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This article explores the empirical support for the two rival perspectives of diversity and postmaterialism, each of which predicts different patterns and trends of social solidarity in the Western world. The diversity perspective holds that ethnocultural heterogeneity under mines social solidarity, and consequently expects social solidarity to be weaker in more heterogeneous societies. In the diversity logic, social solidarity should have declined in Western societies as these societies have become more diverse due to continuous immigration. Postmaterialism theory, by contrast, posits a positive link between postmaterialism and social solidarity, and would expect social solidarity to have increased because of rising levels of postmaterialism across the Western world. This article found no relation between diversity and social solidarity at either the individual or the national level in cross-sectional analyses of WVS and EVS survey data. Neither was the diversity argument supported by trend data on opinions about the poor. The positive relations between postmaterialism and social solidarity on the other hand did confirm the postmaterialism perspective. Still, as postmaterialism contributed little to explaining the variance in social solidarity at the individual level and as there was no connection between postmaterialism and social solidarity at the macro-level, it can be questioned whether the solidaristic sentiments expressed by postmaterialists are sufficiently deep and lasting to underpin robust welfare policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article I argue that the work of Alexis de Tocqueville and Gustave de Beaumont must be seen as one common comparative project in studying emerging modern democracies, just as one sees Marx and Engels as life-long collaborators in the critique of capitalism. In order to fully appreciate the finer details of this common project it is first necessary to acknowledge Gustave de Beaumont's genuine insights and contributions as they can be found in his letters and in his anti-slavery novel Marie. Tocqueville then comes to be seen as primus inter pares rather than the solitary genius as which he is normally portrayed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Those calling for more evidence to support ever-increasing efforts to use information and communication technologies (ICT) in medical work argue that rigorous facts are necessary to make viable in practice substantiated use of these technologies. By contrast, socio-technical studies researchers, who focus on the use of ICT in everyday clinical practices, argue against the need for evidence produced under controlled, thus "unrealistic" conditions. Proponents of both positions, however, seem to operate with "a split reality," whereby they assume the "pseudo" can be readily distinguished from the "real," the "situated" from the "scientific." A comparative ethnographic approach can help mend this split reality approach. We compare how the same internet-based self-monitoring tool for asthmatics was used in a general practice setting and in a randomized clinical study, and thereby show how different effects were produced in these two settings. We propose that these effects are better conceptualized as enacting different assemblages of bodies, identities, and technologies, as opposed to creating either evidence or failed implementation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Forensic DNA practice is about identification and thus about making individuality. Yet in order for this to be possible an individual has to be placed in a population, a precondition which has caused problems for the forensic community. For given the lack of a standard biological definition, what is a population? Meanwhile forensic DNA has come of age, bypassing the problem of population, irrespective of the definition applied, through scale and the availability of technology. This article examines three practices of profiling: 1) "conventional" DNA profiling, 2) inferring visible traits from DNA, 3) and inferring visible traits from surveillance recordings. Their juxtaposing can be read in two ways: as a linear story of the ever-growing role of forensic DNA in criminal investigation or as topological story of different versions of the same practice of DNA profiling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines changes in aspects of the eating habits of the populations of five countries between the early 1970s and the end of the 1990s. Time-use diary data provide the main evidence, which is subjected to techniques of statistical description and regression analysis. The study of France, UK, USA, Norway and the Netherlands shows considerable national variation in patterns of food preparation, eating at home and eating out. Each of these components of the practice of eating is examined for indications of whether there are any tendencies towards dedifferentiation within countries or convergence across countries. There are some common patterns across countries, notably a decline in the amount of time devoted to food preparation. Time spent on eating at home reduces in all countries except France. In the USA, time devoted to domestic food preparation and consumption is minimal. Internal differentiation shows continuities -- of gender divisions and agerelated behaviour -- but also new emergent tendencies -- with the presence of children and levels of cultural capital becoming significant predictors of behaviour. It is maintained that the analysis of time-use provides a useful framework for comparing practices in different countries and that the variation revealed might best be understood in terms of different modes of institutionalization of consumption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article I compare the suicide theories advanced by two 19th-century thinkers, Masaryk and Durkheim, and test their conclusions using data from an East European country, Romania, before and after the 1989 fall of communism. Using data from various sources (censuses, vital statistical publications, European databases), I follow two main directions in my discussion: a) differences and similarities between the two theories of suicide and b) what can still be used from these theories to explain suicide as a social phenomenon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Twenty years ago, Lenski and Nolan published a seminal article in which they established empirical links between modern development and traditional technology in developing countries. This analysis is expanded in two ways: by improving the indicators of traditional technologies, and by introducing a second dimension of structural complexity, the sociopolitical differentiation of traditional societies. Though two indices measure functionally related aspects, they have distinct impacts on the socio-economic development of the 65 non-western countries analyzed in this article. Since traditional socio-political differentiation explains modern development better than traditional technology, we suggest significant revisions, and a new interpretation of Lenski and Nolan's results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors consider how to construct summary indices (e.g., quality-of-life [QOL] indices) for a social unit that will be endorsed by a majority of its citizens. They assume that many social indicators are available to describe the social unit, but individuals disagree about the relative weights to be assigned to each social indicator. The summary index that maximizes agreement among citizens can then be derived, along with conditions under which an index will be endorsed by a majority in the social unit. The authors show that intuition greatly underestimates the extent of agreement among individuals, and it is often possible to construct a QOL index that most citizens agree with (at least in direction). In particular, they show that the equal-weighting strategy is privileged in that it minimizes disagreement among all possible individuals' weights. They demonstrate these propositions by calculating real QOL indices for two surveys of citizens' actual importance weights. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study assesses three explanations for cross-national differences in unionization: Western's (1997) institutional model, economic explanations based on the business cycle or globalization, and Hechter's (2004) solidaristic theory. This study features a multilevel analysis of employed workers with the late 1990s World Values surveys of 18 affluent democracies. The analyses generally support the institutional model. Left parties and ghent systems remain influential, though ghent is less robust. Neo-corporatism and wage coordination are insignificant whereas workplace access is the more salient indicator of centralization. Beyond Western's model, right cabinet significantly weakens unionization. Refuting economic explanations, inflation, unemployment, and economic growth, as well as international trade and investment, do not influence unionization. Consistent with Hechter's claims, the welfare state reduces unionization but, contradicting his claims, immigration does not undermine unions. Ultimately, this study supports a revised institutional model that supplements Western's model with right cabinet and the welfare state. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are five times as many DNA paternity tests per capita in the US than Australia. This is not a consequence of 'technological lag', but a combination of political, cultural and economic factors. First, government agencies in the US enforce relatively more tests, at least partly because of legislative differences in the presumption of paternity. Second, government agencies in the US enforce relatively more tests partly on account of differences in family structure. More specifically, in the US there are relatively more nonmarital births, and nonmarital births are less likely to occur in the context of informal cohabitation where paternity is not in dispute. Third, differences in industry organisation account for more DNA paternity tests per capita in the US. Unlike the Australian market, the US market is characteristically divided between tests done for government agencies and those for private individuals. In turn, the private market in the US is more competitive. In particular, brokerage is pervasive, leading to more proactive marketing through the Internet, day-time television and other avenues. The study highlights the importance of social dynamics in the uptake of new technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To remain economically competitive in the 21st century a nation must be able to secure resources beyond its borders and protect itself from other nations trying to do the same. While the situation has been shown to be more complex, the original assumption among world system researchers remains that multinational corporate penetration in the periphery can have negative effects on their prospects for economic development. But we now know that these negative effects upon long-term economic development can be prevented. The existence of a strong development state can be critical for this protection. In addition to supplying 'good governance' (as the World Bank now calls it), a strong development state can provide protection in the global economy so that multinational corporate penetration is beneficial rather than harmful to less developed nations. But given the importance of a strong development state it is surprising that little research has been directed to the question of how a nation acquires a development state and 'good governance.' To begin answering this question, this article focuses on the countries of Southeast Asia. After examination of the wide contrast among Southeast Asian nations with respect to economic development and poverty reduction, a comparative-historical analysis is employed to develop a model which helps us explain these contrasts. Previous research on economic development in East and Southeast Asia only recognized the impact of 'Asian values' on unity, respect for authority, and a work ethic among the masses. Beginning with the impact of ancient civilizations and the potential for nation-building, this research also suggests the importance of a sense of national identity and responsibility among elites. The model then turns to how this potential for a strong development state can be affected by different aspects of colonialism. Finally, the article considers the model's potential application to Africa and Latin America in helping us understand differing rates of economic success for other periphery and semiperiphery nations in the modern world system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The recent resurgence of income inequality in some of the core societies has spawned a wide-ranging debate as to the culprits Progress in this debate has been complicated by the fact that many of the theories that have been developed to account for the inequality upswing imply radically different patterns of distributional change, while predicting the same outcome in terms of the behavior of standard summary measures (e.g. a rise in the Gini coefficient or in Theil's inequality). Handcock and Morris (1999) have developed methods that allow the analyst to precisely identify patterns of distributional change and a set of summary measures to characterize such changes. These are based on the relative distribution, defined for our purposes as the ratio of the fraction of households in the baseline year to the fraction of households in the comparison year in each decile of the distribution of income. We use the available high-quality data from the Luxemburg Income Study to explore the evolution of household income inequality in 16 core societies. We describe exactly how inequality grew in some core societies since the late 1960s and discuss the extent to which patterns of distributional change were homogeneous or heterogeneous across the core. We find that: 1) rising inequality is generally associated with polarization, rather than upgrading or downgrading alone; 2) among those societies experiencing the largest increases in inequality, upgrading typically takes precedence over downgrading in the course of such polarization; and 3) declining inequality, where it occurs, has been the result of convergence, with the magnitude of the shift from the lower tail to the middle exceeding that of the shift from upper tail to the middle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While it is widely acknowledged that corruption has negative effects on economic growth, investment, and social welfare, the structural causes of corruption have received very little quantitative country-level cross-national analysis. Our structural equation-based analysis of data for 91 nations includes several important determinants of cross-national variation in perceived levels of corruption. Our analyses yield four major findings: 1) democracy, as measured by indicators of political rights, civil liberties, and press freedom, has a positive effect on perceived level of corruption control; 2) state strength has a positive direct effect; 3) openness of the economy, as measured by economic freedom, has a positive effect; and 4) ethnolinguistic fractionalization has both direct and indirect negative effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

World-systems analysis has had a major impact on the social sciences over the past three decades. Although originally developed within sociology, its influence has not only been extensive in that field, but has spread to such fields as anthropology and political science as well. This article attempts a new critical assessment of the world-systems paradigm. Its major accomplishments are seen as sixfold: its insistence on understanding the modern world historically, its employment of modes of historical analysis that encompass very long periods of time (la longue durée), its highly interdisciplinary nature, its rigorous materialism, a conception of capitalism that is broader and more useful than the traditional Marxian conception, and its situation of the current phase of globalization in its proper historical context. On the negative side, I identify five major problems: its tendency toward teleology and reification; its overemphasis on exogenous forces at the expense of endogenous ones; its misrepresentation, in its classical form, of the effect of foreign investment on the periphery; its underestimation of the developmental prospects of the periphery; and its relative helplessness in understanding the nature and collapse of state socialist societies and the future prospects of socialism. I conclude with some suggestions for rebuilding world-systems analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study unpacks the combined national ecological footprint index into its subcomponents and examines the effects of international power and certain domestic factors on more specific forms of consumption-based environmental impacts. Using partial data for 206 countries, recursive indirect effects models are tested for each subcomponent of the combined footprint that treat international power as an exogenous variable and domestic income inequality, urban population, and human capital as endogenous variables. Results indicate that the cropland, forest, energy, and built area footprints are largely a function of relative position in the international stratification system and level of urban population. Domestic income inequality is a significant predictor of forest and energy footprints, and findings for the grazing land and fisheries footprints contrast sharply with international political-economic theorization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The political character of terrorism is most clearly manifested when new categories of terrorism are being created or old categories are being transformed. Historical and comparative analyses of terrorism demonstrate its diverse, complex nature. This complexity creates numerous problems for researchers who attempt to examine terrorism as an analytical construct rather than a polemical construct. We suggest that because the state exists in a symbiotic relationship to terrorism, responses to terrorism by any state, particularly at the definitional stage, appear to maintain a fairly consistent pattern. It is important to utilize a political process approach to the definition of terrorism to produce systematic and precise explanations. For future research, we suggest the importance of examining the term's latent structure of politicality, the role of hegemony, the low participation of one of the largest oppressed groups in the world and the art of statecraft. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pragmatic sociology is often read as a reaction to and an alternative to Bourdieu's 'critical sociology'. This article, in contrast, offers an assessment of pragmatic sociology in terms of its contribution to the theory of culture in general and its affinities with repertoire theory in particular. Whereas the tendency has been to conceive of repertoires as largely unstructured entities, pragmatic sociology has demonstrated a systematic interest in their internal contents and structure, which it has even expanded through its more recent turn to historical and macro comparative analysis. In the process, however, pragmatic sociology has also been leaning towards a form of cultural sociology that actually challenges some major aspects of repertoire theory -- thus also bringing into relief the dilemmas facing any attempt at further elaboration of what is now a growing strand of cultural theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This is a cross-cultural study that seeks to understand an aspect of Asian Indian women's realities by exploring concepts such as: attitudes toward gender roles, level of stress in their lives, and their ethnic identity. It compares Asian Indian women raised in the U.S. (n= 45), with women born and raised in India (n = 50) and with European American women in the U.S. (n = 50). Additionally, excerpts from in-depth interviews with Asian Indian women in the U.S. are included. Most Asian Indian women in this study feel that they are both Indian and American and feel the two can be very well combined. However, they have problems with their families for not being Indian enough, especially on issues regarding marriage, career choice, and dating. The study found that "being Indian" might be different for the first generation Indian immigrants and the Asian Indian women who were born and raised in the U.S. These Asian Indian women are striving to claim a new identity for themselves, one which is both Indian and American. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article presents abstracts of studies in comparative sociology. They include "Industrialization, Modernization and the Quality of Life," "The Ecological Movements in the Light of Social Movements' Development. The Cases of Four Contemporary Industrialized Societies," and "Higher Education and the Business Cycle 1870-1990. A Cross-National Comparison."

This article is a comparative review of two mutually exclusive approaches to the study of democratization in Latin America, i.e. regime analysis and cultural studies, showing that they make important contributions to the understanding of elite behavior during institutional changes (regime analysis) and to the evaluation of cultural changes in society (cultural studies). They also converge around central problems of democratization, such as clientelism, but fail to present a comprehensive interpretation of political, social and personal changes. A broader perspective is required, both from a comparative and a universalist standpoint, in order to overcome these problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A "holy war" is being fought within comparative historical sociology between deductivists and inductivists over the scope of general theory. The issues include broad versus narrow scope conditions, explicit versus contingent theorizing, and theory testing versus theory building. The irony of the conflict is that each side makes ample use of the other's product, despite condemning its progenitor. The authors offer a hierarchical approach to qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) as a method for linking deductive and inductive approaches, and link QCA to game theory as a way to design more dynamic comparative studies. The authors illustrate this method through a split labor market analysis of interracial conflict and cooperation in nine U.S. labor organizing drives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the concept of comparative sociology. The concept of comparative sociology is not only a legitimate designation of a macro-sociological field of inquiry, but also an indication of a special research method. This comparative method has a long pedigree. The founding fathers of sociology utilized cross-national, cross-cultural and cross-societal comparisons to make all-embracing causal inferences and to put their comprehensive theories to an empirical test. Notwithstanding the fact that the comparative method has been at the core of sociological inquiry from the origin of sociology as a distinct discipline up to the era of the classics, later on the comparative approach moved into the background for several decades. In spite of these new developments, in comparative sociology still two main cross-national research traditions can be distinguished: a qualitative case-oriented approach, in which a comprehensive examination of cases is given preference over generality, and a quantitative variable-oriented one, in which generality is given preference over complexity.

In this article we combine the perspectives of sociology and computer science to compare face-to-face (f2f) and computer-mediated communications (CMC) from the viewpoint of their respective abilities to form and sustain communities. We also identify a third type of community-a hybrid-that is based on a combination of faceto-face (f2f) and CMC, or off- and online communications. The article thus in effect addresses an oft-asked question: Can virtual communities be "real", have the same basic qualities as f2f communities? The article is exploratory, because much of the necessary evidence has not yet been generated, and the relevant technologies are rapidly changing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ideology is the central principle of classification in the dominant sociology of comparative education. It occupied an unchallenged a priori status in thought and research. This exaggerates the differences between capitalist and socialist education systems. The two systems do not exist and develop self-referentially. The faults of analysis which treats the two education systems as polarized types are illustrated by juxtaposing it with a world system approach. This is used as the basis of proposing that advanced socialist socities are fully integrated into the capitalist core. Their education systems operate to both subvert and reproduce the characteristic division of power in the world system between core, periphery and semi-periphery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This comparative study of news, advertising and fine arts photographers argues that stylistic conventions in each of three categories of photography are partly determined by basic structural processes which, in turn, shape photographers' control over technical and aesthetic aspects of the photographic process. This study provides a meaningful approach to the analysis of material culture, an area which has been investigated from points of view other than sociology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay articulates a comparative approach to the sociology of science. It suggests that even historically there have been numerous scholars interested in the national components of scientific knowledge. I develop a model which allows me to compare the differences in scientific growth in Sweden and Denmark. My model consists of three interrelated levels: metaphysical bias, national scientific interests, institutional structures. The comparison between the two countries shows them to be markedly different on all three levels. Finally, I suggest how the model can be applied to contemporary material. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A bibliography on the subject of communication is presented which includes the book "The Open University Opens," edited by J. Tunstall, the articles "International Journal of Comparative Sociology," by T. McCormack, and "Trends of the sociology of leisure in Poland," K. Zygulski.

The article discusses the author's experience in teaching sociology to Ugandan students, and the reasons for and against cross-cultural sociological survey studies. While contemporary East African societies provide fertile ground for descriptive, theoretical and comparative sociological study, the author had previously decided against conducting research among his students due to value reasons associated with post-imperialism in education. The problems encountered by the author in the course of his research are discussed.

The article focuses on the importance of case studies in comparative research. Case studies are neither more nor less important than explicitly comparative research. Moreover, case studies are not atheoretical. To the contrary, they help inform general theory and explain conditions that deviate from traditional theoretical explanations. One important way that such studies contribute to general theory is by illuminating phenomena that challenge scholarly consensus on a particular issue. Two recent case studies have challenged this received wisdom by showing that some African societies possess a powerful peasantry that successfully resists control from either the state or private capital. Without these detailed single-country studies, scholars would continue to advance theoretical arguments that are inappropriate, outdated, or totally irrelevant for a specific region. Many of these theories have been formulated in advanced Western society and thus reflect an ethnocentric bias against underdeveloped and other less studied regions of the world.

Focuses on a qualitative comparative analysis of trade union growth and decline. Methodology of comparative social research; Logic of causal inference guiding social comparison; Decrease in trade union density in the 1970s and 1980s.

The article focuses on the trend and cross-national study of general social attitude. Although many investigators have identified the need for sociological studies on general social attitudes of a trend and cross-national nature, there are actually very few of these studies. During the 1980s, the number of such studies finally began to grow. Indeed, in the 1980s a number of countries finally joined to construct identical survey designs for general social attitudes, designs with specific trend and cross-national purposes. The purposes of this study are to assess previous studies of general social attitudes, to discuss secondary analysis for trend and cross-national studies of general social attitudes, to introduce existing trend and cross-national data for such secondary analysis, and to suggest a new approach for future trend and cross-national survey research on general social attitudes. In so doing, the researchers pro pose to enhance both the quantity and quality of trend and cross-national studies on general social attitudes. As there are few trend and cross-national studies of general social attitudes, the two types of studies have been discussed separately.

Presents an introduction to the March 1, 1978 issue of the journal "International Journal of Comparative Sociology."

The article talks about the concept of sociology of civilizations by professor Benjamin Nelson. Nelson is trying to indicate to sociologists both the theoretical relevance and practical urgency in establishing the cartography of civilizations. The author analyzes a part of Nelson's essay, wherein he presents the distinct forms of consciousness. The author thinks that Nelson wishes to sensitize readers to pioneering contributions of earlier pioneers in the comparative sociology of civilizations.

Past research has focused on individual culpability with the assumption that individuals will further their own self interest over that of the organization, given an appropriate opportunity. In contrast, this research shifts the focus from individual motivation to the influence of the formal and informal control systems of organizations on ethical behaviours. An open-ended interview approach was used to collect data. It was found that pressures within the informal system were the dominant influence in the resolution of ethical issues. The dominance of the informal system, however, varies according to the economic position of the organization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a comparative study of management in three European countries. Comparative researches in sociology can furnish data which make theoretical development possible, in the sense of a synthesis of old and new concepts. Further, industrial sociology has often studied the problem peculiar to one undertaking or to several undertakings in a single country, in order "to make a diagnosis with a view to deciding an appropriate therapeutic course." A comparative study then can advance theoretical knowledge, but equally it is of interest to those responsible for the control of firms and for social policy, since it highlights the diversity of situations. However a comparative research has been attempted in three counties, in order to ascertain the precise definition of managers and supervisory grades in industry, their characteristics and their influence on individual and group attitudes and behavior. In particular, it is desired to contribute to the analysis of the progressive establishment, during the last thirty years in France and more recently in Belgium, of a socio-economic professional group of managers, a new category which has become aware of its existence to a greater extent than in other industrialized counties.

The article discusses the activities and purposes of the Centre for Comparative Sociology (CSC) of Torcuato Di Tella Institute which began in January 1964 in Argentina. The main purposes of the CSC include research activities on comparative studies in the social structure, cooperation with Argentina and Latin America's institutions, promotion of advanced training through research, and cooperation with individual scholars and institutions. CSC also initiated projects from extension of political vote in Argentina to the change of Argentine society's demographic structure, the Buenos Aires Conference in September 1964, and the publication of the "Latin American Journal of Sociology."

The article presents a study conducted in Canada, about geographical mobility and kinship. The nuclear family was the important unit in kin relations, there was no evidence of any but equalitarian relations and geographical propinquity was in no case a condition for the existence of ties with kin. The modified extended family is said to provide social, psychological and economic support to its members, despite geographical mobility. The respondents in this study, whether geographically mobile or non-mobile, reported essentially the same kinds of relationships with kin. Two other types of "substantial changes" mentioned, bring out two factors which may be much more significant in disrupting kin relations than geographical mobility. The death of connecting relatives is highly disruptive of relations was also indicated during the course of the study. Mother's siblings were found to be more important than father's siblings for contact and mutual aid. The other factor was specific quarrels. The presented cases suggest that attitudes to kinsmen are by no means directly reflected in behavior.

The article discusses sociological aspects of the prestige attached with different occupations with reference to comparative sociology. Several studies conducted in the U.S. before 1940 were apparently directed to the problem of determining whether in fact there was a general ranking of occupations which the American public would recognize. Even if Philippines society is not highly industrialized it is clear that after many years of Spanish, American, and some Japanese occupation, it is a society which is ordered in terms of a modem productive system and the same appropriate general set of values and motivations permeate the system. In a study amongst 214 graduates and students of Business Administration at the Bombay University, Bombay, India, it was found that there was a high degree of agreement in the social grading of occupations in England and India. The subject people in certain "colonial" societies, within certain limits, evaluate occupations in the same general way as respondents in more fully industrialized countries do. They do this in spite of the fact that there is usually a considerable cultural gap between the subject people themselves and their colonial rulers.

The article presents news from the field of sociology that appeared in the 1961 issue of the "International Journal of Comparative Sociology." In recent years anthropologists, sociologists, and other social scientists have shown greater interest in educational problems on a cross-cultural plane. Comparative Education as a branch of general study in pedagogy has gained more and more attention. However, cross-cultural comparison was mostly restricted to Euro-American education, and that also, covering mainly the formal and organizational aspects of education. Attempts at comprehending education as a basic process in human social existence in all its aspects involving consideration of all cultures and societies, primitive or civilized, prehistoric or historic, have been almost neglected by non-anthropologists as a rule. Even in the field of cultural and social anthropology, observation and study of educational processes have been few and far between, inadequate or incidental. This has been mostly due to the lack of an outline of study of education cross-culturally. It was a historic occasion indeed when, for the first time, representatives of almost all major American Indian tribes of the United States gathered together at the University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, to air "The Voice of the American Indian."

In the September 1941, issue of "Rural Sociology," Professor Heberle applied Tönnies' well-known contrasting concepts gemeinsehaft and geseilsehaft, to North American rural communities and suggested that consideration of such communities in the light of these concepts will clarify problems and advance knowledge. The reference made by Professor Brunner to anthropological materials provides one who has some familiarity with such materials with an excuse for entering into the discussion. The comparative study of societies tends to become a reality on the level of intensive empirical study of particular communities. The societies of the world are ranged, under the eye of the student, in a single continuum. The rural sociologists occupy the strategic center of this continuum. The anthropologist may make a contribution toward the development of understanding of society by formulating the ideal society which, according to the guidance of these antithetical concepts, lies at one hand of the bipolar continuum. Within the ideal folk society its members are bound by religious and kinship ties and there is no place for the motive of commercial gain.