Michael L. Burton

Population Migration and the Variation of Dopamine D4 Receptor (DRD4) Allele Frequencies Around the Globe

Abstract This article reports an association between the variation of dopamine D4 receptor (DRD4) allele frequencies around the globe and population migration patterns in prehistoric times. After compiling existing data on DRD4 allele frequencies of 2,320 individuals from 39 populations and on the migration pattern of these groups, we found that, compared to sedentary populations, migratory populations showed a higher proportion of long alleles for DRD4. The correlation between macro-migration (long-distance group migration) and the proportion of long alleles of DRD4 was .85 ( p p = .001). We discussed the adaptive value of long alleles of DRD4—a genetic trait that has been linked in some studies to the personality trait of novelty-seeking and to hyperactivity— in migratory societies and the possibility of natural selection for a migration gene.

Regions Based on Social Structure

Boas argued that anthropologists should make historical comparisons within well-defined regional contexts. A century later, we have many improvements in the statistical methodologies for comparative research, yet most of our regional constructs remain without a valid empirical basis. We present a new method for developing and testing regions. The method takes into account older anthropological concerns with relationships between culture history and the environment, embodied in the culture-area concept, as well as contemporary concerns with historical linkages of societies into world systems. We develop nine new regions based on social structural data and test them using data on 351 societies. We compare the new regions with Murdocks regional constructs and find that our regional classification is a strong improvement over Murdocks. In so doing we obtain evidence for the cross-cultural importance of gender and descent systems, for the importance of constraint relationships upon sociocultural systems, for the historical importance of two precapitalist world systems, and for strikingly different geographical alignments of cultural systems in the Old World and the Americas.

Balanced designs for triads tests: Two examples from English

Abstract In this paper we study two semantic domains in English, kinship and vegetables, using a new procedure for triads testing, the balanced incomplete block design. This procedure allows the use of triads tests on larger sets of words than had previously been possible. Included is a table of balanced incomplete block designs for the use of interested researchers.

Network autocorrelation: A simulation study of a foundational problem in regression and survey research

Social Networks North-Holland Publishing Company NETWORK AUTOCORRELATION: OF A FOUNDATIONAL PROBLEM SURVEY RESEARCH * Malcolm M. DOW Northwestern Unioersity A SIMULATION STUDY IN REGRESSION AND Michael L. BURTON and Douglas R. WHITE University of California, Irvine It is axiomatic to the social sciences, and an essential part of the network perspective, that human performances are intricately linked with their social and enviromental contexts. Researchers in each of the disciplines have rediscovered this in the past decade with respect to a whole host of specific problem areas, under such labels as “context effects”, “index utility”. and “systems analysis”. The earliest mention of the problem with respect to quantitative research occured, to our knowledge, in the debate between the nineteenth century cultural diffusionists and the evolutionists. The latter regarded individual socie- ties as independent instances of uniform causation, and hoped to learn about causation from correlational studies. The former regarded their observations as embedded in an interactive network of historical rela- tionships such as diffusion, migration, conquest, and competition, where the historical, evolutionary and ecological context of each society and the network of interconnectedness between societies plays a major role in multiple causation. In this view, events cannot be regarded as * This research was supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation to Michael Burton and Douglas White. The two Principal Investigators made major and equal contributions to this paper. We are grateful to Linton Freeman, Patrick Doreian, and Karl Reitz for their critical comments on this paper. ** Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60201, U.S.A. *** University of California, Irvine, CA 92717, U.S.A. 0 1982 North-Holland

THE PLOW, FEMALE CONTRIBUTION TO AGRICULTURAL SUBSISTENCE AND POLYGYNY - A LOG LINEAR-ANALYSIS

Relationships among plow agriculture, female contributions to crop tending, and polygyny in the Standard Cross-Cultural Sample are examined here. Without controlling for world regions, a log-linear analysis would suggest that each of these variables is related to the other two. Introducing a control for region with a four-way contingency table, we find significant relationships between region and each of the three variables. Furthermore, the control for region eliminates the relationship between plow agriculture and the female contribution to crop tending. Theorists such as Boserup have claimed that women do less agricultural labor with intensive agriculture. This relationship is apparently not a valid one, but simply a consequence of the joint diffusion of the three variables throughout the Old World.

Problems of Measurement in Cross-Cultural Research Using Secondary Data

Measurement, the process of linking abstract concepts to empirical indicants (Blalock 1968:12; Zeller and Carmines 1980: 2), is critical in the testing of theory. No matter how sophisticated the derivation of hypotheses, sampling design, and statistical analysis, theory-testing may fail if measurement is inadequate. After briefly examining basic measurement concepts, we review a number of problems of measurement in the use of secondary data in cross-cultural research. We order our review by stages of the research process, from the design of measures to the data analysis, and we suggest some possible solutions to a variety of measurement problems. Since researchers face problems that vary with the research question, the type of theory, and the resources available, we hope that our discussion builds awareness of the strengths and weaknesses of various solutions to the different problems of measurement usmg secondary data and, in the process, improves the quality of cross-cultural research. By &dquo;research using secondary data&dquo; we are referring here to studies that code data from ethnographic reports and then use these codes to develop quantitative generalizations across a sample of cases within a region or throughout the whole world. Although we focus on measurement here, one of our central premises is that measurement concerns cannot be separated from questions of theory. Theory specifies which variables are of interest and models how variables may be interrelated. Ultimately, we argue, theory is critical not only in the selection of concepts of interest but also in our evaluation of the adequacy of the measures that are employed and in the interpretation of results. Finally, although it is not a point we develop here, cross-cultural studies using secondary data represent only one way of evaluating propositions about human behavior; propositions also need to be

Multivariate Modeling with Interdependent Network Data

In the recent comparative literature the problem of simultaneously modeling func tional and diffusional effects is being penetrated from two directions. One approach emphasizes the similar problem which arises in regression-based time series analysis. A second approach focuses on the difficulties of constructing more realistic formal representations of sample unit interdependencies. Both approaches have yielded important and complementary, but distinct, insights. Here, we outline some recent methodological developments which synthesize both approaches into a comprehen sive and unified analytical framework.

Regional Comparisons, Replications, and Historical Network Analysis

Behavior Science Research Volume 25, Nos. 1-4 REGIONAL COMPARISONS, REPLICATIONS, AND HISTORICAL NETWORK ANALYSIS Michael L. Burton and Douglas R. White* One of the oldest cross-cultural traditions is the use of regional samples. Despite the historical importance of regional studies, most recent cross-cultural research has used worldwide samples, and regional studies have received less attention than worldwide comparisons in the recent cross-cultural literature. While worldwide cross-cultural studies usually involve nomothetic analysis, regional studies are often idiographic, being concerned with the classification of societies, with regional histories, or with local ecologies. And while we appreciate the value of these research traditions, we also want to emphasize the role that regional samples can play in nomothetic research, through the replication of findings. Galton’s problem (Naroll 1970) refers to statistical problems that are due to the existence of linkages among sampling units. Ordinary statistical tests are weakened if sampling units are linked either by common history or by extensive contact. Pro- ponents of worldwide cross-cultural tests have gone to great lengths to select sam- ples that minimize these linkages. Using regional samples increases the linkages and the need for dealing with Galton’s problem. We will discuss below some new solutions to Galton’s problem and their relevance for regional studies. Regional analyses require the world’s societies to be classified by region. We find little discussion in the literature of the best methods for doing so, and we will touch here on some of the issues involved in classifying the world into regions. We will first discuss comparative studies that are delimited to single regions; discuss next the advantages of regional studies, regional replication of worldwide hypotheses, and solutions to Galton’s problem; and conclude with methods for partitioning the world into regions. Regional Comparative Studies Most cross-cultural studies have used worldwide samples. These samples have often been selected in a way that will minimize the historical connections among their units (Murdock and White 1969). Doing so results in a thin coverage of any *Michael L Burton is Professor of Anthropology at University of California, Irvme, California. *Douglas R. White is Professor of Anthropology at University of California, Irvine, California @ 1991 HRAF

A Reanalysis of Murdock's Model for Social Structure, Based on Optimal Scaling

A REANALYSIS OF MURDOCK’S MODEL FOR SOCIAL STRUCTURE BASED ON OPTIMAL SCALING John W. M. Whiting, * M. L. Burton, A. K. C. C. Moore, and D. R. White** Romney, Murdock’s Social Structure (1949) is widely regarded as his most important work, the masterpiece exemplifying his approach to cross- cultural research. Often considered to be a modern classic-chosen by Barnes (1971), for example, as one of three important approaches to the study of kinship-Social Structure summarized much of what was known at the time about kinship, marriage, and community organization and added many new research findings. Murdock’s use of the cross-cultural method was a significant methodological advance, and his book contained a great deal of original theoretical thinking, based on an interdisciplinary approach that synthesized concepts from psychology, sociology, and anthropology. Murdock’s book is organized in three parts-four chapters on family form, clan, and community; athree-chaptertreatment of kinship; and a final three chapters on sex and incest taboos. The center of the treatment of kinship, Chapter Seven, dDeterminants of Kinship Terminology,d is in many ways the book’s apex. There Murdock formulates and tests a large number of hypotheses about relationships between social structure and kinship terminology. Now, forty years later, it remains one of the very few examples in anthropology of formulating and testing a complex deductive system. Given the significance of this achievement, we are struck by the extent to which *John W. M. Whiting, Harvard University, Massachusetts. ‘*M. L. Burton, A. K. Department of Social Relations, Cambridge, Romney, C. C. Moore, and D. R. White, University of California, Irvine, California.

Language and Region Codes for the Standard Cross-Cultural Sample

New language and region codes are developed for the Standard Cross-Cultural Sample. The region codes were developed previously with a different sample and tested against social structure data. The language codes incorporate information from recent publications on language history and are presented at multiple levels, providing information about the taxonomic relationships among languages.