Explores factors influencing people to either support or oppose the idea of economic equality, emphasizing that low income people apparently oppose equality: a literature review is interpreted as suggesting the existence of an underlying belief structure consisting of five elements, all of which would have to be present if equality is to be…

Distinguishes three types of communication channels -- the mass media, inter-personal channels, and the local media -- and, using data gathered in El Salvador, places each of the three types in a structural model involving antecedent demographic considerations and consequent variables measuring participation in the adoption process. (Author/JM)

The rights of parents and children can best be understood, it is argued, if the law is seen as distributing power over children's lives. Three case studies that illustrate this thesis are discussed with reference to some changes to the law contained in the Community Welfare Bill 1981 (New South Wales). It is further argued that the legal principle…

A brief professional biography of Burton R. Clark introduces a bibliography of 59 items written, edited, or co-authored by Dr. Clark since 1954. Items include chapters, handbooks, journal articles, monographs, essays, books, and encyclopedia articles. (MSE)

Innovation and change in higher education are examined, focusing on the organizational level. Frameworks for analysis employed in the literature are presented and applications are illustrated. Four distinct frameworks for studying change in higher education as conceived by Gamson are: complex organization, conflict, diffusion, and planned change.…

FACTORS OF THE COMMUNITY POWER STRUCTURE WHICH AFFECTED DECISION-MAKING ON EDUCATIONAL POLICIES IN TWO LOCAL DISTRICTS OF FLORIDA, BEACH COUNTY AND RIVER COUNTY, ARE PRESENTED. THE COUNTIES WERE MATCHED ON CERTAIN FACTORS OF SOCIAL CLIMATE, BUT DIFFERED WIDELY IN LOCAL FINANCIAL EFFORT. IT WAS FOUND THAT NO GROUP MADE ALL THE DECISIONS IN RIVER…

A SOCIOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT OF STUDENT-COLLEGE INTERACTIONS WAS UNDERTAKEN WITH INTEREST CENTERED ON SOCIOCULTURAL FACTORS AND ATTITUDES. STUDY OBJECTIVES WERE TO (1) IDENTIFY THE SALIENT ROLES OF COLLEGE STUDENTS, THE SETTINGS IN WHICH THESE ROLES ARE PERFORMED, AND THE ROLES OF OTHER PERSONS WITH WHOM THE ACTION IS CARRIED OUT, (2) DESCRIBE AND…

The emergence and development of symbolic interactionism, and its implications for the study of social phenomena, journalism, and mass communication, are examined in this paper. The introductory section discusses the emergence of symbolic interactionism in the midst of the rapid rise of industrial institutions in the late nineteenth century,…

The village of Tununak on Nelson Island in southwestern Alaska was the site of this field investigation into Eskimo children's games. The focus of investigation was the relationship between role structure in the community and player organization in games; the expressive nature of games as defined by specific values reflected in games and game…

Identification of social and cultural commonalities among American Indians of the eastern U.S. reveal 4 geographical areas--(1) the eastern seaboard (the largest group in both number of distinct groups and population); (2) the inland area; (3) Louisiana (a combination of inland and seaboard characteristics); (4) the eastern Great Lakes area…

In this research report, classrooms are seen as affective learning environments in which human relationships expand or restrict the quality of learning. The two-part report discusses (a) fundamental differences in social structures among classrooms, as measured by the Centrality-Diffuseness Index (C-D Index); and (b) relationships between the…

Stressors created by social change were studied in the Appalachian community of Blue Ridge, West Virginia. Data were gathered through open-ended interviews of community informants. Informants invariably described 3 distinct ways of life; data analysis therefore provided for the possibility of different crises in each stratum. Interview topics…

An analysis of the material tastes of college students support Gan's concepts of taste culture and taste public. While Gan's contention that class has a major effect upon involvement with taste culture, this requires qualification where musical tastes of college students are concerned. (Author/AM)