Sanford M. Dornbusch

The Failure of Presbyterian Union

Two distinct methods are employed in studying the Southern Presbyterian rejection of the ecumenical movement. Content analysis of the literature opposing union indicated that doctrinal differences were basic and current social issues of minor importance. Ecological analysis of the vote by presbytery led to the conclusion that the segregation controversy is the major source of the failure of merger. Additional evidence, primarily based on interviews, indorses the finding of the ecological analysis.

The Evaluation of Work by Females, 1940-50

Ecological correlations were computed between level of income and female participation in the labor force. Supporting the hypothesis that white females were changing their evaluation of work, the previous negative correlations for white women now tended to be positive. For non-white women the same tendency was beginning to be found, particularly among young adults. Thus the values of non-white women apparently are following the same pattern of change as those of white women but with a time lag of more than a decade.

Correlations Between Income and Labor-Force Participation by Race

A major postulate for wage theory in economics is the negative relationship between the level of income in area and the proportion of persons in the labor force. When broken down into racial components for the first time, the association is positive for young white females. The analysis suggests that variation in the evaluation of work can be of sufficient importance to force revision of a theory formed in another social context.