This paper presents the conceptual basis for a research study of thirty-seven societies to investigate the educational function of initiation ceremonies and secret societies. "Hidden curriculum" is the term chosen for the precepts passed on within certain cultural institutions of a society. The author hypothesizes that in a tribal society, the hidden curriculum will function in the form of tribal initiation to inculcate an egalitarian consciousness and that in a chiefdom it will function as a secret society that will articulate individuals on the basis of social differentiation; thus, the contrasting aspects of the institutions are seen to be indicative of the type of societal organization. In the stratified state with a formal class structure articulation of individuals would be determined initially by birth and later by various secondary mechanisms of a limited, nonsecret nature. The formal hypotheses drawn from these ideas are borne out by the research study. Correlation coefficients between the variables for the study are found in an appendix. (JH)