Search

The author comments on a paper by economist Carl Christ concerning properties of nine econometric models. He states that Christ made a number of comparative statements about the econometric models that may result in casual readers misinterpreting the comments. He mentions that the comparative statements could be interpreted to concern the statistical properties of the models, the models theoretical quality, or the forecasting ability of the models. He states that these property statements can be independent from each other, with a model being a poor forecaster but having excellent statistical properties, and that they imply nothing about the model's degree of confirmation.

Copyright of International Journal of Production Research is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The article looks into the significant use of pseudo-science in science education. A pseudo-science is a systematic body of propositions, practices, and attitudes that gives the appearance of being a science but is not a science. Furthermore, the article has compared the differences between science and pseudo-science. Moreover, various approaches and ways in which the study of pseudo-science could be incorporated into science education has been presented through: (1) critical examination of historical cases of pseudo-science along with cases of genuine science; (2) comparison of contemporary research paper with pseudo-science research paper; (3) use of laboratory works and processes to expose the scientific pretensions of pseudo-science; encouragement of students to bring examples of pseudo-scientific thinking; (5) evaluation of textbooks; and (6) testing of students' ability to recognize cases of pseudo-science.

The basic hypothesis of this paper is that occupational group ties are stronger in Britain than in the United States. A number of test implications are inferred from this hypothesis and the relevant evidence on each of these, to be found in existing comparative studies, is presented. Occupations in the two countries are first compared as independent collectivities with respect to their autonomy, socialization, colleague relationships, deviance, and occupational identity. They are then considered within their normal organizational environment, and the differences between the two countries in the relationship between these occupational groups and the administration of the organization are compared. Three types of organization are distinguished: where one group forms a large majority, where two groups are approximately equal, and where one or more groups form a small minority. Some proposals are made for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses organization change in government and business in America. First the causes and dimensions of organization change are presented. The literature on organization change is reviewed and two brief case studies of organization change are presented. Finally, comparisons and contrasts of the process in these two environments are made. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The explanation of organizational structure has always been an important issue to administrative theorists. This paper investigates the structure of manufacturing operations and therefore starts from the premise that technological factors are most crucial. One current approach to structure and technology, comparative analysis, has studied the overall context but at a highly aggregative level. The "constituent" approach, on the other hand, has investigated intraorganizational relationships but at the expense of empirically verifiable theory. We develop a heuristic computer model capable of testing existing constituent theories. The model uses work flow data as technological inputs and produces a structural configuration as output. It employs administrative rules (based on Thompson's propositions for structuring the technical core) to convert inputs into outputs. The inputs, outputs, and rules are formally represented using list processing concepts. Operationalizing the formal concepts has been satisfactorily explored in a pilot study of a small manufacturing firm. Testing existing constituent theory is just the initial phase of this project. It is possible to develop new structural theory for the technical core and the rest of the organization, and to engage in a form of comparative analysis to judge the effects of varying contexts. Moreover, the fact that a structural configuration is produced implies utility in the area of design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Comparative analysis of demographic data on selected countries (Finland, Norway, Sweden, Yugoslavia, and the United States) indicates a common decline in average age at marriage and an increasing incidence of marriages involving males and females under 20 years of age. From papers prepared for the Eighth International Seminar on Family Research, these comparative data and their varying sociological explanations are drawn and analyzed. The explanations are found to vary according to the conceptual framework of the papers utilized. Four differing conceptual schemes are identified along with some of the specific sociological generalizations pertinent to each framework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to determine what the average risk-adjusted rate of return of the property-liability insurance industry was from 1955 to 1968. Once this figure is found, comparisons are made between different segments of the industry based on the size of the firm. Next, comparisons are made between the average risk-adjusted rate of return of the property-liability insurance industry and the non-insurance industries studied. The final portion of the paper makes an analysis of the statistical evidence presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes the impact of two governing boards on the effectiveness and morale of two state government wildlife management agencies. Participation in the decision-making process constitutes the core of the boards' performance; only secondarily do they engage in control activities, and they perform no economic role for the organizations. The boards' major function for effectiveness is service as a buffer group between the full-time staff and the public. With respect to dysfunctions for effectiveness, the boards act for the benefit of their home communities and require a sizable amount of attention from the staff to be kept informed on the problems of wildlife management. The staff is of the opinion that the boards create more contributions than problems with respect to effectiveness, and are basically satisfied with this system of authority. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Among the techniques designed to reduce the subjective judgment, characteristic of conventional time study rating, are Dr. M. E. Mundel's objective rating and Professor Gerald Nadler's pace comparison. This paper describes a comparative study of these film-assisted techniques and conventional speed and effort rating, in which groups of graduate students and experienced industrial time study observers participated. Conventional speed and effort rating--still the most widely used rating technique--requires the observer to assess an operator's actual working pace relative to the observer's own mental concept of a standard performance of the work being studied. By contrast, objective rating and pace comparison necessitate, first, assessment only of the speed of the operator's motions, and that by comparison with the speed of motions demonstrated on a pace standard film. No attention is paid to job difficulty, and its effect on operator performance, until the second stage in the procedure when additional allowances of time are determined by reference to tables of secondary adjustments. Such adjustments were not examined in this present investigation. On the multi-image film loop used in this study, twelve paces of performing a simple job are shown simultaneously. The step film loop used consists of ten graduated working paces each preceded by an identification letter. In both films the relationship between the various filmed paces is known and related to one pace contained in each film representing the "standard pace" for the job. This present research is concerned with comparisons between conventional, multi-image and step film assisted techniques. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents author's views regarding the research paper of Professor Wilbert E. Moore on industrial sociology. Professor Moore's paper begins with the inevitable apology apparently expected of all sociologists studying industrial phenomena. One point, which was not and which should have been more fully developed, in author's opinion, is suggested in the sentence: "The field of industrial sociology then is concerned with the application of or development of principles of sociology relevant to the industrial mode of production and the industrial way of life." The author refers here to the phase, "the application or development of principles." This, he believes, is a critical problem. Of course, a dichotomy here is to be avoided: it is not a question of either-or. But industrial sociologists should seriously consider whether or not the best interests of their field lie in "the development of" rather than in "the application of" principles. His paper repeatedly calls attention to the uses of comparative case studies.

This paper outlines a framework for studying the social-cultural determinants of family size in 20 low mortality countries of controlled natality. Two broad hypotheses are proposed: (1) Family size varies inversely with the availability of alternatives for the satisfaction of interests presumably satisfied by having children. (2) Family size is smallest under two polar sets of conditions: (a) where the social setting maximizes the individual's expectation that his interests and those of his children will be satisfied, and (b) where the social setting minimizes this expectation. Representative social indicators for making the necessary international comparisons are enumerated, and the steps in their construction discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper has two principal aims: (1) to analyze and measure how the demographic variables-mortality, fertility, and immigration- affect the cost of education; (2) to evaluate what possibilities developing countries, such as those of Latin America, have for a rapid educational improvement. The paper relates demographic and educational variables of three different populations: Sweden, 1840-1965; the United States, 1850-1960; and Latin America, 1930-2000. Three educational variables are also cone sidered: (a) school attendance rates by sex and age; (b) distribution of students of same age by grade; and (c) cost of student by grade. Demographic changes in countries such as Sweden and the United States were favorable for the development of education. For the future, unless an increase of fertility occurs, mortality and fertility changes will not have a significant effect on the cost of education in these countries. In current less developed countries the demographic changes during the past were less favorable to educational development. A future reduction of fertility will significantly help them to achieve a higher educational level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is based on current studies within the O.E.C.D. Directorate for Scientific Affairs on problems of educational development. More particularly, the data used in this paper derive from a more general study of problems posed by the expansion of secondary education in O.E.C.D. countries, which will be completed by the Organisation in the near future. The views expressed in the paper are those of the authors. The paper was originally presented at the Ghent Meeting of the Comparative Education Society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A conference paper that discusses the results of a research study conducted to compare the efficacy and abrasiveness of five brands of toothpaste dentifrices is presented. The paper was read at a meeting of the Harriet Newell Lowell Society for Dental Research held at the Harvard University Dental School in Cambridge, Massachusetts on May 19, 1921.

Five primary dimensions of organization structure were defined and operationalized; (1) specialization, (2) standardization, (3) formalization, (4) centralization, (5) configuration. From comparative data on these dimensions, in fifty-two different work organizations in England, scales were constructed to measure sixty-four component variables. This made it possible to construct a profile characteristic of the structure of an organization and to compare it directly with that of other organizations. Principal-components analysis was used to help in the interpretation of inter correlations among the scales. The resulting factors suggested four basic dimensions of structure, conceptualized as structuring of activities, concentration of authority, line control of workflow, and size of supportive component. This multifactor result was considered to demonstrate that the concept of the bureaucratic type is no longer useful. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study will utilize the data in the 1967 SEO to present evidence on the size, composition, and concentration of net wealth accumulation among black families compared to white families. The final section presents and tests a simple econometric model of the estimated relationship between income and wealth for black and white families. In preparing this paper it is well understood that survey data are notoriously unreliable on assets and liabilities. Larger samples do not remove the errors if there is a tendency for a distinct subgroup to misreport its assets or liabilities. A rather extensive literature has evolved concerning the errors in survey data on assets and liabilities and is noted. At various stages of the analysis the findings from the SEO are compared to results from the comprehensive Survey of Financial Characteristics of Consumers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

, , 204-208. This paper describes the clinical features of five cases of constrictive pericarditis of non-tuberculous aetiology. The findings in this syndrome are compared with those in tuberculous constrictive pericarditis. The non-tuberculous variety had a short history, and absence of ascites and third heart sounds. Pericardial calcification, paradoxical arterial pulse, and the marked `y' descent in the venous pulse were absent in contrast to tuberculous constriction. An atrial sound was usual and the chief venous wave was the `a' wave. The difficulty in diagnosing this type of pericardial constriction and its differentiation from `restrictive' cardiomyopathy is discussed. It is suggested that all currently available diagnostic techniques are liable to failure and, if in doubt, a diagnostic thoracotomy is mandatory. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper, which focuses substantively on the demography of the militant segregationist vote in the post-Brown years, uses the state as the principal unit of analysis and seeks to test V.O. Key's argument on an explicitly comparative basis. The significance of the topic extends beyond the question of the applicability of Key's general theory of southern racial politics to elections in 11 different states. The paper has attempted to show that a parsimonious theory of the politics of race, Key's black belt hypothesis, is still highly relevant to an understanding of southern politics. Even if attention is restricted to the size of the black population and urban-rural differences, much can be learned concerning the structure of electoral cleavages. Comparative analysis of the core militant segregationist vote within and between the 11 southern states demonstrated that consistent support for selected militant segregationists in the post-Brown era typically increased along a demographic continuum from large metropolitan centers to rural counties with high black populations. The geographic sectionalism of the segregationist vote was clearly established through maps; and most of the deviant segregationist counties were explained by variables related to the black belt hypothesis.

This paper focuses on managerial leisure in Great Britain and the U.S. It states there are three aspects to managerial leisure: the amount of leisure taken by managers, the content of their leisure activities and how closely these relate to their work interests, and the subjective meaning of leisure activities to managers. It mentions that the comparative study of management in different countries has attracted increased interest. It comments that American executives tend to enjoy their jobs and experience feelings of creativity at work, while others claim they enjoy business entertaining activities. It mentions that managers in Great Britain tend to spend more time devoted to family and home and use leisure to escape from work.

Copyright of Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases is the property of BMJ Publishing Group and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The existence of comparative statics results under qualitative conditions has been studied by Lancaster [9, 10] and Gorman [7] in the "purely qualitative" case in which the only information assumed available to the economist is that provided by the sign patterns of certain matrices and vectors. The Lancaster-Gorman results have been extended in Bassett, Habibagahi and Quirk [3] and Bassett, Maybe and Quirk [4] to the case in which it is assumed that equilibrium positions possess local dynamic stability so that the quantitative information provided by the stability hypothesis may be used together with sign pattern information to determine the comparative statics properties of the system under study. In the present paper, the qualitative approach to comparative statics analysis is extended in yet another direction, by incorporating into the qualitative analysis the quantitative information provided by the assumption that Walras' Law characterizes the system under study. The results presented here are derived under a "strong dependence" assumption which excludes the possibility of zeros appearing in the coefficient matrix of the system, so that the implications of Walras' Law for comparative statics analysis are not completely covered by the present paper. In brief, the main result of this paper asserts that in a qualitatively specified environment in which Walras' Law holds, complete comparative statics results can be derived under the strong dependence condition if and only if the system can be transformed into an extended form of the "gross substitute" case; further, local dynamic stability of equilibrium can be proved if and only if the "gross substitute" case holds. These results are established for the case where there are more than three commodities in the system; the special properties of the smaller dimension cases are also noted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The impact of industry on the behavior of workers is a problem, which has commanded the attention of social scientists in the West since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, and it now commands their attention in developing societies. The major hypothesis of this study is that workers employed at automotive plants in each of four nations will adapt in similar fashion to all areas of their lives, the factory, union, neighborhood, community, and the wider society. That is, the degree of industrialization of the nation in which the worker lives will not greatly affect his adaptation, since a similar adaptation is expected of workers in the four nations. Thus, the technological requirements of a particular type of industry are seen as pre-eminent. Undoubtedly, some variations in adaptation may occur, but these are explained largely by different opportunities which industry offers workers when (a) it is a new but small segment of the economy, (b) when it is a burgeoning segment of it, and (c) when it is a declining segment. Variations in adaptation among workers within industries are not explored in this paper. The larger study takes the position that variations are a function of degree of control, which workers have over the technical and social environment of work.

This research paper is a report on just one aspect of the comparative study of two adjacent, competing, and sociologically similar communities. These data do show that the two adjacent, competing communities that contain similar population stocks, similar economic bases, and similar geographic characteristics did define the same stimulus in quite different ways. The methodological device of seeking for similar situations, which are differently defined, was fruitful. The hypothesis that communities to which different diffused values had been ascribed would define very specific situations in different ways is supported. One is impressed by the persistence of these definitions. Certainly that social change has a one to one correspondence with changes in modes of production or technology is not borne out here. These data cover the periods of the bloody Civil War, World War I, World War II; the depressions of 1859, 192 1-23, 1929-1941 occur in this time span, changes in the technologies of steamboats, railroads, roads, automobiles, canning sardines, and in communications by wire and air have come about, yet in this particular, Eastport, Maine, remains Eastport, and Lubec, Maine, remains Lubec, each distinguished from the other by specific local values.

Using an ecological perspective, one aspect of the relationship of social distance and physical distance is analyzed in the three largest cities in Israel. The principal aim of the paper is to examine ethnic (country of origin) residential segregation as an indicator of social patterning within the society. Despite the different demographic, topographical and functional characteristics of the three cities, fairly similar patterns of ethnic segregation are found using the technique of Smallest Space Analysis (SSA-I) to analyze index of dissimilarity matrices. Patterns of ethnic segregation are then related to the SES of sub-quarters to determine the nature of the internal structure of the cities. It is suggested that ethnicity is an important variable in the process of social stratification in urban Israel, at least insofar as ecological relationships are concerned. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper takes as its point of departure two earlier statements of mine concerning Sociology of Work. Almost two decades ago I wrote: We need to rid ourselves of any concepts which keep us from seeing that the essential problems of men at work are the same whether they do their work in the laboratories of some famous institution or in the messiest vat room of a pickle factory (Rohrer and Sherif, 1951:318). and more recently, in a personal communication concerning studies of medical and college students: The ideas grew out of study of lowly factories and humble occupations— which is the right place to start, for everything happens in them and people don't try to cover up the seamy side so much as in more mobile pursuits. Both these sentences refer to method. Both, as do most statements concerning sociological method, express a social rhetoric. For such statements are written at a given moment in the history of the world, in a given place, at a certain point in the development of the science of sociology, and by a given person. That person sees things from a certain perspective; he speaks in the hope that others will accept his perspective and use it in their work. A critic complained that the title Boys in White (1961) downgraded medical students; we should have called them men. We called them boys because it seemed to us that, after having been treated like men in the last years of college, they were treated like boys in medical school. Making the Grade (1968), even without an'S' on grade, suggests that students misdirect their academic efforts; the book tries to tell why they direct them as they do. Titles, statements of method, and choice of problems for study are all a kind of social rhetoric; one hopes his rhetoric will call attention to neglected aspects of reality, correct biases, and so change methods of study that better findings and theories will result. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on a comparative study of the inter-group conflict. The comparative study of cultural behaviors has taken two forms: (1) a description of one or a few other societies, implicitly or explicitly contrasted with what is assumed to be authors' own; (2) a systematic comparison of a limited set of related behaviors in a great range of societies. The present study uses the latter approach. Outstanding previous users of this approach have been those who have worked with the Human Relation Area Files at Yale University, Connecticut. Authors' study differs methodologically from the Yale studies in that practically all of their data come from literate societies, while practically all of the Yale data come from preliterate societies. Most of the literate societies known to the author in whom separable and distinctive minorities are or were living in a majority population were included in the analysis. Sometimes a society changed so much in historical time that it was analyzed as two separate societies.

The article describes a comparison of theories and their relationships with the science curriculum. The paper is intended as a preliminary comparative discussion of the status of theory making in physics and the social sciences, with the thought of adding some impetus to an ecumenical movement long overdue in the sciences, involving both social and physical theory. A correlative problem is presented by differences between (a) the nature and function of history and the other social disciplines, and (b) theory making in the physical and biological sciences. The author claims that these differences represent good theoretical problems. As curricular issues of school education, they are crucial.

SUMMARY In comparing Marshallian and Walrasian stability criteria, opposite stability conditions are found when both demand and supply curves are downward sloping. This paper resolves the inconsistency by considering a behavioral model of the firms in a competitive industry and then specifying the conditions under which the relevant instantaneous adjustment processes will result in stability at the industry level. It turns out that the concept of the representative firm is inadequate for a considerations of the stability of industry equilibrium. Moreover, for different reasons the Walrasian adjustment process is applicable only when all firms are operating on the rising portion of their marginal cost curves. Hence, in the only situation in which the Walrasian and Marshallian processes adequately represent the dynamics of competitive industry (namely rising marginal cost curves for all firms) they lead to identical stability conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on comparative sociology. The purpose of this paper is in part to explain this apparently paradoxical situation by looking at the historical development of comparative sociology, but more important, it tries to assess the role of comparison and the inter-relationship of theory and method in the generation of social theory, through a discussion of the methodological problems inherent in comparative analysis. The association of evolutionism with comparison was a major reason for the comparative method being devalued, if not discredited. Unfortunately comparison has also been linked with functionalism, a link which is not inevitable, and is certainly undesirable. Sampling is another attempt at solving the central problem of how one compares a potentially vast quantity of social facts. Choice of unit or level, specification, quantification, and randomization are all attempts to handle this basic dilemma, while controlling against the chance of generalizing from the atypical.

The article presents a study which compares urban children with the suburban ones, testing them with various tasks on basic skills of primary learning particularly on science education. The null hypothesis of the study states that there is no difference between the children from low-income urban families and those from higher-income suburban families. An investigation of the effect of the Science Curriculum Improvement Study program on children of low-income urban families has been initiated. The program is proposed to help urban children attain the same capacity to learn as the children from higher-income suburban homes.

The article discusses various tests and measurements for research purposes in the fields of intelligence, special aptitudes and personality. Connection between achievement test scores and various other variables was included and an indication was made so that tests should pay added attention towards students urging them to express their thoughts in their own language. It became evident that girls averaged higher on marks, whereas boys averaged higher on achievement tests. Papers presenting useful techniques for achievement testing still fall short as these tests fail to measure all the desirable products of teaching.

The purpose of this paper is to analyse patterns of communication in several immigrant communities in Israel, to permit the proposal of certain hypotheses on the relations between the patterns of communication and social structure of a society. It is hoped in this way to make some contribution to the comparative study of communication, a field in which interest has recently been increasing rapidly. Israel seems to be a particularly suitable site for a comparative study of communication, because there many types of immigrant communities live in close proximity which are under the influence and impact of similar conditions of absorption. This study can profit from the analysis of each individual community, of the communities' responses to various conditions of absorption, and of the various waves of communication to which they are exposed. This analysis is based on the study of four different communities, three of which are rural or semi-rural, one of Yemenites, one of Algerians, Tunisians and Moroccans, and the third of Yugoslavs.

The article focuses on the comparative study of communications and opinion formation. The importance of the mass media as transmitters of news and opinion varies considerably, of course, in different parts of the world. In almost every area, however, some form of mass communication exists. The early part of this paper gives attention to kinds of information most needed to clarify the role of the mass media as channels of communication under varying conditions. The role of the mass media is also likely to be affected by the character of the control which is exercised over what information and ideas they may present. In some countries, such as Soviet Union, the state exercises virtually complete control over what is said over the radio, in newspapers, and in books and magazines. Some of the implications of such a development are self-evident, but, among other things, it is important to know in such situations how, if at all, conflicting ideas are introduced into the communications process. In other countries, governmental control of the media is negligible but private groups exert a strong influence over what is presented. The development of a comparative study of communications and opinion formation cannot be made the responsibility of any single discipline of social sciences. By its very nature, it requires the application of a variety of skills and a basically inter-disciplinary effort.

Most cities are influenced by those cultures which they serve and represent. At the same time, the cultures are influenced by their respective cities. This mutual relationship among cities and cultures constitutes a complex of processes of functional interrelationships. The geographic approach to these processes leads to the delimitation of twelve major world-regions and several sub-regions that are characterized by the areally varying processes associating cities and cultures. A system of world-regions of this nature is proposed in the present paper. The proposed system places every city of the world into a hierarchy of functional regions, far beyond the city's own hinterland. Every city is then visualized as a molder and reflector of its cultural environment. In addition, the following implications of such a regional system on the field of urban geography are discussed. First, the urban geographer is able to contribute to regional studies by considering the influence the cities have upon a given region. Secondly, the urban geographer adds another aspect to the research on any city by purposely studying the city as the expression of the surrounding cultural realm. Thirdly, the proposed regions are a tool for systematic and comparative study on the regional variation of cities from one culture-region to another.

A conference paper on the density of bone and tooth structure is presented. It discusses the use of an x-ray method to study bone density and examines the effect of diet on bone and tooth structure. Details are also provided about the calibration sector-disk used in the comparison of bone and tooth density.

One of the most widely studied problems in experimental research on conflict processes is that of eliciting cooperative or non hostile responses from parties who have some instigation toward non cooperative or hostile behavior. The unusually long gaming section in this issue focuses on the effectiveness of various strategies which one player can use to induce cooperative choices by the other player in mixed-motive situations. The extensive concern with the effectiveness of various influence techniques and strategies, evident in the gaming papers, underscores that the costs of exercising influence have been relatively neglected in the study of social power. It also suggests a number of dimensions for measuring the costs of making influence attempts and the costs of complying or not complying with them. The main emphasis on the cost-asymmetry between threats and promises suggests the importance of comparative studies of threats and promises as influence techniques. It also suggests the potential value of expanding the paradigm from the dominant focus on coercive power to a balanced focus on both coercive and reward power, and of expanding it from its predominant focus on effectiveness to a balanced focus on both cost and effectiveness.

The study focused on the voluntary associations of Anglo, Black, and Mexican Americans in Austin, Texas. A sample of 380 respondents provided the data. An information interview was used; trained interviewers coining from the same ethnic background as the respondent were employed. Ethnicity proved to be an important variable in predicting social participation, with Blacks having the highest and Mexican Americans having the lowest participation rate. Using multiple classification analysis, a number of structural variables were introduced as controls; and these variables, particularly education, were found to be responsible for the difference between Anglo and Mexican Americans. Blacks continued to have significantly higher rates of participation in voluntary associations after controlling on other variables. Both isolation and cultural inhibition theories can be found in previous literature to account for low participation rates among people having a subordinate status, and compensatory and ethnic community theories have been used to account for high rates of affiliation among these same groups. The findings from this study tend to cast doubt on isolation and cultural inhibition theories and to support compensatory and ethnic community theories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article lists new science books including "Growth and Development of Trees," by T. T. Kozlowski, "Invertebrate Photoreceptors: A Comparative Analysis," by J. J. Wolken, and "The Organic Chemistry of peptides," by H. D. Law.

The article presents two literary works, "Reitergeschichte," by Hofmannsthal and "Ein Landarzt," by Kafka. This paper presents a comparative analysis of the two literatures. It features the similarities of technique and also the in content, there are certain similarities that merit academic exercise. The similarities in the two works of literature mentioned befits a comparative stylistic and technical analysis. There are also dissimilarities and contrasts discussed in content and the plot of the two stories.

This is the first from a series of papers dealing with the comparative study of all neotropical species of Salvinia. In the first part, the author comments the systematic position of all the species mentioned so far for tropical America. In the second part, the morphology and structure of the sporophyte and its reproductive organs of Salvinia oblongifolia are studied. This species lives in the center-north and NE of Brazil. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents information about the comparative approach applied to the study of contemporary Jewry, which adds an important dimension to the research and interpretation of individual Jewish communities. Most present research analyses the local community in the context of its native environment and its adjustment to that environment. With the comparative method, one can explore the common relationship of Jewish communities throughout the world while taking into full account the problems of locus and specific historical configuration. Thus a particular Jewish community can be studied not only in its relation to the environing culture, but also in the total context of the Jewish people. The object of this paper is to delineate, by way of comparison, some of the disparate and common elements in the three major Jewish centers of the western hemisphere, Canada, the United States, and Argentina. The selected disparate element relates to the varying forms of representative organization of the Jewish communities as their respective majority, or host cultures influence them. The common element refers to the nature of individual identification with Jews and Judaism, a problem that is similar in the three communities.

The article presents a comparative study on the pattern of intellectual development of the etiological group in Mongolism in the U.S. This paper compares two equated groups of brain injured and familial mental defectives in the areas of verbal production and concrete performance. The subject of this study include middle grade or low grade defective intellectual level.

This paper is concerned with the so-called k-class estimators of structural parameters in a simultaneous system. The structural equation being estimated is assumed, as is common in other small-sample investigations, to consist of two endogenous variables; and the number of the exogenous variables (included or excluded) as well as the number of equations in the system are arbitrary so long as the identifiability condition of the estimated equation is satisfied. Moreover, we assume that the system contains no lagged endogenous variables and disturbance terms of each period are independently distributed as multivariate normal. The exact finite-sample moments of the k-class estimators are evaluated for 0 ⩽ k ⩽ 1. For k > 1 it is proved that the estimator does not possess even the first-order moment. The exact moment functions are expanded in terms of the inverse of the noncentrality (or concentration) parameter. This expansion sheds more light on the comparative study of alternative k-class estimators. Numerical calculations of the mean square error and the bias for some specific cases are also given for illustrative purposes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The problem of selection of the best item from one of a list of items to meet an objective is treated. The items are usually compared against factors or states of nature. The following techniques used to arrive at the "best" selection are treated:1. Ranking and rating 2. Paired comparison and successive comparison 3. Average score 4. Dominance 5. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rate of adoption of family planning in the developing regions is the central issue in any attempt to anticipate the course of world population growth. Accordingly, a typology is developed to express some of the theoretical possibilities connected with this process. The global distribution of these types is considered briefly. A more detailed analysis is made of the potential for family planning in tropical Africa. The results suggest that a substantial interest in contraception exists throughout the continent. That this interest is not associated generally with effective use is taken as evidence of the transitional character of the population. Prospects for the resolution of this marginality are judged favorable if present motivation is effectively developed by family-planning programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Use of the identical procedures in different societies for eliciting and quantifying data ("phenomenal identity") does not necessarily result in the measurement of the same variable ("conceptual equivalence") since the stimuli (questions, tasks, items) used to elicit data may have different meanings in different societies. Similarly, the same manifest response may have different meanings in different societies. Thus, "phenomenal identity" in procedures does not necessarily produce "conceptual equivalence" in measurement. Conversely, a conceptually equivalent measure need not (and sometimes cannot) be phenomenally identical. The criteria of phenomenal identity and conceptual equivalence, when applied to both the stimuli used in measurement and the mode of quantifying the data, result in a taxonomy of measurement equivalence with four types: culturally universal, culturally modified, culturally ipsatized, and culturally specific. Techniques for constructing each type of measure and conditions under which each may be used are discussed, together with suggested ways of determining the conceptual equivalence of measures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents the results of a comparative study conducted on four moorland soils at the Moore House Natural Reserve in Westmorland, England. It involved four plant species in four soil types including Juncus squarrosus moor and Festuca-Agrostis grassland on limestone. Using several methods, the study showed the presence of activity gradient, high in grassland site and low in bare peat. In addition, results showed that the lack of adequate supply of nutrients and waterlogging are related to the general falling-off activity in peat sites. In addition, the absence of common soils in the location was also recorded. Moreover, relatively new species were found in the four soil's flora.

In this article a profile of the Italian blue-collar worker is presented based on the results of the comparative study and of other research recently undertaken in Italy. The profile will not focus so much on the objective conditions of the Italian blue-collar worker as on his attitudes, feelings, and opinions. The focus will constitute a self-portrait of the Italian blue-collar worker. From this point of view, such impacts of industrialization as the destruction of old trades and the creation of new skills, the rise of new rules governing behavior in the plant and union, and the immediate effects of increasing urbanization will be of secondary interest. Instead, the focus will be on the worker's response to the industrial institutional pattern. The profile of the Italian blue-collar worker presented here is not exhaustive due to space limitations. However, the aspects the author has examined are among the most important. These aspects are family occupational tradition, occupational background before becoming an industrial manufacture worker, responses to the industrial condition, attitudes toward present occupation, and feelings of satisfaction for the tasks required by present job. In examining Italian economic development, there are at least two different types of industrial workers, those in the industrial North, and those in the new industrial islands in the traditional South.