Duane F. Alwin

The Decomposition of Effects in Path Analysis

This paper is about the logic of interpreting recursive causal theories in sociology. We review the distinction between associations and effects and discuss the decomposition of effects into direct and indirect components. We then describe a general method for decomposing effects into their components by the systematic application of ordinary least squares regression. The method involves successive computation of reduced-form equations, beginning with an equation containing only exogenous variables, then computing equations which add intervening variables in sequence from cause to effect. This generates all the information required to decompose effects into their various direct and indirect parts. This method is a substitute for the often more cumbersome computation of indirect effects from the structural coefficients (direct effects) of the causal model Finally, we present a way of summarizing this information in tabular form and illustrate the procedures using an empirical example.

Feeling Thermometers Versus 7-Point Scales

This study addresses the issue of the relation between the number of response categories used in survey questions and the quality of measurement. Several hypotheses, derived from relevant theory and research, are tested through a comparison between 7- and 11-category rating scales used in the 1978 Quality of Life Survey. One hypothesis derived from information theory, that rating scales with more response categories transmit a greater amount of information and are therefore inherently more precise in their measurement, is strongly supported. A second hypothesis, that questions with greater numbers of response categories are more vulnerable to systematic measurement errors or shared method variance, is rejected. This study supports the conclusion that questions with more categories are both more reliable and more valid.

FAMILY ORIGINS AND THE SCHOOLING PROCESS: EARLY VERSUS LATE INFLUENCE OF PARENTAL CHARACTERISTICS*

This paper explores the potential role of family socioeconomic factors in school achievement outcomes at two separate periods in the lifecourse-early in childhood and during late adolescence. Using data from an 18-year longitudinal study of families and their children which provides measures of parental socioeconomic characteristics across this entire period, we examine several issues related to the influence of early and late family factors on achievement outcomes assessed during the period of the completion of secondary schooling. We examine the extent to which differing conclusions are reached through the use of parental socioeconomic variables assessed during these two periods, and we explore the question of the relative impact of these two sets of influences. Our results indicate that, in part due to the intertemporal consistency of some socioeconomic variables, most relationships are quite similar using either the early or later variables. While these patterns make it very difficult in some instances to ascertain the relative effects of early and late socioeconomic factors, our analytic results point to a potentially stronger role of early socioeconomic factors in cognitive development and school learning. In a single instance-the case offamily size-we find independent effects on school achievement from both early and late socioeconomic experiences. A central theme in the literature on social stratification, from classical sociological writ

Generations, Cohorts, and Social Change

The transformations that occur via a succession of cohorts cannot, for basic demographic reasons, be equated to the product of a procession of “generations.”... this brute fact is a profound key to the understanding of social continuity and social change. Indeed, a characteristically human type of society might well be impossible were the demography of the species structured differently.

MEASUREMENT MODELS FOR RESPONSE ERRORS IN SURVEYS: ISSUES AND APPLICATIONS

An earlier version of this chapter was presented at the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association, September 1978, San Francisco. The authors are grateful to George Bohrnstedt, Peter Burke, Richard Campbell, Lowell Hargens, David Knoke, and Sociological Methodologys editorial group for helpful suggestions on an earlier draft. The authors assume sole responsibility for the contents of the chapter.

A TEST OF THE FORM-RESISTANT CORRELATION HYPOTHESIS RATINGS, RANKINGS, AND THE MEASUREMENT OF VALUES

A number of researchers have argued that ranking techniques are more appropriate than rating methods for the mea- surement of values in surveys. The form-resistant correlation hy- pothesis proposes that observed associations among values and between values and other variables should remain invariant across measurement methods. However, some recent research on parental values for child qualities suggests that ratings and rankings produce different correlational results. The present study tests the hypothesis that discrepancies between rating and ranking results are due to the fact that, when responding to rating questions, some respondents avoid making difficult choices be- tween valued qualities by rating all the qualities as highly and equally desirable. Consistent with this hypothesis, when nondif- ferentiating respondents are removed from the analyzed sample, the substantive results of analyses of rating data resemble the results typically obtained using ranking data. This suggests that ranking may be the superior method for measuring values.

Religion and Parental Child-Rearing Orientations: Evidence of a Catholic-Protestant Convergence

Webers interpretation of the relationship between religious values and economic rationalism led observers of American society in the past to posit fundamental between-group differences in values to account for differing social and economic orientations of American religious groups, particularly those between Protestants and Catholics. This paper focuses on the relationship between religion and family life giving particular attention to parental values for children and approaches to child rearing. First, the differences in parental values that exist among religioethnic groups in American society and the changing role of religioethnic differences in shaping the child-rearing orientations of parents are examined. Data from Detroit surveys and other sources are used to demonstrate substantial changes in parental values across the past several decades. Also examined are reports of socialization practices, which reflect a high degree of similarity in patterns of behavior among religioethnic groups in modern society. finally, it is shown that expressions of religiosity, such as church attendance, may be more strongly related to some aspects of parental child-rearing orientations than are denominational differences.

Family of Origin and Cohort Differences in Verbal Ability.

Do birth-cohort differences in family configuration brought about by post-World War II increases infertility explain declines in verbal test scores of young people in the 1960s and 1970s? Datafrom nine representative samples of the U.S. population in the General Social Survey data file confirm systematic declines in verbal scores for cohorts born in the postWorld War II era, but reveal a trend beginning much earlier, at least with cohorts born prior to 1920, and one sustained through cohorts born in the 1960s. Despite the significance of these intercohort patterns, within-cohort factors are much more important in producing variation in verbal scores. Social and economic characteristics of the respondentsfamily of origin and amount of schooling are associated with the largest differences in vocabulary knowledge. Sibship size has a significant influence on the development of verbal skills, but is relatively less important than other family background factors. Birth order, however, is not independently linked to verbal scores. Finally, owing in part to the relatively weak role of family configuration in producing variation in verbal scores, there is no support for the hypothesis that cohort differences in family experiences account for the trends in verbal ability across cohorts in the U.S. population.

Trends in Parental Socialization Values: Detroit, 1958-1983

Using data from sample surveys of the Detroit metropolitan area carried out in 1958, 1971, and 1983, this paper examines patterns of change in parental socialization values over time. There is a clear and consistent increase during this period in the valuation of autonomy for children and a decrease in preferences for obedience. Important differences in the extent of change are observed among Catholics. The sources of these changing characteristics of Detroit families, particularly changing levels of education. Only about 25%-30% of the differential change among religio-ethnic categories can be attributed to such factors. Apart from these considerations, the changing alues of Detroit Catholics are nonetheless significant, and these trends are interpreted as the major source of aggregate social change observed in the Detroit surveys. These results are consistent with other evidence regarding the recent historical movement of Catholics away from what are often considered traditional definitions of family relationships. In addition, the results of this analysis suggest that, although education consistently affects parental values across time, occupation may be declining in its importance as a determinant of those values.

Generational Changes in Gender-Role Attitudes: Britain in a Cross-National Perspective

This paper compares the nature and extent of change in gender-role attitudes in Britain with other nations. We hypothesise that while many of the changes would be similar across nations reflecting, in part, the increased importance of womens labour-force participation, the pace and sources of attitudinal change would be different in the different nations. Comparisons are made over the last decade between Britain, the United States and Germany. Using data from the International Social Survey Programme (ISSP) additional comparisons over a shorter time period are made with Ireland, the Netherlands and Italy. Data from the General Social Surveys of America (GSS) and Germany (ALLBUS) reveal that there has been a marked liberal shift in attitudes, with more of the change occurring within cohorts than through the process of cohort succession. In Britain, data from the British Social Attitudes surveys (BSA) reveal a slower and less consistent pace of change, with evidence of a growing gender difference in beliefs that maternal employment may be harmful to children.