonal relations. This paper is concerned with the variations in structure of families with a disabled breadwinner. Family types were constructed utilizing age, sex, and marital status of the disabled person in addition to presence and age of children and generational factors as important dimensions. The distribution of a disabled population of breadwinners among these family types is presented. Factors believed to bear an influence upon family structure are introduced: sex, age, race, size of community of residence, and severity of disability. This paper is a step toward bridging the gap in research between theoretical models of family structure and empirical reality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents news notes and announcements involving the Rural Sociological Society. Professional opportunities abroad; Announcements of events; Career developments of sociology professionals; Theses and dissertations.

This paper makes a distinction between ‘opinion leadership’ and traditional leadership in the process of directed change in underdeveloped areas. Using the case study method, an attempt is made to demonstrate that each of the two types of leadership is suited to a specific situation. Using support from Max Weber's argument that the traditional leader is free to confer grace quite arbitrarily, the potentiality of this type of leadership as an instrument for social change is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The research reported in this paper attempts to investigate the relationship between certain sociocultural variables which have classically been related to the adoption of recommended farm practices and "rationality" in decision making. "Rationality" is conceptualized as a variable intervening between the operation of the sociocultural variables and the act of adoption. The data lend support to this framework. The observed relationships between rationality and the selected variables are those which have been found to obtain with respect to adoption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines and describes patterns of migration, changes in birth rates, and the relationship of these two factors for the rural and urban population in state economic areas of 13 North Central States, 1940–1950. Analysis of the data clearly shows the concentration of population through net in-migration in the rural parts of metropolitan areas, and especially in the older and larger metropolitan areas. The 64 state economic areas of net in-migration had gains of 19, 36, and 14 per cent in total, rural, and urban population, respectively. The 109 areas of net out-migration maintained a stationary total population, lost 5 per cent in rural population, and gained 10 per cent in urban population. Areas of net in-migration showed a numerical increase of 7.2 births per 1,000 population, 1940–1950, and those of net out-migration an increase of only 4.6. Areas showing the rural-in, urban-out migration pattern had the largest increase, 7.5, while the rural-out, urban-out areas had the least increase, 3.8. The data point up the need for expanded study of the various demographic, social, and economic factors affecting migration and fertility and their relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

According to what might be regarded as a basic postulate in sociology, when a number of persons are in interaction over a period of time, mutual expectations and norms develop concerning the behavior of the persons involved, and the individual's actions are not independent of these norms and expectations. the postulate is the basis of the hypothesis that relationships among neighbors affect many of the individual operator's decisions concerning the farm business. The author of this paper seeks to test the hypothesis that the extent to which farm operators adopt recommended farm practices is, in part, a function of the operator's neighborhood of residence.

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The paper asks whether mass media rather than being a homogenizing force, is in fact one that promotes differentiation, whether mass media is one for revolutionary change and whether rather than generating a crisis of identity, it aids in generating new identity. In other words, the advent of new communications techniques and patterns particularly television may have proven to have had precisely the contrary effect of that suggested by some of the classical views of the increasing massification of society and social relationships. The emergence of sundry militant minority groups in the 1960s, the black revolutionists, student and anti-war groups, neo-feminists, the poor, the Indians organized as red power with the aid of the electronic mass media implies that the social consequences of the new technologies of communication will profoundly alter the social order but not in the exact way foreseen by most of the contemporary mass society essayists. Although mass media may have a confirmative potential for majority groups, it possesses a transformative function for minority group identities. With future developments of multi-channel cable vision and other individualized media, an accentuation of the process may occur.

This article presents some questions for the attention of medical sociologists. Some medical educators, admittedly few, still subscribe to the view that they alone are competent to provide role models for medical students and that, therefore, no matter what the subject, the proper training of the physician requires that a physician teach it. Others, adopting a less extreme standpoint, appear to be prepared to accept the behavioral sciences on trust as it were, even while retaining some of these reservations and often questioning the relevance of sociological theory and method to the practical problems of health and illness. While there are then a few medical educators with reservations, it appears that the vast majority nowadays consider that sociology, psychology and anthropology, and perhaps other allied disciplines, have an acknowledged place somewhere in the medical curriculum. It is not proposed in this paper to enter into the general debate on whether the behavioral sciences have anything to contribute to medicine and should be incorporated into medical training.

The sociological analysis of factions has been developing rapidly in sociological research. According to the definition, a faction is stipulated to be an ephemeral group which emerges in order to operate in the interest of a specific aim or conflict. The criteria of recruitment of members to the different factions in the community are based on upon personal aspirations which are involved in the acute cause of rivalry or conflict and not upon any pre-existing connection among its members such as kinship ties, religious affiliations, common caste membership etc. By this definition, it follows that when a faction develops into a more stable group based on some permanent criteria of membership, it is no longer a faction. The paper discusses the phenomenon of factions in communities of immigrants. It presents findings of a research project in Israel which tried to reconstruct and analyze the history and conditions under which factions first emerged and then disappeared in some newly created communities of immigrants in the course of ten years. It attempts to develop further analysis about the conditions under which factions may arise, some possible variations they may display in their composition and structure and most importantly, the function that they possibly perform in the process of adjustment of immigrants to the new social, political and economic conditions.

The article presents comments of the author on his article "Profiting from a Comprehensive School," published in the "British Journal of Sociology," to draw attention to the sociological study of comprehensive schools. Author defends his article on two grounds presentation and analysis, and conclusions. Any inadequacies on presentation are probably determined by the limitations of the article-intended as a research note and not a fully developed paper. The criticism in conclusions seems largely directed at presentation. The conclusions are in fact valid on the basis of the findings of the research itself. The same applies to statistical techniques employed. In short it would seem that no valid critique of the conclusions themselves is presented. However, here is a point-by-point reply. The tables present the most outstanding deviations in keeping with the summary nature of the article. They are condensations of tables in the thesis. Thus class categories are included or omitted in accordance with the importance of variations.

This article is the author's reply to sociologist E.R. Yeld's paper on Islam and social stratification in Northern Nigeria. The author focuses attention on the inappropriateness of Yeld's data, methodology and mixture of problems. According to the author, Yeld's paper is an instructive exercise in the misuse of controlled comparison. She set out to compare the differing effects of two variables which were defined so as to overlap considerably. She presents no conclusions on this point, and neither indicates these effects nor compares them. Yeld undertook the analysis of social stratification in Hausa capitals, but for this she only had materials from Kebbi, which is not representative of these units either in its level of development, size, complexity, or in its depth of Muslim culture. The author says that Yeld has constructed a melange which is placed before us as a correct restatement of Hausa stratification.

This article discusses matters concerning the pressures that play upon behaviour as a result of the fact that a symbol of status is not always a very good test of status. By definition, then, a status symbol carries categorical significance, that is, it serves to identify the social status of the person who makes it. But it may also carry expressive significance, that is, it may express the point of view, the style of life, and the cultural values of the person who makes it, or may satisfy needs created by the imbalance of activity in his particular social position. There are two important kinds of status symbols: occupational symbols and class symbols. On the whole, occupation symbols are firmly tied to an approved referent by specific and acknowledged sanctions, much in the manner in which symbols of social caste are rigidly bound. In the case of social class, however, symbols play a role that is less clearly controlled by authority and in some ways more significant. From the point of view of this paper, circulation of symbols has two major consequences. First, those with whom a symbol originates must turn from that which is familiar to them and seek out, again and again, something which is not yet contaminated. The second consequence is perhaps the more significant of the two. Status symbols provide the cue that is used in order to discover the status of others and, from this, the way in which others are to be treated.

This article discusses the distribution of power in nationalized industries in the U.S. in 1951. The appointment of the National Coal Board was announced in the summer of 1946. In the following three years ownership of the fuel and power and transport industries was vested in a number of public corporations, two of which controlled, in terms of total undertakings and labour force, industrial organizations larger than any previously known in this country, or in the U.S. Nationalization offers a wide range of subjects of great interest to the sociologist. This paper, it is hoped, will indicate the degree of change which has taken place by considering the shifts in centres of power which transfer of ownership has produced. It describes the present distribution of power in nationalized industry as it is revealed by an examination, first, of the relation of Parliament, the Government and the trade unions to the controlling Boards; second, of the institutional forms, or patterns of organization adopted for each industry; and third, of the different groups to whom power has been apportioned within each industry. The aim of the paper is thus to define the effective power exercised by the Boards, to ascertain how power has been distributed within the various levels of organization, and to indicate some of the groups in the power structure and the conflicts between them. It is based on data collected in over two years' research into the working of the nationalized industries on behalf of the Acton Society Trust.

The article presents information about the 12th International Conference on the Sociology of Religion. The general theme of the conference "Contemporary Metamorphoses of Religion," was interpreted more as dealing with organizational change, including the emergence of "new" religious movements and attitude changes, than with any basic transformation in the current conceptions of the nature of religion or of religious faith. The plenary sessions were carefully planned and conducted in a very formal way marked by procedures of protocol, written requests for "interventions," like questions and comments by others than the announced participants. The only free wheeling spontaneous participation of the sort familiar to us occurred in the much smaller contributed papers sessions. Spontaneity was, unfortunately, limited even in these sessions by linguistic factors. There was one area, according to several European scholars, in which the conference may have presented a somewhat misleading picture of European academic life to the North American participants. Very little attention was paid to the debate between the Marxists and the non Marxists which is so much a part of daily European academicia.

This article provides information on the biennial conference of the British Sociological Association at Queen Elizabeth College in London, England on March 22 to 24, 1957. The theme Sociology in Retrospect and Prospect was an appropriate one in view of the increasingly felt need to undertake a systematic re-assessment and clarification of the main issues involved in sociological theory and practice. A large theme of this nature could not be pursued in exhaustive detail, but the papers in both the plenary and the group sessions were such as to stimulate much thought, and the degree of interest shown in the conference was such as to suggest that this theme was one of central concern to all. The attendance was greater than had been anticipated. Although not central to the theme of the conference, perhaps one of the most significant facts about it was that it became the basis for a consciously contrived effort to begin and foster co-operative relations between the British Association and the American Sociological Society. Another encouraging feature was that 39 students were sufficiently interested to become student members of the association. The executive officers were very helpful throughout, and finally it proved possible to send over a small delegation.

Lists books related to sociology published in the March 1997 issue of "Rural Sociology."

The study of Asian societies has not yet had its share of attention within the framework of comparative sociology as a whole. As one step towards remedying this situation, a one-day conference, called by the British Sociological Association, was held in London, England, at the School of Oriental and African Studies on December 2, 1961, to discuss the position of sociology in Asia. Papers dealing with India, China, Japan, Malaysia, Thailand and Indo-China and Burma were presented at the conference. Coverage was thus fairly comprehensive, though certain areas, including the whole of the Middle East, were left out on this occasion. The aim of speakers present at the conference was to assess the present state of knowledge about societies they were considering, with special reference firstly to sociologists of Asian nationality and secondly to the current contribution of British scholarship. Papers that were presented, while they showed wide variation in the state of sociology in different countries, also showed for Asia as a whole a volume of work being done which western sociologists could ill afford to ignore. Some criticism arose in the discussion of the idea of regional research entrees and of inter-disciplinary teams assembled for area studies. There was discussion also of the alleged problem of translating sociological concepts into Chinese or Japanese.

Economic development involves elemental processes of great complexity and scope and that those who would move from a traditional to a modern society must relate themselves differently to the environment, shifting from an organic to an inorganic energy base, they must alter their ontology, accepting a different cognitive base for their relief system, they must adopt new values, forsaking old ones or integrating them somehow with the new values, indeed, they must psychologically refashion traditional man and his energizing and motivational system. The encompassing task of development requires the involvement of all sectors of society and different types of social units. This paper examines the nature and position of voluntary associations in the historic process of modernization and development.

This paper re-examines the significance of the ecological approach for community study. First it briefly recounts the character of the "new" ecology fostered especially by Hawley and Duncan. Secondly, it summarizes the main similarities, differences, and convergencies between this new ecology and each of four other theoretical stances which currently seem to be the most vital to community study: the typological-shared meanings approach. the social system idea, inductive taxonomy, and an interactionist mode. While significant divergencies remain, the ability of the new ecology to comprehend many of the concerns in these other approaches suggests it may be quite helpful in the continuing effort to bring order to the diverse phenomena of the community field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to present a sketch of procedures which hold promise for yielding behavioral indicators of connections among actions in the local society. The community is viewed as a behavioral and interactional phenomenon. From this perspective, which assumes but does not emphasize spatial, institutional and psychological dimensions, relevant data have to do with the behavior of actors in specific task-accomplishment processes. The tasks might be building a hospital, conducting a political campaign, evacuating a residential area which is threatened by flood, or any infinite number of other public, locality, relevant concerns. The raw data of behavioral study of community are acts by individuals. Reports of acts are amassed, sorted, classified and examined. Acts are seen as fitting together into projects and episodes, and these into fields of action concerning specific interests or goals.

The article focuses on a structural perspective towards a sociological theory of development. Perhaps no single word has been more widely and frequently used by such a large number of people in so many countries of the world today than the term "development." The term frequently refers to economic development as it has been a central concern to the majority of nations and citizens living there. The author also describes the reasons why sociology has been a latecomer in this endeavor may be found in the insistence on a value-free or ideologically neutral science of society. The author further says that his paper builds its argument on the following basic premises: 1) development is a value concept; 2) development is a social structural change; 3) the aspect of social structure that is most salient to development is that of resource allocation or the distributive system of society; and 4) the pivotal factor that can either promote or cripple the development process is political leadership. This article also presents a comprehensive study of human values which was previously not existing.

The Wisconsin model is a concise and seemingly effective system of antecedent and intervening variables in status attainment. Founded upon research in the U.S.A., it holds that occupational status is largely a function of educational status and is substantially influenced by intellectual capacity and socioeconomic status. Effects of these variables appear to be transmitted through a number of intervening social psychological and performance variables. This paper provides a test of the adequacy of the Wisconsin model in another culture. It was found that the model had to be altered to provide a parsimonious explanation of attainment for a sample of middle-class, small-town Costa Rican males. Reasons for the alteration are discussed. Suggestions are made regarding several of the more vexing research problems in studying the attainment process in other countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on celibate priest, author and sociologist Andrew M. Greeley's contributions to theory in the sociology of religion, one of two substantive areas in which Greeley has chosen to write extensively on. The other being the sociology of ethnic groups in the United States. The author has discerned and chosen to discuss four substantive themes in Greeley's writings, roughly in chronological order research in the "Protestant Ethics," the sociology of Roman Catholicism, the secularization thesis and denominational membership in society. As early as 1964, Greeley felt justified in calling for a moratorium on the Protestant Ethic research in society. In need achievement, occupational success, income levels and educational attainments, Protestant-Catholic differences were either unproven, insignificant, or in some instances, slightly reversed from the conventional hypotheses. This overall judgment has been sustained by subsequent researchers. Besides clarifying the impact of Catholic elementary, high school and college education on specific Catholic adult religious behavior, Greeley has contributed seven books and numerous articles on the Catholic Church itself. According to the author Greeley is much more convincing as an applied sociologist analyzing critical problems in the changing church than he is as a theorist of Catholic higher education.

The paper traces some consequences of characterizing the sociological discipline as an 'occupation.' The concept of 'occupation,' while suffering from abuse, nevertheless retains its reference to the crucial defining process which characterizes sociology. Using the concept of 'occupation' in its sensitizing function, it was suggested that evidence of phenomena in sociology which indicated efforts to achieve orientation could be found by the location and identification of 'pieties' of individual sociologists, by granting recognition to a form of knowledge termed mystique, by the identification of forms of ritual and what was termed 'secular prayer,' a form of character-building and by the location of different 'cognitive styles.' Two styles were mentioned, one being characterized by continuity, the other by 'conversion' experience. These phenomena it was suggested, would best be termed 'cultic' in character. Possible hypotheses were suggested. Some attempt was made to indicate types of interpretations and observations possible using cult as an orientational or sensitizing concept.

The author, in this article, shares his opinion regarding recently held Family Research Conference. From the first conference session until the last, the concept of values punctuated the discussion of papers. Not that any of the papers dealt explicitly, specifically and in detail with the intrusion of values into family research. In general they did not. But, always there was a tendency to question why researchers choose particular problems to investigate and how their choices influence or predetermines results. As interesting as is the fact that there was continued awareness of value influences at the conference, no real effort to come to grips with the problem was evident. Two to three decades ago many workers in the family field expressed the social values including the permanency of marriage, adherence to traditional sex standards and general maintenance of the status quo, rather openly. Now while few unqualifiedly profess such values, careful scrutiny of both research and action programs might indicate considerable support, by some indirection, being given to the same values. The family research conference hinted time and again at this problem but did not make any important contribution to its solution.

This article presents updates on meetings and events related to family living and marriage at universities and associations in the U.S. as of May 1946. At the two sessions of the American Sociological Society, papers presented were devoted to the topic of family. The first, on the Family and the War, chairman, Ray E. Baber, discussed papers by Mildred Fairchild on Compilation of Data Regarding American Women at Work and at Home in World War II, by Leonard Bloom on Familial Adjustments of Japanese-Americans to Relocation, and by John F. Cuber on A Study of the Adjustmental Problems of Returning Service Men and Their Spouses. The Association for Childhood Education, on the other hand, held a restricted 1946 Annual Meeting in Cincinnati, Ohio, on April 1946, limited to approximately eight hundred people. In addition, the Child Study Association of America held its Annual Conference on March 4, 1946.

This paper contains an exposition of the types of family statistics derived and published annually from the Current Population Survey of the Bureau of the Census. The authors discuss the Bureau's Current Population Survey (CPS) in terms of its relevancy and value to sociologists interested in the field of family studies. Recent improvements in data collection and processing techniques, as well as a discussion of the wide range of social and economic variables relating to family studies and obtainable from the CPS for the national population are presented. it is pointed out that the CPS is, and can be, an important source of recurring family data for supplementing independent research in many related fields. The Census Bureau's household and family projections program is discussed and a brief demographic sketch of the family in America in 1970 is offered as an illustration of the nature of the data currently available in the CPS programs and the "Current Population Reports" publications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper surveys the recently emerging fields of marital and family therapy in terms of their developments in research, theory and clinical practice. The parallel, but unrelated, developments of these two fields are described. A system framework was developed for categorizing the various clinical approaches in marital and family therapy. Neither field has yet developed a solid theoretical base nor tested their major assumptions or principles. However, both fields have recently become more concerned about conceptual and methodological issues. Several ways of bridging the professional gap between therapists and researchers are suggested. Recommendations for interdisciplinary borrowing are indicated and exemplary projects giving new direction to the fields are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]