Dean D. Knudsen

Religion and Socio-Economic Achievement

The process of socio-economic achievement is elaborated through an analysis of data from eight NORC surveys, combined to create a sample of members of six religio-ethnic groups. Correlational analysis indicates findings similar to earlier studies. Using Methodists as the comparison group, Scheffe tests indicate that Jews differ in education, occupational achievement and income, Episcopalians in occupational prestige, and Baptists in education and income, but no significant differentials existed for Irish and Italian Catholics. Further analysis using decomposition suggests that traditional Jewish emphasis on education is an important factor in explaining these differences, but that the factors included in the model explain only a small part of the Baptist and Episcopalian differentials. It is suggested that religious values and religious perspectives are important considerations in understanding these findings.

Status Attainment and Religion: A Re-Evaluation

This research addresses the achievement of socioeconomic status among members of six white religio-ethnic groups in the United States: Baptists, Methodists, Irish and Italian Catholics, Jews and Episcopalians. The BlauDuncan status attainment model is used to assess the degree to which status differentials reflect an ability to convert background resources into status, focusing on the assumption that the status attainment process operates similarly across all religio-ethnic groups. Structural equation models of the status attainment process are constructed for each religio-ethnic group. Findings indicate that family background variables are of differential importance to the status attainment process across religio-ethnic groups, suggesting that each religio-ethnic group should be considered separately in social research.