Ice cream preference: the relationship of cost and quality.

Junior high students showed a preference for inexpensive ice cream while adults preferred more expensive ice cream; university students were in a middle position. It appears that taste for more expensive ice cream is associated with age, but it is not clear whether this is learned although it appears to be inasmuch as it is not universal across the various groups.

Social distance of deviants and deviant offenders.

Previous studies have focused on the seriousness of the offenses but have neglected the offenders. This analysis used a Bogardus-type social distance scale of 23 deviant roles using a sample of 524 respondents who indicated decided preferences for some types of deviant offenders over others. It was concluded that individuals occupying various roles such as judges, defenders, juries, and so on may feel great social distance toward certain types of offenders and may act differentially toward them.

Opinions on abortion as measured by the lost-letter technique.

This study uses a postal card as a modification of the "lost letter" technique to obtain information about abortion attitudes. The message on the cards (which can be read easily by the finder) included 100 with a promise to donate money to a proabortion committee, 100 to an antiabortion committee, and 100 contained a neutral message having nothing to do with abortion. 50 of each type of card were dropped in one of two urban areas. There were more antiabortion than proabortion cards mailed, but the highest return rate of neutral cards suggests a need for additional study of abortion attitudes.

Age-specific divorce rates.

PIP: This paper examines the various types of US divorce rates in 1970 and 1980 and concludes that the age-specific rate is most precise. Using data from the states' vital statistics reports and the 1980 census reports for states, the authors conclude that the teen and early 20s marriages are most at risk to divorce. Rates have increased from 1970 to 1980 with the most dramatic increases occurring in the 25-35 and 40-44 age groups. Study needs to be done to see what factors have led to such disproportionate increases in divorce rates in these age categories. Similarly, research is needed to understand why the 55 and over groups show no change of decline in rates between 1970 and 1980 in light of increases in other age groups. Contrary to general belief, however, divorce does not increase during the 'mid-life crisis' or ' after the children leave home.'^ieng

Physiognomic homogamy: a study of parents and children.

The concept of physiognomic homogamy between parents and children was tested using 39 photo sets consisting of two sets of parents and one child. These photo sets included black and white slides, black and white photographs, and color slides. Matchings of the parents and child were attempted by 171 introductory sociology students. The results indicate that while the matches were far from universal, the students were able to match the children with their parents frequently enough to be statistically significant at the 0.001 level. There were no differences among the various forms of presentation.

Residency differentials in Mormon fertility.

Abstract Although one of the most consistent findings of recent fertility studies is the convergence of the religious differentials in fertility, few data have been analysed to discover Mormon fertility trends and differentials. This paper, based on data obtained on 1,001 Mormon couples, is concerned with describing the effects that the dispersion of Mormon families from the Mormon centre in Utah to surrounding areas with various social conditions is having on the fertility of the re-located Mormon families. Data presented clearly show that such families do, on the average, have a lower fertility than do their Mormon contemporaries residing in the homogeneous Mormon society in Utah. They probably compromise their religious obligations to have children with the contradicting demands of their new environment. Their loyalty to these religious beliefs, however, is confirmed by data which show that they tend to have larger families in their new environments than do their non-Mormon neighbours.