Albert J. Reiss

Formal Devices for Making Selection Decisions

One form of device for accepting or rejecting applicants who are potential successes or failures is to assign a score to each applicant on the basis of which, according to a rule, his acceptance or rejection will be determined. A variety of decision rules may be stated within a cost-utility framework, the choice among them being determined by selection policy. The construction of formal devices for making selection decisions promises to be a valuable kind of reseach from the standpoint of routine application, clarification of selection policy, evaluation of selection procedures, and rationalization of decision.

Rural-Urban and Status Differences in Interpersonal Contacts

In a pilot study to test differences in types of personal contacts among urban, rural-non-farm, and rural-farm residents of high and low status, the time-budget was used as a means of gathering data. There are no significant differences of status in types of interpersonal contact or time spent in contact which are independent of residential settings. Among the residential groups, classified by contacts, significant differences in exposure to mass media, secondary-group situations, time spent at work and in isolation were found. Urban males spent a greater average time in primary contacts than rural-non-farm or rural-farm males, but this was due largely to differences in primary contacts at work. Urban and rural-non-farm males are more likely to have a greater mean amount of impersonal contact in their workday than are rural-farm males.