THE ROLE OF WOMEN IN THE STRUCTURE
OF "SOCIETY" IN A MIDWESTERN

. INDUSTRIAL COMMUNITY

Tstls Ior II» Dom-u OI M. A.
MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY

Carole Ellis Wolff
1961

 

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ABSTRACT

THE ROLE OF WOMEN IN THE STRUCTURE
OF ”SOCIETY" IN A MIDWESTERN
INDUSTRIAL COMMUNITY

by Carole Ellis Wolff

Recent studies of stratification have been primarily concerned
with the ”social class" structure of communities. Relatively few
studies have focused on the internal structure and dynamics of an
upper status group commonly called "society. " This thesis presents
an analysis of such a group in a midwestern, industrial community,
delineated first by a reputational technique and then by self-definition.
Two major aSpects of this study include: 1) a structural analysis of
the top prestige group and a description of its basic values, style of
life, symbolic distinctions, and types of activities; and Z) a description
of the type of civic and social participation of the women including the
organizations to which they belonged, differences in participation by
social rank, and a comparison of the extent and type of participation
of social, as Opposed to civic, leaders.

Six informants and 42 respondents, all women, were interviewed.
The latter were chosen on the basis of cumulative social rank scores
obtained from those previously interviewed. In addition, an effort was
made to interview women in different age groups and cliques and also
those mpst often mentioned as Civic and social leaders in the community.
The data were analyzed by three nonparametric statistical tests (the
Mann-Whitney U test, the Spearman Rank Correlation Coefficient, and
Chi-Square), and several sociometric techniques.

The basic null hypothesis was:

Wheelsburg, as a midwestern community with control of its

major enterprises resting outside the community, will nothave

l

Abstract Carole Ellis Wolff

a top prestige group characterized by social distance, defined
boundaries, and established old families.

The hypothesis was rejected on the basis of three criteria. 1) The top
prestige group was dominated by old Wheelsburg families, many of
which were at the apex of the group. 2.) A high correlation was observed
between the rankings of 50 Wheelsburg families by two sociometric
groups in the top prestige group indicating substantial unanimity regard-
ing membership in ”society. ” 3) There appears to be a maintained
social distance between the top prestige group and others in the com-
munity as suggested by the extent to which the ”society" women
mentioned only organizations and community projects with which they
were personally associated (a ratio of 6:1). Eleven of the thirteen

civic leaders nominated by them were within or near the top prestige
group in social rank.

Other findings suggest that age grading, as well as social rank,
plays an important part in friendship cliques, patterns of associational
participation and style of life characteristics. Younger women are
considerably more active in civic organizations, but resemble the
older women in the extent of their social activities. High social rank
is associated with age, and is also related to the husband's occupational
position and community participation and the type and extent of enter-
taining engaged in by the couple. Social rank was found to be positively
correlated with social leadership and negatively correlated with the
extent of civic and organizational participation. No correlation was
found between civic leadership and social rank, but there was a high
positive correlation between civic leadership and the extent of civic
participation. Therefore, civic leadership appears to be dependent
upon having the requisite social rank, participation in a number of

civic and other community organizations, and, apparently, high "quality"-

Abstract Carole Ellis Wolff

of performance of civic duties. Finally, the data suggest that women

whose social position is relatively low or insecure and whose husband
has not yet established himself in the business or civic community,
attempt to enhance both their husband's business position and the status
of their family through widespread participation in civic, social, and
religious organizations. And women whose social position is secure
and whose husbands are financially and civically well-known in the
community, do not need to engage in a great many community organi-
zations and can devote their time to a few select associations of their

peers and fulfill the social obligations expected of women in their

position.

THE ROLE OF WOIVIEN IN THE STRUCTURE
OF "SOCIETY" IN A MIDWESTERN
INDUSTRIAL COMMUNITY

B y

Carole Ellis Wolff

A THESIS

Submitted to
Michigan State University
in partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the degree of

MASTER OF ARTS

Department of Sociology and Anthropology

1961

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

gratitude to the many persons who have listened and given their time
and thoughts over the past year.

First and foremost, my warmest thanks to the fifty women who
participated in this study and whose kind hospitality made interviewing
such a delightful experience. Without their excellent and enthusiastic
c00peration, this research would have been impossible.

Second, to my major professor, Dr. William H. Form, my most
sincere appreciation for his ideas, his Spirit, and his criticisms; for
the sharing of his ”research site"; and for the effective way in which he
provoked and yet guided independent work in his student.

Next, to those other members of the staff who unofficially and
willingly took time to advise me: Dr. Donald Olmsted, who criticized
the methodology of the original proposal; Dr. Jay Artis, who served as
a statistical advisor throughout the analysis; and Dr. Archie O. Haller,
who contributed tangibly and intangibly to the whole of my graduate
study, including this thesis.

Fourth, a great deal of thanks is due to my fellow students--more
than I can name here--for their criticisms, arguments, good ideas,
witticisms, and just plain ears; especially to Eugene C. Erickson,
Harold Goldsmith, Robert G. Holloway, and Rolf Schulze.

ii

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER

I. INTRODUCTION .

A. Introduction to the Area

B. Statement of the Problem.
C. Key Concepts . . .
D. Organization of the Thesis

2 . METHODOLOGY .

A. Research Site .

B. Sampling . . . .
C. Research Techniques .
D. Analytical Tools

3. RELEVANT LITERATURE AND STATEMENT OF
HYPOTHESES .

A. Review of the Literature
1. Descriptive Studies . . . . . . . .
2. Literature on the Role of Women in the
Community .

B. Hypotheses .

4. THE SOCIAL SYSTEM OF WHEELSBURG ”SOCIETY" .

A. Structural ASpects of the Top Prestige Group .
1. Structure Based on Social Rank.
2. Sociometric Structure
B. Descriptive Characteristics
1. General Characteristics . . . . .
2. Occupational, Economic, and Community
Participation of the Husband
3. Civic and Social Participation of the
Women .
«LStyleofLife.
5. Images of "Society” Held by the Top
Prestige Group. . . . . .
C. Tests of Related Hypotheses

5. CIVIC AND SOCIAL LEADERS COMPARED

iii

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64

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TABLE OF CONTENTS - Continued
CHAPTER Page

6.CONCLUSION...................... 81

A. Summary of the Thesis . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
l. The Social Structure of ”Society” . . . . . 82.
2. Civic and Social Leaders. . . . . . . . . . 85
B. Limitations of the Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
C. Suggestions for Further Research . . . . . . . . 88

BIBLIOGRAPHY......................... 89

APPENDIX--The Relations Among the Social, Influential and
» EconomicElites.................. 93

i v

LIST OF TABLES

TABLE
1. Length of Residence in Wheelsburg by Social Rank.
2. Age Structure of Sociometric Groups .
3. Extent of Overlap between Groups A and B and the Top
and Bottom Twenty . . . . . .
4. Comparison of Group Expansiveness.
5. Religious Affiliation of Groups A and B .
6. Educational Level of Groups A and B .
7 Occupations of Men in the Top Prestige Group.
8. Number of Husbands Serving on Corporation Boards.
9. Organizational Participation of Husbands .
10. Socially Most Important Organizations as Ranked by
Groups A and B .
ll: Civically Most Important Women's Organizations
12.. Average Number of Meznberships in Different Types of
Organizations.
13. Average Number of Current Memberships in Different
Types of Organizations .
1—}. Organizational Participation of Women in the TOp
Prestige Group .
15. Extent of Domestic Help Employed .
16. Entertainment Patterns of Groups A and B .
17. Entertainment Patterns of Civic and Social Leaders .
18. Extent of Overlap Between Three Wheelsburg Elites.

Page

35
36

36
39
45
45
48
~18

56
59

61

61

63
65
66
79
94

LIST OF FIGURES

FIGURE

1.

2a.

Votes Received by Individual Women as Social Leaders.

Reciprocal and non—reciprocal choices of best friends

within and between Groups A and B
Family relationship within and between Groups A and B

Choice Status of Persons in Groups A and B

Graphic Representation of the Correlation between
Organizational Participation and Social Rank .

vi

Page

32

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

A. Introduction to the Area

 

Many recent studies of stratification have been concerned with the
"social class" structure of the community.1 Typically, families are
classified as belonging to one of three or more classes which are
circumscribed on the basis of easily observed and measured criteria
such as: occupation, income, residence and education. 2

Relatively few studies, however, have focused on the internal
structure and dynamics of a "status group, “ to use Weber's terminology.3
This is rather strange for there is much popular interest in ”society, "
whether it is declining, ”coming back, " or has been here all along.

"Society“ is an ambiguous word and not rigorously defined for socio—

logical use. Most writings dealing with this phenomenon are not

 

1For excellent bibliographies in the area of stratification see Ruth
Rosner Kornhauser, ”The Warner Approach to Social Stratification, " in
Reinhard Bendix and Seymour M. Lipset, Class, Status and Power:
A. Reader in Social Stratification (Glencoe, Illinois: The Free Press,
1953), pp. 224-254; and Harold W. Pfautz, "The Current Literature on
Social Stratification, Critique and Bibliography, ” American Journal of
Sociology, 58 (January 1953), 391-418.

 

 

 

2‘William H. Form and Warren L. Sauer, "Community Influentials
in a Middle-Sized City: A Case Study, " Institute of Community Develop-
ment and the Labor-Industrial Relations Center, 1960; Floyd Hunter,
Community Power Structure (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina
Press, 1953); Delbert C. Miller, "Industry and Community Power
Structure, " American Sociological Review, 23 (February 1958), 9-15.

 

 

3Max Weber, ”Class, Status, Party, " in From Max Weber: Essays
in Sociology, translated by H. H. Gerth and C. Wright Mills, (London:
Oxford U. Press, Inc., 1946), pp. 180—195.

 

 

 

sociological and they present frequently contradictory information and
conclusions.4 Sociologically, however, American "society" is a
stratification phenomenon having economic and power implications for

the community.

B. Statement of the Problem .

 

It is the purpose of this thesis to analyze a top prestige group,
delineated not in terms of formal characteristics, but first by a
reputational technique and then by self designation. Quantitative
measures will be used to validate the group's self-definition. The study
has two major aspects. First is a description of the top prestige group
with the conjugal family as the basic structural unit. This discussion
will include an outline of the group's structural aspects and a descrip-
tion of its basic values, expectations, style of life, symbolic dis-
tinctions, and types of activities. The second aspect will describe the
extent and style of civic and social participation engaged in by the
women of the local "society. ” This phase of the study will focus on
the Specific organizations in which these women take part, the differences
in the extent of participation associated with differences in social rank,
and a comparison of the extent and type of participation characteristic

5 Also included will be an

of social, as opposed to civic, leaders.
analysis of patterns or sequences of activities common to women of
this group and the effects of age-grading on the patterns. And finally,

there will be a discussion of the relation of women's social and civic

participation to the social position of the family in the community.

 

4Two new publications, simultaneously released in Fall, 1960,
take obviously opposite approaches to the problem of “society" in con-
temporary America. See Lucy Kavale'r, The Private World of High
Society (New York: D. McKay Co. , 1960), and Cleveland Amory,
Who Killed Society? (New York: Harper and Bros. , 1960).

 

 

5See page 7 for operational definitions of civic and social leaders.

C. Key Concepts

 

It is best to clarify some of the central concepts to be used later
in the study. Where there are accepted and useful definitions in the
literature, these have been adopted. Operational definitions pertinent
to the study are also included.

Social class. The purpose of this definition is a negative one;

 

that is, to indicate what is not being discussed in this thesis. Class
has been variously defined by many authors and the existing definitions
are not synonymous. Marx’s basic formulation is still applicable--
that a social class is any aggregate of persons who perform the same
function in the organization of production‘and have different positions

6

in the economy. Toennies agreed with Marx that the relationship

between classes is basically that of opponents engaged in a contractual

relationship . 7

Weber adds an important point, namely, that classes
may not be communities; persons belonging to a given social class are
not necessarily aware of common membership in a group nor acquainted
with others in the same class.8 This research is concerned with a
communal collectivity,9 a gemeinschaft—like group whose members are
aware that they belong together. Weber called this a status group, a
community not based solely on property or economic considerations,

but on symbolic distinctions, similar consumption patterns, and a

shared style of life. Implied in this definition are shared values,

behavioral expectations, and norms. This differs considerably from

 

6Reinhard Bendix and Seymour Martin Lipset, "Karl Marx’ Theory
of Social Classes, " in Class, Status and Power, op. cit. , pp. 26-34.

 

TFerdinand Toennies, ” Estates and Classes, ” in Bendix and
Lipset, ibid., pp. 49~62.

8Weber, c_)_p_. cit., p. 68.

9Toennies, op. cit., p. 49.

 

4

the operational definition of social class used in most stratification
research where classes are distinguished by occupation, income,
residence, and education. As Joseph Kahl said, "if a large group of
families are approximately equal to each other (house type, income,
values, education) and clearly differentiated from other families, we
call them a social class. "10 In Weber's terms, then, the object of
investigation is a top status group, a group occupying the socially most

prominent position in the city. But the use of status in this context is

 

potentially confusing because of its frequent use in the concept status—

role. The confusion is increased by the fact that there is some con-

 

nection between the meaning of the word in the two contexts. For this

reason, top prestige group has been substituted for Weber‘s status

 

group.

Status—role. Linton defined status as ”a position in a social

 

system occupied by designated individuals'l and role as "the behavioral

enacting of the patterned expectations attributed to that position. ”11
Dr. Charles Loomis has more recently further refined and combined
the concepts of status and role. In his usage status—role incorporates
both an element and a process, both structure and function. ”Status-

role is that which is expected from an actor in a given situation. "12'

 

It is a composite of rights and duties associated with a given position
in a social structure. The process of evaluation is closely related to

that of status-role. Evaluation of the actor, his achieved capabilities

 

10Joseph Kahl, The American Class Structure (New York:
Rinehart and Co., Inc., 1957), pp. 12—14.

11Robert K. Merton, Social Theory and Social Structure (Glencoe,
Illinois: The Free Press, 1957), p. 368.

1ZCharles P. Loomis, Social Systems: Essays on Their Persist-
gee and Change (New York: D. Van Nostrand and Company, Inc.,
1960), pp. 19-20.

 

 

and his ascribed characteristics, aids in the allocation of status-roles,
and again plays a part in ranking when the way in which an actor fulfills
a particular role is evaluated relative to others in similar roles.

Social position is, therefore, a status-role within a community (in

 

Weber‘s sense) which is allocated on the basis of ascribed and achieved
statuses in other social systems. By evaluating the way in which the
duties and expectations of the status—role are fulfilled, the actor is
ranked relative to others in the "social" group.

Two other components of the Processually Articulated Structural
Model will be used in later analysis. 13 These are the master processes
of boundary maintenance and systemic linkage. Loomis describes
boundary maintenance as ”the process whereby the identity of the social
system is preserved and the characteristic interaction pattern main-
tained. "14 Boundary maintenance devices may be physical or social,
unconsciously applied or planned, or expressed in either group con-
traction or expansion. Closely related to this process is that of
systemic linkage which is defined as "the process whereby one or more
of the elements of at least two social systems is articulated in such a
manner that the two systems in some ways and on some occasions may
be viewed as a single unit. "15 Convergence of the two systems may
involve ends, norms, sentiments, status-roles, or any of the other
elements. Loomis observes that "Gesellschaft-like groups tend to
place a higher evaluation on systemic linkage and a relatively lower

evaluation on boundary maintenance than do Gemeinschaft-like groups. ”16

 

13Ibid. , Chapter 1.

 

”113101., p. 31.
15113101., p. 32.
“ibid., p. 33.

In the present study, boundary maintenance devices will be investigated
within the top prestige group. Systemic linkage will be used to analyze
the interconnections between two sub-systems of this group and between
the total group and other social systems within the community.

Robert Merton has added to the structural analysis of social
systems by providing several other key concepts based on the central
one of status-role. He notes that a particular social status within any
given social system involves an array of associated roles. This
"complement of role relationships which persons have by virtue of
occupying a particular social status“ he calls role set. 17 Related to

this is a status-set—-a complement of social statuses held by a particu-

 

lar individual (wife, mother, Catholic, Republican). And finally, of
particular significance for later analysis, 'is the concept of status-
sequence, a succession of statuses occurring with sufficient frequency
as to be socially patterned. 18

Several operational definitions should be presented also at this

point in preparation for use in later chapters.

Top influentials. This term is used by Form and Miller to refer

 

to people reputed to be most influential in community power structures.19
In Wheelsburg, one hundred and twenty names were presented to
informants who then picked the forty most influential men who could
allegedly get things done and prevent things from getting done in the
community. These 40 men were interviewed and asked to select the

ten most influential from among their ranks. These ten were called

key influential s .

17Merton, op. cit., p. 369.
‘8Ibid., p. 370.

”William H. Form and Delbert c. Miller, Industry, Labor, and
Community (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1960), Chap. 11. pp.
433-452; and Form and Sauer, op. cit.

 

Economic dominants. This term, coined by Robert O. Schulze.

refers to those persons "who exercise major control over the community‘s

economic system. "20 In a recent study of Wheelsburg, Donald Clelland

located 40 economic dominants for the period 1950-1959, and 40 or

less for each 20-year period going back to 1850.‘21 These men held

the top position in industrial, commercial, or financial units or served

on at least two boards of such units which were ranked according to

their assessed property value and total assets. Personal fortunes,

including property and investments, were not considered since this

information was not available.

Civic leaders. These are women who were freely nominated by

. . . . . - . 7 . .
respondents as being outstanding in CiVic affairs.“2 Top c1v1c leaders
are those mentioned by one-third or more of the women interviewed.
For comparisons between civic and social leaders, the list was

extended to include those women who were mentioned seven or more

times or who received one—fifth of the votes.

Social leaders. These are women who were freely nominated by

respondents as being social leaders, noted for their social prominence

and ability as hostesses. TOp social leaders are those mentioned by

one-third or more of the women interviewed. For purposes of com-

parison, the list was extended to include those who were mentioned

seven or more times or who received one-fifth of the votes.

 

3‘0”The Role of Economic Dominants in Community Power
Structure, ” American Sociological Review 23 (Feb. 1958), 3-9.

21"The Role of Economic Dominants in the Community Power
Structure of a Mid—Western City, " unpublished MA thesis, Michigan

State University, 1960.

2‘2Re8pondents are the 42. women in the top prestige group inter-

viewed in the present study.

Old family. PeOple 40-70 years old whose parents were
"prominent" before them (2nd generation prominence), and those 20—40
years old whose grandparents were prominent before them (3rd

generation prominence) have been listed as members of old Wheelsburg

families.

E. Organization of the Thesis

Chapter 2 contains a description of the methodology, including
research site, sampling methods, research techniques, and analytical
tools.

Chapter ideals with a review and discussion of relevant litera—
ture. Hypotheses derived from the literature are presented.

Chapter 4 contains a description of the top prestige group in
Wheelsburg, its norms, values, style of life, symbolic distinctions,
and types of activities. An outline of the structural aspects of this
collectivity and a test of the related hypotheses are included.

Chapter 5 reports the findings and tests the hypotheses concerned
with the second major area of interest, namely, the comparison of
civic and social leaders among women in the tOp prestige group. The
dynamics of civic and social participation by the women of this group
are documented and discussed.

Chapter 6 includes a summary of the main points of the previous

chapters and suggests areas of exploration for further research.

CHAPTER 2

METHODOLOGY

A. Research Site

The site of the present study was a midwestern, industrial
metropolitan area made up of a central city (Wheelsburg) and a
neighboring residential suburb (Meadowlawn).1 In the present study

In the

1960 census, the metropolitan area had a population of approximately

the city and its suburb will be treated as a single community.

300,000 with Wheelsburg proper and Meadowlawn numbering 17.5, 000.

The city is predominantely made up of native born persons. Foreign

born, southern born Negroes, and Mexicans living in the city probably

make up less than 15% of the total population. Automobile manu-

facturing, metal manufacturing, government, and education constitute

the major sources of employment. The community, thus, has a rela-

tively diversified economic base which is reflected in the generally

adequate’housing. A State University in Meadowlawn is the community‘s

major cultural feature. The usual philanthropies exist, such as United

Fund and Red Cross, as well as hospital auxilliaries and guilds. There

are many civic, social, and political associations open to men, women,

or both. A chapter of the National Association of Junior League is very

active and provides a training ground for future civic leaders among

the worne n .

 

1The names Wheelsburg and Meadowlawn are fictitious. Also,

the names and institutional locus of most organizations and clubs have
been changed to insure anonymity.

10

B. Sampling

Because of the nature of the problem, the usually accepted
sampling techniques could not be used. There was no way of knowing
the universe a priori. Therefore, names of women prominent in social
and civic affairs were gathered from the ”society" editor of the local
paper, from a list of presidents of women's organizations, and from
six knowledgeable informants. The latter were asked to rank an initial
file of names and to add others which they felt were important. Those
names mentioned most often and accorded the highest rank by the six
informants became the first respondents to be interviewed after an
appropriate schedule was constructed. A running tabulation of civic
and social leaders provided by those interviewed was also kept, and
succeeding interviews were with those women most often mentioned.

In order to avoid friendship cliques some attempts were made to
interview people in different age groups and social cliques. It soon
became apparent that there was considerable consensus among "the
socially prominant women“ as to who the socially prominent were,
and that these were sub-divided into two age-groups. Every attempt
was made to interview everyone on which there was consensus.
Earlier ”false leads" were dropped from the study, even though they
were interviewed. In all 42 were inferviewed.

In this case, then, the universe is the top prestige group or "high

society" of Wheelsburg.‘Z Through the use of unlimited sociometric

 

2Theoretically, the universe would be all possible top prestige
groups in all communities of approximately 100, 000 population. But
because of the variable nature of communities, even though similar in
size, and because of the exploratory state of research in this area, it
was not considered important to treat the 42 subjects as a sample of an
existing, defined universe. As knowledge of this area accumulates, the
assumptions of more refined statistical measures can be met. If this
Study were duplicated in several different communities of equal size

and similar composition, comparisons of the results of these studies
could yield more accurate information about a possible existing universe.

 

ll

choices of best friends, a sociogram was devised to show reciprocal
and non-reciprocal choices. As shown in Figure 2 (Chapter IV), two
sub-systems of the top prestige group are neatly separated, for the
reciprocal choices of members of each sub-group are exclusively
within the sub-group; there are no reciprocal choices between the sub-
groups.3 Secondly, most of the non—reciprocal choices are also within
the sub-group. Only nine such choices connect groups A and B. No
person outside either circle received more than three choices while
those on the circles were chosen an average of 5. 2 times (5. 7 for the
older group and 4. 7 for the younger). All persons chosen by two or
more on the circles are shown in Figure 2. All those on the circles
were interviewed. On the basis of the data in the sociogram, then,
the assumption can be made that the universe under consideration has

been completely defined.4 Many of the respondents also supported this

assumption by remarks about the completeness of the list.

C . Research Techniques

 

Research techniques included informal pilot interviews with six
informants, formal interviews with 42 respondents, and the use of
newspaper accounts. lnformants were chosen on the basis of their
alleged knowledge of Wheelsburg ”society. ” One was the society
editor of the local paper, who provided a list of socially and organiza-

tionally active women in Wheelsburg and the groups with which they

 

3For easy reference these two sub-groups of the top prestige
group will be called A and B, A being the older and B the younger group.

4It should be noted, however, that because of the methods used,
there is no way of disconfirming this assumption. It would be necessary
to ask a completely different group in the community to nominate a list
of socially most prominent persons and then compare the respective
1iStS. The fallacy in this procedure is that the further you move away
from a Specific social group, the vaguer is the conception of it.

 

ll

were identified. Her knowledge of the upper status group was limited
largely to their as sociational participation. Four other informants
represented different age groups and cliques within the top prestige
group; and one woman was outside the group altogether, but had kept
well-informed on its attitudes and behavior. In the preliminary inter-
views the informants were asked (1) to list some of the more important
activities for women in the community and to name those who were
prominent in them; (2) to describe some of the clubs and to place
families into cliques or identify them in some way; and (3) to classify
families on the lists as "social" or "not social."

Formal interview appointments were obtained by telephone calls in
which the interviewer introduced herself and the \Vheelsburg Women‘s
Leadership Study. The project was identified with the Michigan State
University Department of Sociology and Anthropology and with a con-
tinuing study of Wheelsburg. The person was then told that she had
been mentioned as one of Wheelsburg's most active or most prominent
women. An interview was requested to learn more about her activities
and contributions to the community, and an appointment was then made.
If the woman requested the names of those who mentioned her, the
interviewer replied that many women had given her name, and then a
few names were mentioned. The interview itself took from one to two
hours, depending upon the interviewee‘s interest and cooperation.
Several lasted three or four hours.

The interview schedule was divided into three main sections.

The first concerned the activities (professional, civic, social, and
political) and offices which the woman had participated in and her
opinions about which women's organizations were most important to the
Wheelsburg community. She was asked to name several women whom
she felt had been outstanding as civic leaders. The second part of the
interview emphasized social clubs and activities, and Opinions about

”society” in Wheelsburg. The interviewee was asked to name the six

13

socially most important clubs and to name several women who were
important social leaders in the community. The other questions in
this section sought to establish the structure and characteristics of
the top prestige group. The final section of the interview dealt with
personal information such as schooling, family connections, husband’s
occupation and civic activities, closest friends, and entertainment
and shopping patterns. At the conclusion of the interview schedule a
deck of 80 three-by—five cards, each containing the name of a
Wheelsburg family, was given to the interviewee to sort first into two
piles, those who were active in Wheelsburg ”society" and those who
werenot. Upon completing this she was asked to select the 20 most
prominent families out of the socially active pile.

The local newspaper added little since the activities of the group
were generally kept out of print except where associational projects
required publicity. Wedding announcements and articles giving lists
of guests for some of the major community-wide events were helpful
in defining or confirming social clique memberships.

The interview schedule was chosen as the most appropriate means
of data collection for several reasons. First, it is doubtful whether
a mailed questionnaire on so sensitive a subject would have received
an adequate response. Second, the activities and opinions of a
particular group were desired. The only method of getting this infor-
mation was to ask the subjects directly. Third, the rankings of
families could not have been obtained in any other way than by personal
interview. Fourth, both the structural aSpects of a stratification
system and the meaning of the structure for the individuals within it
are iInportant. In order to get at complex feelings and definitions, the
interview proves more effective than the self-administered questionnaire
because the interviewer can observe the subject as she responds to the
questions and the total situation and can clarify reSponses. The validity

of the subject's report can, therefore, be appraised. Finally, the

14

schedule is more flexible and permits the collection of supporting and
additional data. If questions are misunderstood, they can be explained.
If the interviewer is perceptive, sonie insight into the person can be

gained and a rough estimate of her style of life can be made.

D. Analytical Tools

 

The variables used in this investigations may be appropriately
analyzed by means of nonparametric measures, but not by their para-
metric counterparts. Nonparametric tests assume randomness of
sampling and independence of observations but are ”distribution free"
in that they make no assumptions about the shape of the distribution of
characteristics in the population. In addition, they can be applied to
data in an ordinal or nominal scale. Without getting into a detailed
discussion of statistical tests and their required assumptions, the
author would like to acknowledge that even a basic assumption of non-
parametric tests, randomness of sampling, is not met by this research.
The frequency of this error of applying statistical measures to non-
experimental research in the social sciences has been deplored by
Leslie Kish,6 However, Dr. Kish admits that there are practical
problems involved in collecting random samples in social science data
and that, deSpite this handicap, much interesting data is collected for

which adequate analytical tools are as yet undeveloped. Rather than

 

5See Leslie Kish, ”Some Statistical Problems in Research Design, ”
American Sociological Review, 24 (June 1959), 328—358. Kish dis-

 

 

tinguishes investigations as the collection of data without either the

 

randomization of experiments or the probability samples of surveys.

 

Experiments, on the other hand, randomize all extraneous variables
Which are not controlled and surveys "involve probability samples in
which all members of a defined population have a known positive prob-
ability of selection into the sample. "

6”Confidence Intervals for Clustered Samples, " American Socio-
logical Review, 22 (April 1957), 154-165.

 

 

..,"".“—~‘ -¢". - E-N‘f‘fl' -' u ...‘-' - - ‘—~ ‘ j"

15

wait for that happy millenium when analytical tools will be developed
to match the exigencies of research, many sociologists and other
behavioral scientists have proceeded to use the available techniques.
Care should nevertheless be exercised to state when assumptions have
been violated and to interpret cautiously statistical support of an
hypothesis.

A discussion of the statistical tests and sociometric techniques
applied to the data follows. But first, it is necessary to explain the
method of deriving the measure of social rank used in later compu-
tations. The 80 conjugal families listed in the card file and evaluated
by all reSpondents were assigned a rank score based on 1) the number
of times they were placed in the top twenty families, 2.) the number of
times they were lisced as "social" but not among the "top twenty, "
and 3) the number of times they were listed as "not social. " Their
score on 1) was multiplied by 3, that on 2) multiplied by 2., and that
on 3) by 1. The sum of the products is the social rank. Thus:

The CAB family received 14 votes in the ”top twenty" column,
20 in the ”social" column, and 6 in the “not social" column.
Their social rank is: 3 x 14 + 2 x 20 +1x 6 = 88.7

Possible social rank scores range from a low of 41 to a high of 123.

l. The Mann-Whitney U Test.8 One of the most powerful of the
nonparametric tests, the Mann—Whitney U Test is used to test whether
two independent groups have been drawn from the same population and
is a useful alternative to the parametric _t_ test. The null hypothesis is

that group A and group B have the same distribution. The alternative

hypothesis is a directional one: i. e., that A > B or that B > A. If n1

 

7The CAB family is fictitious.

8Sidney Siegel, Nonparametric Statistics for the Behavioial
Sciences (New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc., 1956), pp.

 

116-126.

 

16

is the number of cases in the smaller group and n; the number of cases
in the larger group and the observations or scores from both groups

are combined and ranked in order of increasing size, then the value of
n‘linl + 1)
Z
the group whose sample size is n1. U is also computed for nlnz +
n.tlnz + 1)
2
whose sample size is n2. The smaller value of U is used to enter the

U = nlnz + - R1 where R1 is the sum of the ranks assigned to

- R2 where R2 is the sum of the ranks assigned to the group

table of probabilities associated with values as small as an observed

value of U.9 The power-efficiency of the Mann-Whitney test, when

compared with the parametric _t_ test, approaches 95. 5 per cent as N

increases and is close to 95 per cent for even moderate-sized samples.
2. The Spearman Rank Correlation Coefficient: r5.10 This

is a measure of association requiring that both variables be measured

in an ordinal scale so that individuals may be ranked in two ordered

series. N subjects are listed and their rank on variable X and Y entered

. .1
in two columns opposite their name. rS 2 1 - W) where 51—1- is the
difference between each Xi rank and its paired Yi rank. The values of

r range from -1 to +1, a value of +1 indicating perfect agreement while

s
a value of --1 indicates exactly opposite ranking. If the observed rs
equals or exceeds the tabled value, 11 it is significant for a one-tailed
test at the level indicated. The efficiency of the Spearman rank corre—
lation when compared with the parametric Pearson r is about 91 per
cent

3. Chi Square: X2. One of the most popular tests in the social

sciences, this statistic tests the hypothesis that two characteristics

 

C’Ibid., pp. 271—277.
101bid., pp. 202-213.
ulbid., p. 284, Table P.

 

4- w

—— , _ W « .~_..."='.~_-W. ..

17

are independent, or whether two groups differ significantly with respect
to some characteristic. Since frequencies of observations rather than

ordinal values are used, the X?‘ technique is applicable to measurements
. . 2

v (f1 - F1)

“‘ Ed

the observed, and Pi the theoretical, frequency in a given category.

involving even nominal scaling. Thus, X‘2 2 where fi is
The hypothesis of independence is rejected if X3 is equal to or greater
than the tabled value for a given significance level and (r-1)(c-l)
degrees of freedom where r is the number of rows and c the number of
columns in the contingency table. 12

4. Sociometric techniques: E, Co, CS. These three techniques
derived by Charles Proctor and Charles Loomisl3 will be treated to—
gether here because of their simplicity and similarity of assumptions.
These are “common sense" measures with no statistical meaning
behind them. E is a measure of group expansiveness, the number of
choices made by the group divided by the number of persons in the
group--i. e., a simple average. Co measures group cohesion, the

number of mutual pairs divided by the total number of possible pairs
N(N- l)
( 2.

number of choices. The third measure, choice status, is the number

). Both of these measures allow each individual an unlimited

of persons choosing _1— divided by the total number of persons choosing
minus 1 (N— l). Loomis and Proctor equate choice status with social status
unless the question used specifically gets at another variable. Some sup-
port for this viewpoint was found in the present study (see. Chapter 4,

page 38).

lzlbid.,

p. 249, Table C.

l3’Char1es H. Proctor and Charles P. Loomis, ”Analysis of
Sociometric Data, " in Marie Jahoda, Morton Deutsch, and Stuart W.
Cook, Research Methods in Social Relations, Part Two: Selected
Techniques (New York: The Dryden Press, 1951), pp. 561-585.

 

 

 

 

 

CHAPTER 3

RELEVANT LITERATURE AND STATEMENT OF HYPOTHESES

A. Review of the Literature

 

1. Descriptive Studies

 

Descriptive studies in stratification have been chiefly concerned
with social classes--collectivities based on occupation, income, and
property. Most notable among these has been the works of W. Lloyd
Warner. Using the indices of occupation, source of income, house
type, and dwelling area, he divided the populations of Yankee City and

Jonesville into six and five "social classes” respectively.1

Of particular
interest here are his descriptions of the "upper-upper class" which
emphasize the differences in extent and type of associational partici-
pation and life style between this and the other social classes.

More pertinent to the present study, however, is literature
describing status groups--comniunal collectivities based on social
honor, similar consumption patterns, and symbolic distinctions. One
of the earliest contributions to this literature is the candid work of

Mrs. Van Rensselaer, a New York society matron in the 19th century,

who described a closed aristocracy of lineage and breeding, and the

 

lW. Lloyd Warner and Paul S. Lunt, The Social Life of a Modern
Community (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1941), Chap. VII, pp.
127-201; see also, The Status System of a Modern Commgunity (New
‘Haven: Yale University Press, 1942); and W. L.Warner et 2311.,
Democracy in Jonesville (New York: Harper and Bros., 173-19).

 

 

 

 

l8

 

 

19

impact on this class of the nouveau riche created by the economic boom
of the late 1800's. 2 She noted that prior to the onslaught of "new money, "
society had grown from within rather than from without. There were
rigid class lines with boundaries ”as solid and as difficult to ignore as
the Chinese Wall. ”3 A short time later Zorbaugh compared the new
aristocracy of wealth and achievement with the old, caste-like society

of family and breeding in Chicago.4 History is repeating itself, for
today, in communities of the midwest, 5 descendants of the 19th century

nouveau riche are complaining of the audacious diSplay of more recently

 

acquired wealth. 6 The most recent description of an elite status group

2‘Mrs. John King Van Rensselaer, The Social Ladder (New York:
Henry Holt & Co., 1924). An earlier and less factual wch is the
satirical commentary of Francis J. Grund, Aristocracy in America
(New York: Harper 8; Bros., 1959). This book was first publishecTin
London in 1839.

3Van Rensselaer, op. cit., p. 31.

4Harvey Warren Zorbaugh, Gold Coast and Slum (Chicago:
University of Chicago Press, 1929).

5See Gregory P. Stone and William H. Form, "Instabilities in
Status: The Problem of Hierarchy in the Community Study of Status
Arrangements, " American Sociological Review, 18 (April 1953), 149-
162, for a description of the competition between an old and a new upper
status group for the civic and social leadership of a midwestern com-
munity. C. Wright Mills, in The Power Elite (New York: Oxford
University Press, 1959), also discusses local societies and industrial
hierarchies in middle-sized communities throughout the United States.

6One of the more unsociological contributions to this area suggests
that, in fact, "society, " in the classical sense, never existed in this
plained about society not being what it

country because ”people have com
To illustrate this attitude, Cleveland

used to be for some 350 yea-rs. "
Amory quotes the Massachusetts Bay Court of 1651:
The Courte expresses its utter detestation that men and women
of meane condition, education, and calling, should take upon them
the garb of gentleman by wearinge of gold or silver lace, or
buttons or poynts at their knees, or walke in great boots, or
women of the same ranke to weare silke or tiffany hoods or scarfs.

See Who Killed Society? (New York: Harper 8; Bros. , 1960), pp. 31—32.

 

 

 

20

7

is found in Baltzell‘s Philadelphia Gentleman. He describes in detail

 

the style of life, the shared values, and the traditions of one of
America's oldest and most aristocratic elites. He observes that the
same family names have appeared on the rostrum of Philadelphia
society since the early 1800’s, but that the occupational focus of each
succeeding generation has changed.

Davis and Gardner, 8 and Warner, in Democracy In Jonesville,

 

note that old family groups are stronger in certain regions of the
United States, notably in New England, the South, and in some of the
older cities such as Philadelphia, St. Louis, Chicago, and San Francisco.
Davis and Gardner particularly stressed the importance of lineage in

an aristocracy and the consequent unanimity of opinion regarding
membership. Warner has suggested that "social class“ systems lack-
ing this old fannily-based, hereditary aristocracy are more character-
istic of cities west of the Alleghenies. Wheelsburg residents, however,
perceive an old family group or "old guard" and defer to descendants
because of their family connections. The extent to which this is an
hereditary top prestige group will be discussed and documented in a

later chapter.

Out of the preceding literature, certain questions arose which
directed further inquiry. Is the tOp prestige group in Wheelsburg a
true collectivity'? To what extent do social boundaries exist between
this group and others in the community? Does the social life of the
upper status group in a midwestern, middle-sized city revolve around

the larger, adjacent metropolis, or is the “society" a provincial,

 

7Edward Digby Baltzell (Glencoe, 111.: The Free Press, 1958).
8Deep South (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1941).

 

v-v—ww

21

locally-oriented unit? To what extent do the old families dominate the
social and civic aspects of the community? Do the old families with

inherited wealth and the new industrialists form separate and compet—
ing social cliques? These are a few of the questions to be answered in

succeeding chapters.

2. Literature on the Role of Women in the Community

 

There exists a relatively small body of sociological literature
concerned with the role of upper status women in the community.
Hunter, 9 Form, 10 Miller, 11 and many others have been interested in the
structure of power among business and professional men as it manifests
itself in civic and welfare activities. They and others have ignored the

12

women engaged in these activities. Perhaps, as Babchuk, Marsey,

and Gordon suggest, this is because the role of women in the community

power structure is a subordinate one. 13

They hypothesized that the more
vital the function of an agency to the welfare of the community, the higher

will be the rank of the board and the status of its members. They found

C)Hunter, op. cit.

 

0 .
1Form, op. c1t.

11Delbert C. Miller, "Industry and Community Power Structure, ”
American Sociological Review, 2.3 (February 1958), 9-15.

 

lzFloyd Hunter does mention (in Community Organizatiog: Action
and Inaction, Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1956)

 

 

 

 

that the upper status women in his study perceived certain civic duties

as a responsibility stemming from their social position in the community.
In addition to their associational participation, however, the status
position of these women is further delineated by their membership in

one of three exclusive ”sewing circles"-—-socia1 prestige groups with a
highly restricted membership.

13"Men and Women in Community Agencies: A Note on Power
and Prestige, " American Sociological Review, 25 (June 1960),
399-403.

 

2.2

that the boards of instrumental (as opposed to expressive)14

agencies
ranked highest and were dominated, numerically, by the most powerful
men in the community. The highest percentage. of women on agency
boards appeared on the lowest ranking, expressive-type boards. The
authors concluded from this that womenwield little power in community
organization. This conclusion is not wholly warranted since there are
other possible ways in which women may exert influence over community
decisions. These are problems which have not been adequately tested.
Mhyra Minnis elaborated on the expressive functions of women's
organizations as well as the meaning of participation for women of all

social classes. 1°

One hundred and seventy-seven women's organizations
were ranked according to their relative social prestige and were classi-
fied into 17 different types (service, social, literary, religious, etc.).
The author noted a relationship between the type of organization,
different class levels, and the average age of members. While many
studies have suggested that lower and lower—middle—class women have
a very low rate of associational participation, 16 Minnis points out that
women in the lower class levels £13 join organizations but that these
tend to be neighborhood rather than community—wide groups.

Race, religion, ethnic background, and social prestige are

treated as four variables affecting differentiation in voluntary organi-

zations. It was hypothesized that membership in a given type of

 

 

I4See C. Wayne Gordon and Nicholas Babchuk, ”A Typology of
Voluntary Associations, " American Sociological Review, 24 (February

 

1959), 22-29, for a description of instrumental and expressive organi-
zations.

15Mhyra S. Minnis, ”The Patterns of Women‘s Organizations:
Significance, Types, Social Prestige Rank, and Activities, “ in Marvin
B. Sussman, editor, Community Structure and Analysis (New York:
Thomas Y. Crowell Company, 1959), pp. 269-287.

 

16See footnote 18 for an example.

 

 

organization is an index of social prestige in the community. The
present study substantiates this hypothesis as will be shown in
Chapter 5.

Aileen Ross also feels that women's activities are a profitable
area for study. She notes that whereas philanthropic work is merely
an adjunct to a man's career, it can constitute a career in itself for
many upper and upper-middle—class women. 17 Just as a man's
responsibility in the Community Chest drive parallels his business
position and increases with his status and experience, so there are
clear steps of advancement for women who are successful in the lesser
jobs. Their success and experience enhances their status in the com-
munity and they find themselves in demand for other, more prestigeful
positions. 18

While the woman's civic activities affect her personal status in
the community, these activities also form part of a complex of duties
which contribute to the status of her family as a whole. It is true that
the occupational role of the husband is an important, if not the basic,

status—determining role in the family system. Parsons calls this the

 

 

 

17Aileen Ross, "Control and Leadership in Women’s Groups: An
Analysis of Philanthropic Money-Raising Activity, “ Social Forces, 37
(December 1958), 124-131.

 

18Class and sex differences in associational participation was the
subject of a study of Mira Komarovsky. (See "Voluntary Associations
of Urban Dwellers, ” American Sociological Review, 11 (December 1946),
686-698.) She found that participation in organized groups is decidedly
more characteristic of the professional and business classes. An inter-

 

esting pattern was observed among the women in her sample: the
participation of women in the white collar and working classes was con-
sistently lower than the men while that of women in the upper income
brackets was consistently higher than the men. She notes, furthermore,
that ”in the white collar and professional classes marital status and age
combine into an intricate pattern of influences giving sometimes to men,
and at other times, to women a higher rate of participation. " (p. 695)
Here she hints at the differential community participation of husband and
wife--seemingly related to the career pattern of the husband--which has
been observed in the present study.

 

 

 

Z4

"instrumental leadership" role.19 But family systems, and other groups
of this size, tend to develop a differentiation between instrumental and
expressive leadership. The feminine role, therefore, is made up of

the chief parental responsibilities, the primary internal instrumental
reSponsibility within the family, and the assumption of expressive
leadership for the family in the community. 20 Thus, the participation of
women in civic affairs can be interpreted as an expression of the family’s
status in the community and its concordance with the predominant values

I The assumption of expressive leadership

of the larger social system. 3'
for the family demands more than leadership and participation in volun-

tary associations. The function of expressive leadership is to increase

 

19Talcott Parsons, ”A Revised Analytical Approach to the Theory
of Social Stratification, " in Class, Status and Power, Reinhard Bendix
and S. M. Lipset, editors (Glencoe, Illinois: The Free Press, 1953),
pp. 92-128.

 

20Carol Slater argues that class differences in associational partici-
pation are partially due to differences in the way the marital role is
conceived. Subcultural norms and expectations in the upper socio-
economic levels facilitate greater participation while the values and norms
of the lower socio-economic levels emphasize the priority of household
and family duties over outside activities. Women are confronted with a
pattern of expectations about their behavior which significantly influences
the likelihood of their participation in voluntary associations. Slater
fails to consider, however, the physical aSpects which facilitate or hinder
participation, such as household help and smaller families in the upper
class levels, and the lack of labor-saving conveniences, suitable ward—
robes, and time free of large family reSponsibilities characteristic of
the lower classes. See "Class Differences in Definition of Role and
Membership in Voluntary Associations among Urban Married Women, "
American Journal of Sociology, 65 (May 1960), 616-619.

 

2‘lThorstein Veblen concurs. Such participation is expressive of
the style of life and leisure characteristic of particular socio-economic
groups. Through civic activities, entertaining, manner of dress, and
the observance of social rituals and norms, the woman maintains the
status position determined by her husband's occupation and income.
See his The Theory of the Leisure Class (New York: The New American
Library, 1953), pp. 42-45, 75 ff.

 

 

 

 

 

25

the family status, essentially determined by occupation and income,
". . . by canons of taste in the fields of expressive symbolism, by
connections with other families of certain orders of prestige, through

kinship or . . . through memberships in voluntary associations or

2

N

purely informal mutual entertainment relations. "
According to Margaret Helfrich, various role orientations are

3 She delineates six: 1) family-

available to the married v.oman.2
centered, 2) cornmunity-centered, 3) career-centered, 4) consultant,

5) creative, and 6) wife as student. It was hypothesized that role choice
is dependent in part upon the role partner and the expectations of signifi-
cant others--a hypothesis which is very much akin to one in the present
study. She found that most wives of top executives are community-
centered while those in a lower status category were family—centered.
There are basic duties associated with the role of executive's wife.
These are: 1) to care for the home, husband, and children, 2) to manage
so that the husband gets a portion of the wife's time, 3) to entertain his
business associates and their mutual friends, and 4) to participate in
social and civic affairs. Similar expectations were observed in the
present study. However, further analysis of social and civic partici-
pation in the Wheelsburg study suggests that there may be an inverse

relationship between the extent of social and civic involvement which is

affected by age and the career development of the husband.

13. Hypotheses

 

Two areas of research have been described and contributing ideas

from pertinent literature reviewed. Out of this literature, several

 

”Parsons, op. cit., p. 120.

‘33"The Social Role of the Executive's Wife, " Unpublished Ph.D.
dissertation, University of Pittsburgh, 1959.

 

 

 

 

I. The first research area is concerned with a description of the
top prestige group in a midwestern community. Parsons suggests that
the main focus of the top elite today is on occupational status and earn-
ings. The control of enterprise has shifted from the property interests
of founding families to managerial and technical personnel. Because of
this, he feels that the ”family elite" elements of the class structure
hold a secondary rather than a primary position in the overall stratifi-
cation system}4 If Parsons is correct, we would expect to find
managerial and technical personnel at the apex of the top prestige group
in Wheelsburg.

Davis and Gardner, and W. Lloyd Warner lead us to a similar
expectation by a different route. They note that old family groups are
stronger in certain regions of the United States--namely, New England,
the South, and some of the older cities--and suggest that top prestige
groups characterized by social distance, defined boundaries, and estab-
lished "old families" are not found in newer cities in the Midwest.

On the basis of the above arguments found in the literature, the
following null hypothesis is proposed:

1. That Wheelsburg, as a midwestern community with control

of its major enterprises resting outside the community, will

not have a top prestige group characterized by social distance,

defined boundaries, and established old families.

Nowhere in the literature are there measurable criteria of the existence
and closure of a communal group. In stratification studies, there are

no objective comparisons between social elites in different types of

Z4Parsons, op. cit., p. 123.

 

27

communities. Warner's verbal criteria--(a) old families with inherited
wealth at the apex of the group, (b) unanimity of opinion regarding
membership, and (c) a maintained social distance between that group
and others--are the only guide lines. For this reason, the author has
set up the following criteria to demonstrate proof or disproof of the
hypothesis:

(a) If greater than 1/2 of the forty members of the top
prestige group are also members of old Wheelsburg families,
reject the null hypothesis.

(b) If, when the rankings of these forty members by the
two subsystems (A and B) are compared, there is observed a
significant value of rS at the . 05 level, reject the null
hypothesis. 5

(c) If the women mention organizations and projects with
which they are personally associated significantly more often
than they mention other organizations and projects, reject the
null hypothesis.

On the basis of the same literature, a second hypothesis can be

formulated:

2. There will be no correlation between old family member-

ship and being a social leader.

II. The second area of research is concerned with the differential
participation of women in social and civic affairs as affected by the
economic and influential position of their husbands in the community.
If, as Parsons asserts, the woman assumes the role of expressive

. . . . g .
leadership, and if civic and soc1al part1c1pation 6 are two chief modes of

 

25A rank correlation involving all 80 names would be prohibitive;
therefore, the top 40 names were compared. It should be mentioned,
however, that there is considerable consensus on the bottom portion of
the list (those ranked ”not social”) and, therefore, a higher rs would be

expected.

26Civic participation includes membership in voluntary assoc1ations,
civic and service clubs, and educational or political organizations; soc1al
participation includes membership in purely social clubs where

 

28

expressing social position, the following hypotheses could be proposed:
3. Women whose husbands are either economic dominants or
top influentials or whose family is in the top 20 socially choose
social means (entertaining, belonging to purely social organi—
zations) to express their social position; whereas women whose
husbands have not achieved community prominence as an economic
dominant or a top influential and whose family is not among the
top 20, choose civic means (belonging to service and civic clubs,

or educational or political organizations) of expression.

4. Civic leaders will have a significantly lower social rank than

social leaders.

5. Significantly more social leaders than civic leaders will have

husbands who are either top influentials or economic dominants.

6. Social leaders will have a significantly higher rate of enter-

taining, both formal and informal.

 

membership is by invitation only and the number of members is
restricted, and the frequent entertaining of business associates and
prestigeful friends.

 

 

CHAPTER 4

THE SOCIAL SYSTEM OF WHEELSBURG “SOCIETY"

The purpose of this chapter is to analyze the top prestige group
of Wheelsburg as a social system and then to describe the activities,
norms, and life style of the group as a whole. To further understand
the internal differentiation within the grOUp, two sub-systems based on
social rank scores and two based on the sociometric choices of best
friends will be compared on the above characteristics. The first
mentioned sub-groups based on social rank score will be referred to
as the “top” and "bottom twenty. " Families were ordered according to
their social rank. Those with the twenty highest social rank scores
were assigned to the "top twenty" and those with the next twenty scores
were assigned to the “bottom twenty. " Due to some ties, there are
actually 21 in the top and 21 in the bottom group. The second major
division, based on the sociometric choice of best friends, will be
referred to as sub—group A and sub-group B, A being the older, and B

the younger group.

A. Structural Aspects of the TOp Prestige Group

 

1. Structure Based on Social Rank

 

The two techniques mentioned above, the social rank score and
the sociometric choice of best friends, are two ways of getting at the
informal structure of a social system. By contrast with a bureaucratic
organization, a social system of the type being considered here has no
formal structure; there are no institutionalized roles making up an on-

going and relatively unchanging structure. But there is an informal

29

 

 

3O

organization to this group which appears to be relatively stable, under-
going perhaps minor changes with a change in personnel.

One of the structural characteristics of a social system is size.
In the present case apparently the size of the group has not
changed appreciably over the years. There is no fixed limit to the
number of members, new faces appear rarely, and many of the
”newcomersH have been in Wheelsburg for 30 or 40 years. In fact,
among those in the top forty, a rank correlation of +.~ll38 was found
between length of residence and social rank, a correlation significant
at the . 05 level.1 During the course of this research one new family
moved to Wheelsburg and was quickly accepted by members of the top
prestige group. Many reSpondents commented that this was most
unusual. The next newest families in the top 40 have been here twelve
years and both are in the bottom twenty, one fairly close to the bottom
of the ranked list.

A second structural aSpect is suggested by the ranking system and
further borne out by the sociometric analysis. While the division of
rankings into two groups of twenty and even the imposed limit of 40 are
arbitrary, several things about the group structure can be deduced
from the resulting ordering, and comparisons between the two groups
show substantive differences between them. A very obvious difference
is that of age. It will be demonstrated later that there is an extensive
overlap between the top twenty and sociometric group A and the bottom
twenty and group B. In addition it will be shown that there is a significant
difference in age of those in group A as Opposed to group B. It can
therefore be assumed that the same age difference is characteristic of
the top and bottom twenty.

Second, with regard to group structure, it can be demonstrated

that friendship cliques are made up of families of very similar social

 

1The Spearman rank correlation was used with a one-tailed test.

 

31

rank. Two small cliques of seven families each were'isolated on the
basis of three or more reciprocal choices within the group of seven.
The social ranks of the respective clique members were noted and
averaged. The older clique had a range (w = 24) of social rank scores
from 98—122 with a mean (i) of 115. 21. The younger clique had‘a range
(w = 38. 5) of social rank scores from 74-112. 5 with a mean of 85. 79.

In the latter clique the size of the range is distorted by a single high
score of 112. 5; the other six scores fall within a range of 18.

Third, one of the informal positions which seems to form a
definite part of the group structure is that of the social leader. The
characteristics of social leaders and the behavioral expectations and
norms associated with their position will be discussed in a later section. 2
Of interest here is the extent of agreement on who fills these positions
at the present time. Figure 1 shows that five women were mentioned
by more than two-thirds of the 42 reSpondents, and that there is a fairly
rapid drop-off in the number of votes received with several clear breaks.
This suggests that there is a clear conception of the role of social leader
and who fills it.

Furthermore, social rank is also useful in helping to structurally
define these positions. The five top social leaders have the five highest
social rank scores in the top twenty (w = 6). The more inclusive group
of twelve social leaders occupy twelve of the first thirteen places in
the ranking of the top 20 (w i 14).

A final structural aSpect suggested by the social rank technique

is the actual documentation of the existence of a definite group structure.

Stone and Form observe that status rankings are unstable in the middle

2This information was obtained by the following questions: Could
you give me the names of several women who in your Opinion are the
most important social leaders in Wheelsburg? and: Why do you feel they
are most important?

 

TIMES MENTIONED

38

35_

34

32

30”

T—

28F o

L 0—0

 

leJllLlI'Ill 111

l J I
I 2 3 4 5 6 7.8 9 IOII l2 l3 l4 I5 I6-24 25-30 3I-4O
INDIVIDUALS MENTIONED

Fig. 1. Votes Received by Individual Women as
Social Leaders.

35

class and that only at the two extremes is there any convergence of
opinion.3 It is the author's contention in the present case that the
extent of agreement on the placement of persons in the tOp 40 attests to
the fact that there is a definite rather than an amorphous structure in
the top prestige group. A rank correlation of +. 67 was observed when
the rankings of the top 50 (out of the 80 initial cards) by the top and
bottom twenty were compared. With a one-tailed test a correlation of
this size could only be expected 2. 576 of the time.4 As mentioned earlier,
a comparison of this agreement on all 80 names would be prohibitive.
Furthermore, examination of the rankings of the bottom 30 suggests that
an even higher rS would be observed because there is equal agreement

as to whom does not belong to the top prestige group.

 

To analyze further the extent of agreement, a different approach
was taken. Examining the rankings of all 86 families by the 42
respondents, it was found that on only eleven families was there lack of
agreement among the 42 women as to whether these eleven families

were "social" or "not social. " Fifty-three families were definitely

"'social" and 22 were definitely "not social. "

When the rankings of the older group A are compared with those

of the younger group B, there are only 16 cases of disagreement between

S

the two groups. In all 16 cases, one of the two groups takes a definite

 

3Gregory P. Stone and William H. Form, "Instabilities in Status:
The Problem of Hierarchy in the Community Study of Status Arrange-
ments, " American Sociological Review, 18 (April 1953), 149-162; and
Form and Stone, "Urbanism, Anonymity, and Status Symbolism, "

 

. American Journal of Sociology (March 1957), 504-514.

 

 

4Wilfrid J. Dixon and Frank J. Massey, Jr. , Introduction t:
Statistical Analysis (New York: McGraw-Hill Book Co. , Inc. , l 7),
Table A-Z7, p. 464.

\O

5The criteria of agreement is that two-thirds or more of the
I‘ESpondents rank a family as "social” or "not social. "

A *4 —_. ~__—_———._4‘Ark ‘ 444

 

5-1

stand on the ranking of the family (two-thirds or more agreeing on the
social placement), while there is disagreement within the other group.
Where group B agrees within itself on the ranking of the family, eight
out of eight times that this happens they ranked the family "social. "
When group A agrees within itself, five out of eight times they ranked
the family ”not social. " This suggests a slight tendency for the younger
group to be more accepting and more willing to extend the boundaries

of the top prestige group, while the older group is more likely to restrict
membership and emphasize boundary maintenance against outsiders.

That social rank is not an infallible measure of friendship cliques
is evidenced by the number of reciprocal choices occurring between the
top and bottom twenty. This is partially due to the arbitrary placement
of the dividing lines; one pair of choices is between a top twenty family
and a bottom twenty family which is one point below the dividing line.

Ten of the remaining twelve cross choices involve the younger socio-
metric group B which suggests that age is more important in determining
smaller friendship cliques within the top prestige group than is similarity
of social rank. Six of the seven top 20 members of the sociometric
younger group involved in reciprocal choice relationships with lower
ranking friends are members of old Wheelsburg families, which seems

to enhance their social position despite their relative youth. Nevertheless,
they seek their close friends among those similar in age and interests
and yet not too distant in social rank.

Another small testimony to the importance of family in social
position is that there are only three family connections between the top
and bottom twenty, two parent-child relationship and one brother-sister
relationship. But, two-thirds of the top twenty, while only one-third of
the bottom twenty, are members of old Wheelsburg families. Other
second and third generation descendants are thus either in the top twenty,
no longer live in Wheelsburg, or are too young (in the teens and twenties)

to have acquired a distinct social position of their own. Consequently,

 

 

when the top and bottom twenty are compared for length of residence,
fifteen tOp twenty members of old Wheelsburg families are all above

the median number of years lived in Wheelsburg (35) while six members
of the tOp twenty who are not old Wheelsburg residents fall on or below
the median. A seventh which falls below the median is a member of an
old Wheelsburg family who moved away in her childhood, but

returned following her marriage. Nine of the twelve interviewed in the

bottom twenty fall on or below the median.

Table 1. Length of Residence in Wheelsburg by Social Rank.

 

 

 

Scores TOp twenty Bottom twenty
Scores exceeding median 14 3
Scores on or below median . 7 9

Totals _ 21 12

 

X2:3.77,Df:1, 133.10

The X3 performed on the median test is significant at the . 10 level but
very close to significance at the . 05 level. This suggests that there is
a significant association between length of residence and social rank,
the longer the residence, the higher the rank.

Before moving to a detailed analysis of the sociometric structure
of the top prestige group, it seems appropriate to compare the degree
of overlap between the top twenty and Group A, and the bottom twenty and
Group B and thereby establish the association between social rank and
age. From Table 2 it is apparent that Group A is significantlyiolder
than Group B; age is an important factor in friendship group structure.

That higher social rank is definitely associated with age" is shown in

6Twenty--one and twelve are the number interviewed in the top and
bottom twenty respectively.

56

Table 2. Age Structure of Sociometric Groups

4‘ A_. 4

Age Classes

 

 

 

A 30-40 so 80.71 Total
Group A 0 5 12 17
Group B 13 To 0 19
Total 13 11 12 36

 

X2: 23.84, Df : 2, p>.01

Table 3. Fourteen out of seventeen members of Group A are in the top
twenty of the social rank scale whereas only seven of Group B rank this

high.

Table 3. Extent of Overlap Between Groups A and B and the Top and
Bottom Twenty.

 

 

 

Top twenty Bottom twenty "just social'l Total
Group A 14 2 1 17
Group B 7 9 3 19
Total ' 21 ll 4 36

 

X2: 8.58, Di: 2, p:.02.5

2 . Sociometric Structure

 

Sociometrically, by asking leach respondent to list an unlimited
number of best friends, a network of intimate social relationships was
worked out. The basic data from this question are graphically repre~
sented in the sociogram in Figure 2. ReSpondents were included on the
two circles if they were involved in a reciprocal relationship with at

least one person and had chosen or were chosen by at least two others.

T.
J

 

 

37

ps A and B

 

 

 

FIGURE 20
Reciprocal and non-reciprocal choices of best friends

within and between, Grou

non-reciprocal 'choices in direction of arrow,

within a circle

 

GROUP 8

S

 

 

   

/
A’
I

 

reciprocal choic

GROUP A

 

non-reciprocal choices in direction of arrow,

between circles

0—.—

 

 

P R12)

r-T'"

 

\

 

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F R +——--—-

I

I ’/
I
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>

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’

 

 

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I

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NA

 

TP

GROUP A

JH(2)

MW

mm

PM

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JQ

FIGURE
Family relationship within and

parent -child or sibli

 

\ .
2b ‘\
Y
between Groups A and B B (a) \.
no relationship 0})

_--— aunt or uncle-nephew or niece relationship

 

9

 

in-law relationship
children of connected

eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

families have married

 

GROUP 8

NU(I)
TNtzl

15(7)

PZm

TJm

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CUm

ZW(2)

37

_ __~Lii*

 

38

Families mentioned as best friends of two or more reSpondents but who
were not interviewed are shown on the periphery of the circles. In
addition some who were interviewed, but who have only tangential
connections with Group A or B are shown (note FP, for example). The
numbers in parentheses below some of the names indicate the number

of persons mentioned as best friends who are not directly connected with
the top prestige group and are personal friends of only one couple in the
group.

Solid black lines indicate reciprocal choices, broken black lines
with arrows indicate one-way choices within sub-groups, and dotted
black lines indicate one-way choices between the sub—groups. There
were no mutual choices between group A and group B.

The average number of mutual choices for group A is 3. 53, that
for group B, 3.68. The difference in means is not great enough to
reject the hypothesis that these are scores from two different populations.
In accepting the null hypothesis, we can state that group A and B are
two sub-groups of a single population and that the extent of mutuality
in both groups is the same.

No accurate measure of cohesiveness or mutality exists which fits
the present case. In this study reSpondents were given an unlimited
number of choices and were not asked to restrict their choices to any
particular group. Consequently, with 17 respondents there is an
unknown number of persons who could be chosen as best friends. The
available statistical measures, based on binomial probabilities, depend
on a given number of possible choices with or without a restriction on the

number of choices that can be made.7 In this case, group A. is made up

 

7For a statistical measure of mutuality where the number of pos-
sible choices is given and the number of choices restricted, see Charles
H. Proctor and Charles P. Loomis, ”Analysis of Sociometric Data” in
Research Methods in Social Relations, Part 2; Marie Jahoda,

 

 

$9

of 17 families but the women interviewed could not be restricted to
choosing friends within the 17 because sociometrically the group had
not been defined at the time of the interviews. It was the free choice
of friends which defined the group in the first place.

One measure suggested by Loomis and Proctor substantiates an
observation made in the preceding section, namely, that those in
group B appear to be less restrictive in their ranking of other families

than group A, which sought to restrict the boundaries of the top prestige

group.

Table 4. Comparison of Group Expansiveness.

 

 

 

 

Choice types Group A Group B

Choices outside their
own sociometric circle 46 82

Choic es within their

 

own sociometric circle 38 41
Reciprocal choices 60 70
Total 144 193

Er: 8.47 E: 10.16

 

_ number of choices made by
The measure of group expansweness, E = the group

I

 

discussed by Proctor and Loomis shows group B to behgenerally more

expansive, 8 they list almost twice as many friends outside the

Morton Deuts’ch, and Stuart W. Cook,editors, (New York: The Dryden
Press, 1951), pp. 561-585. In ”A Note on Estimating the Statistical
Significance of Mutuality, ” unpublished MS, Dept. of Statistics, Michigan
State University, 1960, Leo Katz, A. Tagiuri., and T. R. Wilson discuss
a technique which requires a given number of possible choices but does
not restrict the number of choices per respondent. The article also in-
cludes a good bibliography on related sociometric techniques.

8Ibid., p. 572.

 

 

 

 

4O

sociometric circle as does group A. A second measure, that of group

number of mutual pair:
CZN

between the two groups (Group A, Co = . 221, group B, Co = . 205) and

 

cohesion, Co = , shows a small difference

suggests that neither group is very cohesive if a score of 1 is assumed
to be perfect cohesion. No criteria are offered by the authors for
decisions about the degree of cohesion. As they point out, “these are
common sense indices” which are more useful ”for measuring change
within a given test pOpulation” than for cross group comparisons.9
However, Katz, Tagiuri, and Wilson warn against interpreting mutuality
levels as indices of such group characteristics as ”integration" and

"cohesiveness."

In most cases these variables do not correSpond con-
ceptually to the operations by which mutuality is measured,
nor are they conceived to be contingent upon the type of
factors on which mutuality depends. 10

A third measure suggested by Proctor and Loomis is a little more
number of persons choosing i

N - l '
When each of the two sub-groups, A and B, are compared individually,

 

useful. A person's choice status is the

choice status correlates + . 92 with social rank in group A (significant
at the . 01 level) and + . 37 in group B (not quite significant, since for
the . 05 level, r8 3 .400). When the two groups are combined there is
a significant correlation of rS = +.66 between choice status and social
rank (at the. 01 level, r8 2 . 423). Interpretation of this finding is
somewhat complex. The two variables are not measures of the same
thing. Choice status is derived from the total number of people freely
listing any 1. as a best friend; whereas social rank is derived from a

forced and nonpersonal evaluation of a given number of specific

individuals. Generally speaking, and especially where group A is

 

91bid., p. 573.

loKatz, Op. c_i_E_., p. 9.

 

 

 

~11

concerned, the association between choice status and social rank sug—
gests that those persons with high choice status and high social rank
are those who entertain most and consequently have a wider range of
friends than those at the other end of the continuum who do less enter-
taining and attempt to keep up with a smaller group of friends. This
interpretation is subStantiated by the observation that 4 out of the 5 top
social leaders occupy 4 of the 5 highest choice statuses; and of the large
group of 12 social leaders, 11 are in the first 16 choice statuses. The
fre quency distribution of choice statuses appears in Figure 3.

Examination of the sociogram provokes several more observations.
One that seems quite important is that there are no reciprocal ties
between group A and group B. This could be interpreted as evidence
of definite structural lines between friendship groups based on age and
social rank. An awareness of this aspect of group structure was verbal-
ized by many ’respondents who mentioned entertaining mostly friends in
one‘s own age group but that mixing of generations at larger parties
and particularly during the holidays was frequently done. At such times
it was considered courteous and in good taste to invite your parents'
friends and contemporaries as well as your own. Furthermore, in
response to the questions, "Is Wheelsburg "society" divided into different
crowds? And, [if so] Are these to some extent based on age?“ 32 women
replied unqualifiedly that there were crowds, and that they were based
on age; 16 qualified this by saying that the different crowds did inter-
mingle quite a bit.

InSpecting groups A and B as two somewhat separate social systems,
the family connections between them take on the function of systemic
links, bringing the two groups together for a common purpose (be it a
party or a fund-raising project) and making of them a single unit for
short periods of time. Six direct family ties (parent-child, brother—

sister, and aunt or uncle-niece or nephew) and two indirect ones

42

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mm. mm. .0. mm. mm. 0?. 0?. _v. km. mm. mm. mm. .m. he m_ mo. mow

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1.11.10 LN
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SNOSflBd :JO BBBWON

 

 

 

 

 

 

. __—..———-—-~v————-I—-

. M.—

 

(cousins or in-laws) link the two groups. Intermarriages of children
have linked five families within group A, in one case smoothing over a
breach that could have had real consequences for the sociometric
structure and internal cohesion of the group.

Familial ties, however, are not the only links between the two
social sub-systems. There are nine one-way choices of best friends
connecting the two groups, six of the choices going from A to B and
three from B to A. Four of the five families in group B involved in
one-way choices with A are members of old Wheelsburg families and
three of these are in their early fifties; i. e., the older members of
their own group and closest in age to those in group A. Already they
have begun to move into the older friendship group and are being
chosen as close friends. The fifth family, though still quite young
(c. 40's), represents a very prominent ’and wealthy family in a nearby
community well-known to those in Wheelsburg. In addition, the wife
is highly esteemed for her ability as a hostess and is quite popular

within her own age group (see DT on the sociogram).

B. Descriptive Characteristics

 

1. General Characteristic s

 

The most meaningful way to describe the top prestige group in
Wheelsburg seems to be to compare the similarities and differences
between structural sub-groups of this social system. Two major types
of divisions have been described in the preceding pages--that between a
top and bottom 20 based on social rank, and that between an older and
younger group based on sociometric choice of best friends. Since it
has been demonstrated that there is a significant degree of overlap

between group A and the top 20 and group B and the bottom twenty, and

since more respondents are included in the sociometric division, a

44

comparison of similarities and differences between group A and B will
be described in the following pages. Group A is made up of seventeen
families, group B of nineteen. The figures presented in the following
tables are based on interviews with the wives of those 36 families.

Religion, education, and occupation are traditional variables
frequently used to compare different populations. In the present case,
the data confirm what the literature leads us to expect, namely, that
upper status groups in this country are white, Protestant, Republican,
above average in education, and in executive or ownership positions.

Table 5 shows that only two out of the total 42 interviewed are not
Protestant. Three profess no religion and three were not ascertained.
None identified'themselves as Jewish although two families had fore-
bears who were of the Jewish faith. While the remaining 34 Protestants
belonged to six different denominations, there is a high concentration
in the Congregational, Presbyterian, and Episcopalean denominations.
Only minor differences exist between groups A and B in their religious
participation. More of those in the younger group attend the Congre-
gational Church downtown whereas the older group is evenly split be-
tween that church and the main Presbyterian church, also in the down-
town area. A possible reason for this difference was suggested by the
many references to the excellent youth choirs at the Congregational
church. As one mother eXpressed it: ”The kids get more from choir
than Sunday School, I'm sure. "

Politically, those interviewed are almost 100% Republican.
Thirty-four claim a Republican affiliation, one is an independent, and
seven were not ascertained. While no one listed herself as a Democrat,
one woman, although following the pressures of her husband and friends
to work for the Republican party at election time, admitted that she had
privately supported John Kennedy and was overjoyed at his victory.

However, so great did she feel those pressures, that even in the privacy

45

Table 5. Religious Affiliation of Groups A and B.

 

 

 

Religion Group A Group B
Catholic 1 1
Jewish - -
Episc0palean 2 3
Presbyterian 5 4
Congregational 5 8
Baptist 1 -
Mormon 1 -
Lutheran - 1
No religion 1 1
Not ascertained l 1
Totals 17 19

 

Table 6. Educational Level of Groups A and B.

 

 

 

 

 

Wives Husbands
Amount of schooling Group A Group B Group A Group B
High school only 2 0 3 1
Business school 2 1 1 0
Finishing school 2 2 - -
Some college 2 4 3 1
College degree 7 10 8 12
Advanced degree 1 l 2 5
Finishing school and 1 1 - —
some college
Totals 17 19 17 19

 

14.82 12:15.53 £215.18 £216.53

>41
11

 

46

of the election booth, she wasn't able to vote for the man she preferred.
The average education of all those interviewed was 15. 05 years
or three years of college. This was figured on the following basis:
high school only, 12 years; business school, 13; finishing school, 14;-
some college, 15; college degree, 16; advanced degree, 17;11 and
finishing school and some college, 15. Table 6 compares the education
of both husband and wives in groups A and B. In general, the husbands
have roughly a year more of schooling than the wives. However, while
the educational distribution of group A is quite similar for men and
women, in group B one quarter of the men, as opposed to five percent
of the women, have advanced degrees and almost all of the men, as
opposed to three-fifths of the women, who started college, finished.
Both the men and women in group B have a higher average education
than those in group A. The difference in education between the women
of the two age groups is not great. A good proportion of those in both
groups who started college never finished. The answer to another
question raises the possibility of a decline in the importance of education
as a criterion for membership in upper status groups. When asked
whether education was important or not for membership in Wheelsburg's
top prestige group, two-thirds of the older women felt that it was
important, whereas only half of the younger women expressed that
opinion. When some of the older women were in school, higher edu-
cation for women was still relatively uncommon and was mostly for
women from more well-to-do homes. In addition, many of these
women were raised in or near a college community (Meadowlawn) where
education was naturally more emphasized and more accessible. In the
1940‘s and '50‘s education for women became less of a status symbol

as it became more available to the lower economic levels.

 

n”Advanced degrees'l covers one-year masters programs, three-
year law degrees, and three-year medical degrees. For comparative
purposes for the whole sample, 17 years credit was given to everyone
with an advanced degree. For the comparison between groups A and B,
the actual number of years required is used.

47

2. Occupational, Economic, and Community
Participation of the Husband

 

 

Occupationally, there are minor differences between groups A
and B which become much sharper when the top twenty-bottom twenty
comparison is used. Table 7 shows both comparisons. Because the
number of cases is small, percentages are somewhat misleading, but
they are, nevertheless, useful for comparison. In group A slightly
more than half of the men are Presidents and/or owners of a corpora-
tion as compared to slightly less than four-tenths of the men in group B.
When social rank rather than age is controlled, almost three-fifths of
the top twenty are presidents and/or owners while not quite one—fifth
of the bottom twenty. fill these positions. This would suggest that despite
youth, an advanced occupational position adds considerably to social
prestige. Approximately the same per cent in each group are minor
executives (vice president or lower) in either banking or other
businesses. Almost one—fifth of the top twenty are professional men
while one-third of the bottom twenty are in‘this category. Roughly the
same proportion of groups A and B, however, are professionals. None
in either group A or the tOp twenty are white collar officials and only
an approximate one-tenth of group B come under this classification.
Generally, then, the men in the top prestige group represent high rank-
ing and highly paid occupations.

In addition to their prestigeful positions in the business world,
half of the husbands in the sample have economic ties with corporations
other than their own. As seen in Table 8, roughly two—thirds of both
the top and bottom twenty serve on corporation boards in addition to
their regular jobs. Several men in both groups, however, are prevented
from serving on corporation boards because of the nature of their jobs.
A considerably higher proportion of those in the older group A have

these additional economic ties, presumably because they have more

48

Table 7. Occupations of Men in the Top Prestige Group.

 

 

 

Top Bottom
Occupation Twenty Twenty Group A .Group B

President 4 l 3 3
President and Owner 8 1 6 4
Bank executive

(other than President) 1 O O 1
Business executive

(other than President) 4 3 4 4
Professional 4 4 3 4
White collar official 0 l 0 2
Other 0 Z l l
(Retired) (2) (2)

 

Totals .21 12 17 19

 

Table 8. Number of Husbands Serving on Corporation Boards.

 

 

 

Top Bottom
Number of Boards Twenty Twenty Group A Group B
1 Z 4 Z 4
Z 3 2. Z 3
3 2. 1 3 Z
4 4 O 3 1
5 1 0 1 0
6 O l l 0
Didn't know 1 O 0 0
Total 13 8 ~ 1?. 10
$2.9 £22 1 i=3 2 )‘(=2.0

 

49

capital to invest and are better known by, and better integrated into,
the business community. This is further supported by information on
the extent of economic participation which illuminates more differences
between the several groups. The men in group A serve on an average
of 3. 2 corporation boards while those in group B serve on an average
of Z. The differences between the top and bottom twenty are not as
great, but follow roughly the same pattern observed between groups A
and B in Table 8. Half of those in the bottom twenty serve on only one
board while more than half in the tOp twenty serve on three boards or
more.

A second type of community participation for men in the tOp
prestige group occurs in civic and business associations of a voluntary
nature. A substantial difference exists in the participation of men in
the t0p and bottom twenty. Those in the former belong to an average of
6. 19 organizations while those in the latter average 4. 75. When the
sociometric age groupings are compared this difference disappears.

A possible exPlanation of this change stems from the fact that five of
the eleven most active men in the top twenty (six activities or more)
are members of group B. Some of the same younger men hold high
occupational positions, two are president and/or owners of corporations,
two are minor executives and one is a retired professional man. The
difference between the average number of organizations for the tOp and
bottom twenty suggests that community participation plays a small part
in enhancing social status and that those with higher rank belong to a
greater number of organizations. In general, it appears that two other
variables have been delineated which affect social position in a com-
munity. A relatively high, or at least minimal economic status is
assumed. Age has been shown to be highly correlated with social rank;
but the husbands' occupational position and community participation also
appear to be relevant variables. This observation is also recognized

by members of the group. About four-fifths of the women in groups A

50

and B felt that the husbands' position was important in establishing
social position. One prominent woman said:

Today, prominent women are those whose husbands
are prominent in business . . . the husband's position is
very important among the new group. Where the older
families are concerned, they got their prestige from their
parents. Among the younger and newer ones, it's the '
husband's position and civic activities. Young couples can
get known in the community civically.

However, there was less agreement on the importance of the husband's
community activities. Fifty-three per cent felt they were important

and necessary, 59% of the women in group A and 47%. of those in group
B. Some of the younger women took the position that it wasn't always
what the husband did; what was important was that one member of the
couple--either husband or wife-—fulfilled the eXpectations for community
service. It didn't seem to matter which one. A few admitted that for
most peOple it seemed to be necessary, but that there were always
examples of prominent peOple who "didn‘t do a thing” and so they

concluded that community participation was not a criteria for member-

 

ship in the tOp prestige group. What clearly emerges from this question
is a predominant value of persons in this social system. Many of the
older women and daughters of old Wheelsburg families voiced this idea
as "putting back into the community what you've gained from it. " One
young woman commented:

Many activities in community affairs stem from the
way you’re brought up. You're taught to put back into the
community what you've gained from it.

This value of repaying a debt to the community in which one has
benefited economically seems juxtaposed with one of a more practical
nature. Many of the younger women felt that community participation
was a good way to get known in the community and to make desirable
friends--a feeling mentioned in the first quotation by one of the “Old

family" leaders in Wheelsburg. In fact, the younger women seemed to

51

feel that the wife's community activities were more important. Whereas
almost half of group A felt a woman's activities enhanced the social
position of a family, seven-tenths of group B felt this way. Although
the data only hint at such a generalization, one may speculate that a
real change in the pattern and nature of community participation has
taken place within this top prestige group. During the period when the
women in group A were most active in the community, their partici-
pation largely centered around hospital work, and National Association
of Young Women (fictitious name, abbreviated in the future, NAYW),
and a literary club. Large scale participation was engaged in by the
men of these older families with many buildings, plaques, and hQSpital
wings attesting to the public contributions of these active men. 'In
contrast, today, with young women more highly educated and seeking
more challenging and diverse ways of using their abilities, and with
fewer of this younger group buttressed by an established family position
in a rapidly growing and transient community, civic participation has
become an avocation, requiring training, eXperience, and a minimum

of community contacts--since many of these organizations are invitational
in nature. This is the NAYW‘s stated objective--to train young women
for intelligent service in the community. Such participation is supported
less by the value of repaying a debt to the community (since many of

the younger women are not natives of Wheelsburg) and more by that of
helping the husbands' position in the business world. This is accomp-
lished in two ways: first, by fulfilling the expectations which the
company has that junior executives and their wives will contribute to

the community--or in the case of independent, professional men, by
getting them known as a couple in the community (doctor's wives are
among the most conSpicuously active women in Wheelsburg); and second,
through participation in different groups, the wife makes social contacts,
both with other young couples on their way up and with other women

whose husbands may become important business contacts.

52

Before proceeding to a description of the women's organizational
participation, it seems appropriate to finish a discussion of the husbands'
occupational, economic, and community participation by showing in
some detail theOpattern of particular organizational membership which
men in the top prestige group share.

One of the most exclusive and prestigeful clubs for men is made
up of 40 or 50 members, most of them representing industrial and
banking enterprises. Four—fifths of the men in the top twenty, whereas
only one-quarter of those in the bottom twenty belong to the Wheeler‘s
Club. Since the same proportion of men in groups A and B belong, it
is assumed that social rank (and occupational position) are more
important in determining membership than age. A much less exclusive
luncheon club, where membership is not invitational, has a similar
distribution between the top and bottom twenty and groups A and B.
Rotary and the Chamber of Commerce share similar patterns of member-
ship with slightly over half of the top twenty belonging to both and one-
quarter and one-third of the bottom twenty belonging to each respectively.
All of both the top twenty and group A belong to the oldest country club
in Wheelsburg while roughly three-quarters of the other two groups
belong. There was a marked tendency among the respondents to
depreciate the importance of the Wheelsburg Country Club and many
complained that it was getting too big and that anyone could get in.

As one young woman stated:

In the old times, all our families knew each other and
when you went to the country club, you knew everyone.
That isn't true anymore.

And yet, deSpite the verbal deprecations, participation in the club is
very high. At one time all of group B and all of the bottom twenty
belonged, but four families have dropped their membership. Possibly,
a country club membership is a sort of minimum requirement, since

it is the center of many activities, especially'during the milder months

53

Table 9. Organizational Participation of Husbands.

 

 

 

TOp Bottom
Organizations Twenty Twenty Group A Group B

--------- Percent-—-------
Wheelers Club 81 25 59 58
Luncheon Club 81 33 71 68
Chamber of Commerce 52 33 53 37
MAC 10 0 12 0
MC 10 0 6 5
Both MAC and MC 10 O 12 0
Wheelsburg Country Club 100 75 100 79
Rotary 52 25 35 37

Dancing Club (couples) 38 67 . 24 74

 

of the year when golf, tennis, and swimming can be enjoyed. It is also
advantageous in entertaining as it is the site of many large private
parties. At least every two or three years most families seem to give
a cocktail party or buffet dinner-dance for 150 to 200 persons and the
country club is the only place large enough to accommodate a party of
this size. -

Two dancing clubs are perpetuated by the top prestige group.
One, for the very young couples in their 20‘s and 30's and a second for
those in their 40's and 50's. Both are invitational with restricted
membership and many couples seem to ”graduate" from one to the
other. The second club has a great deal of prestige; and yet the
membership is predominantly made up of families in the bottom twenty
and group B. This suggests that older families resign after an active
period in the 40‘s and 50‘s, inviting younger couples of their choice to
succeed them who will perpetuate the traditions and standards of
membership of the club. Consequently the middle aged couples com-

prising the current membership list are those chosen by the present

54

social leaders to be the social leaders of the next generation.

A new trend, only just beginning, is suggested by the small
membership in the MAC and the MC, two exclusive dining clubs in a
nearby metropolitan community. Wheelsburg society is provincial
in the sense that the social life is locally oriented. Members of the
local top prestige group are not active in social groups in other com-
munities and have little or no connection with a national elite. A few
families whose business connections make social contacts for them in
metropolitan areas are less well-integrated into the local society.
The six Wheelsburg families who. belong to the metropolitan clubs are
all members of the top twenty, with only one being in the younger age
group. Four of the six are the four top social leaders. Thus, the
social leaders are, in effect, becoming systemic links between local
and metropolitan society.

Membership in these clubs can also be interpreted as new
symbolic distinctions. Summer homes in the northern part of the state
and winter vacations in Florida, Nassau and some of the other islands
were replaced by trips to Europe, which, as they became commonplace,
were in turn replaced by round-the-world trips. This is still a dis-
tinctive symbol of affluenCe and status; but every year several more
families join the ranks of those who have been “round-the-world. ”
Therefore, those at the apex of the social hierarchy are seeking for new
ways to distinguish the "social" from the merely wealthy. And already,
several of the younger women mentioned wanting MAC or MC memberships
for Christmas or a birthday because it was so convenient and so nice

to have a good and exclusive place to dine and dance when business or

cultural pleasures brought them to the metropolis.

55

3. Civic and Social Participation of the Women

 

Since the emphasis in this study is on the women and their activi-
ties, no more detailed information was correlated on the Specific civic
activities of the men. Instead the women's pattern of activities will be
discussed in considerably more detail. Respondents were asked to
name and than rank the six socially most important clubs and organi-
zations in Wheelsburg. Table 10 shows the pattern of response obtained
from group A, group B, and the two combined. It is apparent that
there is great unanimity on the organization which belongs in first
place. This is a national women‘s organization with considerable
prestige among the upper economic groups throughout the country.
Membership in this association is one of the most acceptable entrees
into Wheelsburg ”society. " All nineteen women in group B belong as
well as half of those in group A. Several of the women in the older
group were past the admission age when the local chapter was initiated,
and several others were not yet established members of the community.

Clearly in second place is the exclusive men's club, the Wheelers
Club, discussed in the preceding section. Started by some of the early
industrial pioneers in the auto industry and related businesses, the
membership is apparently made up today of men in executive positions
in these same industries plus prominent bankers and financiers.

The club has no ostensible purpose and is little known outside the
circle of members and their immediate friends. They have permanent
private rooms in a local hotel where the men meet for lunch and
occasional bridge games, and where wives and guests may be brought
for a cocktail in the evening. Respondents commented that many
business arrangements are made in the club rooms. Thus the club
serves as a coordinating center, both for decisions of a business
nature and for decisions regarding civic and community activities.

The third and fourth ranks for the clubs are very close. Arbitrarily,

the dancing club would be third and the hospital guild fourth.

56

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The hOSpital group is the second oldest of a group of eight or nine

other guilds, administratively equal in the hospital hierarchy. Yet it

is the only one which is invitational and restricted in the number of
members. There is a very pronounced pattern of mobility between
organizations here—~an example of role sequence for upper status
women. Most of the very active and more prominent members of the
NAYW ”graduate" to membership in the guild when they pass the age

of active membership (or "go sustaining"). Twenty-three out of twenty-
eight currently active in the guild are also members of NAYW. The
latter, strangely enough, has the higher social prestige of the two so
that this is not upward vertical mobility but is rather horizontal instead.
Membership in the guild is sequential to active membership in the
NAYW, and hence, is part of a system of age-grading in which different
positions in the age structure are accompanied by different associational
memberships.

Membership in the dancing club appears to parallel active member-
ship in the guild. Fifteen of the 27 active guild members in the sample
are currently active in the dancing club and five others are past
members. This testifies to the fact that the guild has a relatively wide
age Span, wider actually than the dancing club. Perhaps the similarity
of ranking of these two organizations is in part due to the great overlap
of members and their similar position in the role sequence of upper
status women.

In fifth place is the country club, a non-selective organization
looked upon more as a convenience than a symbol of status by this
sample of women. They seem to make miminal use of the club, refrain-
ing from office-holding and committee or planning activities. A few of
the older men play golf in season with selected groups of business
associates and friends, and some of the children of the younger families
participate in sports activities during the summer and dancing classes

during the winter. But these 42 families are conspicuously absent from

58

C

the golf and bridge tournaments and other all-inclusive activities. At a
big dinner-dance last summer members of the top prestige group came
with their circle of friends and did not interact greatly with other
members of the club.

In sixth place is a literary club made up primarily of older
women. Formerly a very prestigious club for women in this economic
group, it no longer fulfills the needs for which it was established, and
younger women are declining membership in it. As one of the oldest
women's clubs in the state (founded during the late 1800's), it was
established as a literary outlet and intellectual stimulant for women of
leisure. Elaborate “research papers" are still presented by the
members at weekly meetings. In the latter 19th century and first 30
years of the 20th, the club undoubtedly served a very important function
for these women; but with college education becoming increasingly preva-
lent and with many new and more stimulating outlets for creativity and
expression, the young women of the 1940’s and 50's have rejected the
sedentary, ritualized, and self-centered organization.

In another question the women were asked to name (but not rank)
the women's organizations most important to the welfare of the com-
munity. Again there is considerable agreement, at least on three
organizations. The NAYW was almost unanimously mentioned as con-
tributing a great deal to the community. Since its inception in 1932,
the NAYW foundedmany of the welfare services available in the
community. Twenty-eight out of the 36 women in groups A and B are
members of NAYW, many of them, however, no longer active because
they are past the maximum age and are now "sustaining” members.

Second in the number of times mentioned are the hOSpital groups
in general. All three hospitals in the community have many auxilliaries
' or guilds which serve a variety of volunteer functions within the hOSpital.
This is perhaps the most popular form of community participation in

Wheelsburg. One hOSpital alone has some 800 volunteers. The three

 

59

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hosPitals vary in the prestige associated with volunteenwork, and within
the one hOSpital at least, differential prestige is associated with the
different auxilliaries.

Moving from preferences and Opinions to actual participation,
there are some consistent differences in the extent of participation in
different type organizations. Group B consistently has a higher average
number of organizations. This stems from the fact that there are more
pressures on the younger woman to join activities and keep up socially. '
Some of these pressures come from: 1) other wives in her economic
and social group; 2) her husband and a consideration of the augmentation
of his business position through membership in certain social organi-
zations; 3) the expectations of significant older women who may "pave
the way" for membership in important groups; and 4) the NAYW where
young women are explicitly trained to assume leadership positions in
the community. In the latter case, it is mandatory that active members
not only serve on committees within the NAYW itself and work a minimum
number of hours each week in a fund-raising shop, but most active
members are placed as NAYW representatives on all important community
boards so that they become known by other mentand women in the com-
munity and they become acquainted with the methods of operation and
administrative procedures of community chest agencies, civic com-
missions, etc.

Comparing the averages for the’ top and bottom twenty with those
for groups A and B, it again appears that age is an important dimension
of differentiation. Whereas the averages for the top and bottom twenty
fall within those for groups A and B and differ very little between them-
selves, the division based on age finds group A and B considerably
further apart. Members of group A have belonged and currently belong
to fewer civic, social and religious, or governmental organizations.

The difference in the total number of organizations between the two

61

Table 12. Average Number of Memberships in Different Types of
Organizations.

 

 

W A
Social and All

Subgroup Civic religious Governmental organizations

A 5.88 4.76 .35 11.24

B 6.95. 5.53 1.16 14.32

Top 20 6.28 5.00 .666 12.11

Bottom 20 6.45 4.91 1.55 13.91

 

groups (A and B) is significant at the . 025 level of confidence. When
only current memberships are compared an important change in the
pattern observed in Table 12 is seen. Although the younger group
maintains a higher average number of memberships in both organiza-
tional types, there is a greater difference between group A and B in
civic participation and a smaller difference in the extent of social

participation.

Table 13. Average Number of Current Memberships in Different Types
of Organizations.

 

 

 

Subgroup Civic Social and Religious
2. 76 4. 00
B 4. 00 4. 47

 

Furthermore, whereas in Table 12 there has been a greater average
participation in civic rather than social affairs, in Table 13 it is
apparent that when only current memberships are considered, there is

greater social participation, particularly among the older group.

62

Several things are suggested by these observations. First, there
is further illumination of a general role-sequence, whereby younger
women pass through one initial organization (the NAYW) and later
branch out into diverse community activities as their own interests
and inclinations dictate. The initial organization is followed in a high
percentage of cases by another prestigeful and expressive (of status)
association. At first, membership in the guild is accompanied by other
activities in the community, but gradually others are drOpped as a
woman's children grow up and weddings and grandchildren demand more
time and attention. Simultaneously the husband's business position
achieves stability and the position of the family in the community is
generally a secure one. There is now the time, the money, and a
circle of friends to encourage more entertaining and enjoyment of purely
social activities. Long winter vacations or trips abroad become
feasible, both economically and occupationally since the husband is
either retired or in an important position where extended vacations are
permitted. The woman now takes on an almost entirely new role,
devoid of extensive family and community responsibilities’ and involving
a more companionable relationship to her husband, and a more socially
accented relationship to her contemporaries. Activities include the
planning. of elaborate menus and decors for parties, and the social
responsibilities of Monday bridge, informal luncheons, and dinner
parties. During this period the husband retires and extensive travel-
ing may follow, so it is necessary to have no responsibilities or
committments tying one to the community.

Second, the higher average participation in civic activities is
undoubtedly due to the wide variety of acceptable and available activities
open to these women as opposed to the very restricted number of ex-

clusive and prestigious social organizations.

63

Some of the specific organizational memberships common to the
women of the tOp prestige group have been mentioned in the preceding
paragraphs. But for clarity a summary of this participation is shown
in Table 14. The most obvious observation that can be made about the
table is the exceedingly small number of organizations in which a

majority of the women participate.

Table 14. Organizational Participation of Women in the TOp Prestige
Group. '

 

Literary Political Hospital Hospital Couples Heart

 

Subgroup NAYW Club Club Guild Aux. Club Fund
---------------- Percent-----—-------
A 53 35 12 76 35 18 0
B 100 26 26 79 5 21 26
Top 20 71 33 14 86 29 24 10
Bottom 20 92 17 25 58 0 25 33

 

In addition to those listed, there are six other groups in which only a
few women are active. This does not include, however, the civic boards
which the younger women attend as part of their duties within the NAYW.
This has been counted as a strictly NAYW activity.

Thus there are only three organizations in which greater than
half of the combined groups (A and B or the top and bottom. twenty)
participate and only two in which more than half of each sub-group
participates. These two groups have been discussed in detail previously.
But two additional observations may be made. First, the percentages
for the literary club show that participation is higher among the older
women who perhaps remember the club when its prestige was un-
questioned and still regard it in this light. And yet, this indicates a

declining rate of participation by comparison with NAYW and the guild.

64

Second, the difference in the percentages under the guild strongly
suggest that social rank is an important factor in guild membership.
While there is negligible difference in participation between the sub-
groups based on age, there is considerable difference between the two

groups based on social rank.

4. Style of Life

 

Certain conveniences or lack of them and ways of doing things
distinguish social groups from one another. It has been shown that
there is a distinctive pattern of participation in specific organizations
and community affairs. There are, in addition, certain characteristics
which are typical of the style of life of the particular social group under
consideration. For example, the use of summer homes apparently has
been declining with the increase in popularity of southern winter
vacations. Many of the older respondents mentioned selling these
homes because they got tired of going back to the same place every
year; they were beginning to travel more and see new places. Also,
with families grown and children married, there was less need for this
facility. While half of the group A families still have summer homes
only one-fifth of the younger set have invested in them. This may be
partly due to the expense of maintaining homes on the "right" northern
lakes and partly due to the fact that there has been increased social
activity in Wheelsburg itself during the summer months, including
programs for the Children at the country club.

There is a definite difference in the use of domestic help between
groups A and B. About two-thirds of group A have daily maids or
servants who live on the premises. A few families have relatively
large domestic staffs. About the same proportion of group B have
cleaning ladies once or twice a week. And most of those without perman-
ent help have a couple on special occasions such as dinner parties to

"serve and butle. "

65

Table 15. Extent of Domestic Help Employed.

 

 

' Once of Twice Special Occasions
Subgroup None Daily Weekly Only
A O 11 5 0
B 1 4 12 l

 

In general the measure of rate of entertaining was not very
differentiating. A more refined measure is needed because it could
provide some interesting and useful data. The measure used was
handicapped by crude intervals and a lack of precise definition of what
constituted formal and informal entertaining. Nevertheless, some
general comments can be made. Group A does considerably more in-
formal entertaining than group B. Twice as many in the older grouP
entertain weekly. About four-fifths of both groups are entertained
informally at least once a week. This testifies to a high rate of inter-
action between cliques within the social system. Informal entertaining
includes luncheons, buffet dinners, and casual evenings with other
congenial couples. Formal entertaining includes sit down dinners,
with either business suits or "black ties“ for the men and the appropriate
dress for the women, formal dinner-dances, and large cocktail parties.
Only a very few families entertain formally as often as weekly or every
other week. Most entertain in this fashion from two to eight times a
year with a high concentration of such parties falling during the
Christmas season. However, roughly half of group A attends formal
functions weekly or every other week and seven-tenths go at least
once a month or more. In the younger group, less than a third go

weekly or bi-weekly but seven-tenths go monthly or more. Again this

66

Table 16. Entertainment Patterns of Groups A and B.

 

Frequency of Entertaining

 

 

Every other Not as-
Type of Entertaining Weekly week Monthly Other certained
A 9 2 2 l 3
Informal entertaining
B 5 9 3 0 2
A 2 l 0 12 1
Formal entertaining
B 0 2 2 l3 2
A 14 l O l 1
Being entertained
informally B 16 1 0 O 2
A 3 5 4 3 2
Being entertained
formally B 1 5 7 4 2

 

suggests that the older group spends more time entertaining and being
entertained than the younger families with more business, community,

and family reSponsibilities .

5. Images of "Society" Held by the Top Prestige Group

 

Several questions tapped the respondents" Opinions about the

nature of the top prestige group as a whole--how definite its member-
ship, the criteria for membership, and the ease with which new members
are accepted. The answers were fairly clear—cut with most women
sharing the same opinions. Seventy per cent felt that it was difficult

for newcomers to be accepted by the group; several of the remaining
contended that it was easy to be accepted, if you had an entree, some-
one to sponsor or recommend you. In the follow-up question, respondents

were asked on what basis new couples are accepted. Two-thirds said it

67

was necessary to be sponsored or introduced by an important member
of the group. Approximately half felt that the husband's position and
the personal attributes of the couple (congenial, interesting, etc.) were
also important factors. Roughly one-third felt that effort and desire
on the part of the newcomer, as well as the clubs which they joined,
influenced their chance of becoming known and accepted by the top
prestige group.

When asked what criteria seemed to be important and to character-
ize those already in Wheelsburg "society, " three-fourths felt that the
husband's position was very important. Nine-tenths felt that enter-
taining was necessary. Wealth and family background were next with
roughly two-thirds citing them as important criteria. The women
themselves, thus, place wealth and background second to the husband's
business position and the fulfillment of entertaining obligations on the
part of the wife. That this is a fairly accurate appraisal is supported
by the fact that those with the highest social rank are named as social
leaders, known for their abilities as hostesses, and the men in these
top families are top influentials and/"or economic dominants in the

community, all occupying important executive or ownership positions.

C. Tests of Related Hypotheses

 

On the basis of theory inferred from observations of upper status
groups in eastern communities, several null hypotheses were derived
concerning ”society" groups in midwestern cities. Warner and others
have hypothesized that cities ”west of the Alleghenies” will not have
"old family" based aristocracies. And Parsons suggests that the main
focus of the top elite today is on occupational status and earnings and
not inherited wealth and locally owned enterprises. It was, thus,

hypothe siz ed that:

68

(1.) Wheelsburg, as a midwestern community with control
of its major enterprises resting outside the community,
will not have a top prestige group charact erized by social
distance, defined boundaries, and established old families.

Certain criteria were set up to demonstrate proof or disproof
of the null hypothesis. First, "If greater than half of the forty members
of the top prestige group are also members of old Wheelsburg families
reject the null hypothesis. ” It was observed that 26 families in the
top 42 (due to two ties) represent second and third generations of old
Wheelsburg families. Fifteen of these are in the top twenty and eleven
in the bottom twenty. Therefore, on the basis of the first criterion,
we would reject the null hypothesis.

The second criterion states that: “If, when the rankings of these
forty members by the two sub—systems (groups A and B) are compared,
there is observed a significant value of rS at the . 05 level, reject the
null hypothesis. " The comparison was actually done on fifty families
with a rS of +.67 observed. Less than . 025 per cent of the time would
a value above . 33 be expected, so the confidence level has been met.
And, on the basis of the second criterion, we would reject the null
hypothesis.

The third criterion states: "If the women mention organizations
and projects with which they are personally associated significantly
more often than they mention other organizations and projects, reject
the null hypothesis. " Several different observations are applicable here.
First, when asked which women's organizations were most important
to the community, the 36 respondents in groups A and B named their
own organizations over others in a ratio of 4: 1.1‘2 The frequency dis-
tribution can be observed in Table 11. With the exception of the

miscellaneous category, only three groups received a substantial vote:

 

12That is, when organizations named by six or more respondents
are considered.

69

the NAYW, the Guild and other hospital groups in general, and the
Symphony groups. With membership in the first two extremely high
and that in the third negligible, the ratio here is 6:1.

A second observation is with respect to the projects of women's
organizations considered most important. Seven of the ten projects
named were projects of one organization, the! NAYW; and the three
non-NAYW projects were mentioned five times or less.

Finally, the rankings of the socially most important organizations
produces a X2 of 90. 28, significant at the . 001 level, illustrating the
high degree of consensus on the ranking of six organizations. In addition,
half or more of the 36 women in groups A and B belong to the first five
organizations. Participation in number one is 78%, in number two,
58%, in number three, 78%, in number four, 50%, in number five, 899:,
and in number six, 3196. No organizations were mentioned except those
to which at least a majority of this group either currently belong or

have belonged in the past.

These three observations, then, support the third criterion and,
on the basis of this, we would reject the null hypothesis.

Therefore, since the data supporting the three criteria call for
rejecting the null hypothesis in the case of all three, it is rejected.
Contrary to Warner's supposition that relatively closed societal groups
do not occur in younger midwestern and western communities, Wheels-
burg appears to have a top prestige group characterized by social
distance--with members well—acquainted with only those activities of
their immediate group--, defined boundaries-~as indicated by the
unanimity on the ranking of families both within the group and outside
of it-—, and established old families.

That these old families are well established is tested again in

 

hypothesis (2.) which states that:

(2.) There will be no correlation between old family
membership and being a social leader.

70

Since old family membership is not a ranked variable, this hypothesis
was tested by means of a binomial probability. Since the hypothesis
p’osits no relationship between social leadership and old family member-
ship, the probability of a social leader being either an. old family
member or not an old family member is . 5. Given p z . 5 and 1-p = . 5,
the probability of observing 9 old family members in a sample of 12

is . 05. This meets the acceptance criterion of an . 05 level of signifi-
cance. Therefore, we would reject the hypothesis of no association
between social leadership and old family membership. There is a

significant relationship between these two variables.

CHAPTER 5

CIVIC AND SOCIAL LEADERS COMPARED

This chapter is concerned with the differential participation of
women in social and civic affairs as it relates to age, social rank, and
the economic and influential position of the husband in the community.
Data from twelve social leaders and 13 civic leaders are used in the
following comparisons. The first hypothesis (Hypothesis 3 in Chapter 3)
in this area states that:

(3.) Women whose husbands are either economic dominants or
top influentials or whose family is in the t0p twenty socially
choose social means (entertaining, belonging to purely social
organizations) to express their social position; whereas women
whose husbands have not achieved community prominence as an
economic dominant or a top influential and whose family is not
among the top twenty, choose civic means (belonging to service
and civic clubs, or educational and political organizations) of

expression.

There are several ways of applying the data to this hypothesis.
Since all the economic dominants and the top influentials except three
are in the top twenty socially, a comparison of the top and bottom
twenty on the type of organizational participation and the extent of
entertaining should provide proof or disproof for the hypothesis.
While the differences in participation in social organizations is neg-
ligible, those in the t0p twenty belong to an average of six civic
organizations while those in the bottom twenty belong to an average of
6. 9, a significant difference at the . 05 level (z = 1.609 for the Mann
Whitney U Test). When the two groups are compared for total number
of all organizations participated in, those in the top twenty belong to an

average of 11. 9 organizations while those in the bottom twenty belong

to an average of 14.4 organizations.

71

72

Possibly because Of the poor measure of entertaining and rate of
being entertained, there are no substantial differences in the enter-
taining pattern of the two groups; only a slight tendency for those in
the top twenty to do more informal entertaining. Thus, there is only
partial support for the hypothesis using the comparison based on
social rank.

When civic and social leaders are compared, however, some
meaningful differences are observed. It should be kept in mind that
these 25 women represent extreme types, one group being known for
their abilities as hostesses and their social participation and the other
being outstanding in their civic contributions to the community.
Nevertheless, other characteristics seem to be differentially related
to these two types. With regard to the hypothesis under consideration,
civic leaders participate in an average Of 11. 2 civic organizations,

5. 2 social and religious organizations, and 2.6 governmental organi-
zations with an average total organizational membership of 19. 7.

In contrast, the social leader belongs to an average of 7. l civic
organizations, 5.1 social organizations, and .75 governmental organi-
zations with an average total organizational membership of 13. In
other words, the social leader is much less active in community
affairs and only approaches the extent of participation Of the civic
leader where social and religious organizations are concerned.

Again no substantial differences exist between the two groups
in the rate of formal entertaining or being entertained formally.
Informally, however, two-thirds of the social leaders, as opposed to
two-fifths of the civic leaders, entertain weekly or more and nine-
tenths of the social leaders, as Opposed to three-fourths Of the civic
leaders are entertained informally at least once a week.

The social leaders are all in the top twenty socially, the husbands
of five of them are either top influentials, economic dominants, or

both, and they (the husbands) belong to anpaverage of 5. 7 community

73

activities and 2.42 corporation boards. In contrast, of the civic
leaders, five are in the top twenty, 4 in the bottom twenty, two are
”just social, ” and two ”not social. " The five members of the top
twenty are the five women who are both civic leaders and social leaders.
Besides three of the husbands of these same five women who are
economic dominants and/or top influentials, none Of the spouses of
civic leaders are so prominent in the community. The husbands of
these women participate in an average of 4. 5 community activities
and serve on 1. 62 corporation boards.

Therefore, although social leaders do not belong to a greater
number of social organizations, they do more informal entertaining
and they participate in significantly fewer civic organizations than do
civic leaders. There is, then, some support for the hypothesis that
women whose husbands are not as active in community and financial
affairs and whose family social position is relatively low will choose
civic means Of expressing and enhancing the family's status and the
husband' 5 position. On the other hand, women, whose husbands are
economically dominant or more active in community affairs tend
to participate less in community and civic organizations and to concen-
trate more on social organizations and activities.

(Hypothesis number (4.) is a corollary of the preceding one,
namely that:

(4.) Civic leaders will have a significantly lower social
rank than social leaders.

Two different tests support this hypothesis. A Mann Whitney U test
comparing the social rank of civic and social leaders yields a signifi-
cant difference in social rank between the two groups (p = . 01 of
Observing a U E 20. 5). The mean social rank for social leaders is
115. 92 while that for civic leaders is 90.88. Of interest also is the
range: for social leaders, w = 14, for civic leaders, w : 76. There

is considerable variation in social rank among the civic leaders.

74

A second test was performed to test the correlation between social
and civic leadership and social rank. It was found that social leader-
ship is highly correlated with social rank (rS = +. 86, p = . 01), while
civic leadership is not correlated at all (rS = .077). In other words,
'the more prestigeful the social leader, the higher her social rank.
Hypothesis number (4.) is, therefore, accepted. But interpretation
of these findings remains.

It is well established that, generally Speaking, women who are
active civically are at the same time socially less prominent. And yet,
although not quite a third of the civic leaders are outside the top 40
socially, the great majority Of these women are within it. It is quite
possible that the respondents have listed women in their own social
group as civic leaders in the community because they are most familiar
with the activities Of these particular women and with the organizations
to which these women belong. That this is so is suggested further by
some of the shared memberships between the two groups. Over nine-
tenths of the civic leaders and three—fourths of the social leaders
belong to the NAYW; 85% of the civic leaders and 100% of the social
leaders belong to the country club; 62% of the civic leaders and 83172 of
the social leaders belong to the Guild; and 38% of the former and 3392
of the latter belong to the dancing club. Approximately the same
percentage of both groups are active in the Community Chest. This
would suggest that the top prestige group is a relatively closed group
with a great deal of social distance between the “in-group" and others
in the community. By and large, these women are not well acquainted
with the activities of, and participants in, organizations with broader
community participation.

However, while a minimal social rank appears necessary to
nomination here as a civic leader, the major factor affecting the

respondents' choice seems to be the extent of a woman's civic

75

participation. Both the number of civic organizations and the total
number of organizations belonged to are positively correlated with
civic leadership (+. 5049 and +.4877 respectively). And yet, while
these are also negatively correlated with social rank, there is no

correlation between civic leadership and social rank.

 

 

+. 077 g
\1 + . 50 j - . 60

civic leadership number of organizations social rank
Interpreting this, one must conclude that civic leadership is dependent
on still another variable, one for which we have no measure, and that
is, the quality of the contributions which these women have made to
the community. Therefore, civic leadership, for the group Of women
interviewed, is dependent upon a minimal social rank, is correlated
with the number of civic and other community organizations belonged
to, and is apparently associated with the quality of performance of
their civic duties; but this last variable should be subjected to further
tests.

The fact that civic leaders (with the exception of two who are
"not social”) do seem to have at least a minimal social rank--the
lowest Of these being only a few points away from the last rank in the
bottom twenty--suggests that, for this group, civic. leadership requires
a certain amount of social acceptance (or rank), but beyond this minimal
requirement civic leadership has little to do with social rank. One
could hypothesize that the extent of civic participation would not affect
the social position of a woman and her family. In fact, a rank corre-
lation test, comparing social rank and the number of civic organizations

participated in, shows in both the case of the civic and social leader,

 

a significant negative correlation between the number of civic organi-

zations belonged to and the women's social rank.l When the same test

 

lCivic leaders, —. 60,significant at .05 IBVEI; social leader, -.832,
Significant at . 01 level.

76

is run comparing social rank and the total number of organizations
belonged to, the same thing appears—-highly significant negative
correlations for both social and civic leaders. 2 In other words, the
greater the number Of organizations belonged to, the lower the social
rank. Of course, this is a general trend, there being some outstand—
ing exceptions as can be noted in the accompanying graphs (Fig. 4).

This finding, in conjunction with previous ones, invites the
interpretation that women, whose social position is relatively (relative
to the "society" group) low or insecure and whose husband has not yet
established himself in the business or civic community, attempt to
enhance both their husband's business position and the status of their
family through widespread participation in civic, social, and religious
organizations. And, furthermore, that women, whose social position
is secure and whose husbands are financially and civically well-known
in the community, do not need to engage in a great many community
organizations and can devote their time instead to participation in the
few select associations of their social group and to fulfilling the social
Obligations expected of someone in their position.

Hypothesis (5. )--that significantly more social leaders than civic _
leaders will have husbands who are either top influentials or economic
dominants--cannot be tested statistically because Of the five over-
lapping persons between the two groups. Only partial support for the
hypothesis may be inferred from the data. Five of the twelve social
leaders have husbands who are either economic dominants, top influ-
entials or both, three of them being both. Among the thirteen civic
leaders only three have husbands who are economic dominants, top
influentials, or both, and all three are women who are also social
leaders. None of the civic leaders of lower social rank have husbands

who are either influential or economically dominant in the community.

 

2Civic leaders, -. 533, significant at . 05 level; social leaders,
-. 70, significant at . 05 level.

77

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Hypothesis (6. )--that social leaders will have a significantly
higher rate of entertaining, both formal and informal-~cannot be
rigorously supported either. However, Table 17 shows some sub-
stantial differences in entertaining between the two groups. Admittedly,
the N's are very small, but the trend is fairly consistent. Considerably
more of the social leaders entertain weekly; the difference is even
greater when the overlapping social leaders are removed from the
civic leader tabulations. The results are far from conclusive; and,
as has been mentioned earlier, a more refined measure for both
frequency and kind Of entertaining is needed. In addition, the esti-
mations of the respondents were very approximate and in some cases,
probably inaccurate. The most valid method of obtaining rates of
entertaining would be to pick several weeks at random through the
year and then ask to examine the social calendars of the reSpondents.
This, however, presents practical difficulties.

There are a few other characteristics on which these two groups
differ. One of these is age. Seven-tenths of the civic leaders are in
their 30's and 40's while three-fourths of the social leaders are in
their 50's and 60's. This lends support to the theory of status and role
sequences based on a system Of age grading. Furthermore, half of
the civic leaders and two-thirds of the social leaders are members Of
Old Wheelsburg families. When the five social leaders are omitted
from the civic leaders, only one-quarter of the remaining belong to
these families.

In an earlier paragraph, Similarities in club memberships
between civic and social leaders were mentioned. In addition, there
are several differences. Slightly more than four-fifths of the
husbands of social leaders belong to the Wheelers Club; only two-
fifths of those of civic leaders do. Again, Slightly more than four-
fifths of the families of social leaders belong to the luncheon club;

only a little more than one-half of the civic leaders do. Forty—two

 

 

 

79

 

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80

per cent of the social leaders and only 8% of the civic leaders belong
to the MAC and/or the MC in the neighboring metropolitan area. And
finally, two-thirds of the husbands Of social leaders and only one-
third of those of civic leaders belong to Rotary. Summing up; the
younger women, while they share many important memberships with
the Older social leaders, have husbands who have not yet moved into
some Of the prestigeful associations common to the older and
financially more successful businessmen. All of the above mentioned
clubs are joined--either by invitation or application--through the

husband.

CHAPTER 6

CONCLUSION

A. Summary of the Thesis

 

The purpose of this thesis was to analyze the top prestige group
in a midwestern, industrial community, delineated first by a repu-
tational technique, and then by self-designation. Two major aspects
have been dealt with: (l) a description Of the group, its structural
aspects, basic values, expectations, style of life, symbolic distinctions,
and types of activities; and (2a) a description Of the extent and style Of
civic and social participation engaged in by the women Of this local
"societyH and (2b) a comparison of the differences in associational
participation between two groups Of women classified as civic and
social leaders.

The research was done in a midwestern, industrial metropolitan
area with a population of approximately 300, 000. The major sources
of employment, automobile manufacturing, metal manufacturing,
government, and education, provide a relatively diversified economic
base. Forty—two socially prominent women were interviewed concern-
ing 1) their participation in civic and social activities, 2) their Opinions
about socially and civically important organizations for women and the
structure and characteristics Of the top prestige group; and 3) personal
information such as schooling, family connections, husband‘s occu-
pation and civic activities, and closest friends. At the conclusion of
the interview a deck Of 80 cards, each containing the name Of a
Wheelsburg. family, was given to the interviewee to sort first into two

piles, those who were "social" and those who were not. Upon completing

81

82

this she was asked to select the twenty most prominent families from
the "social” pile. From this three-way division a measure of social

rank was derived.

1. The Social Structure of Society

 

The Inajor hypothesis connected with the first aspect of the study
states:

That Wheelsburg, as a midwestern community with control
of its major enterprises resting outside the community,
will not have a top prestige group characterized by social
distance, defined boundaries, and established Old families.

On the basis of three criteria-~the presence of old families with
inherited wealth at the apex of the group, unanimity of Opinion regard-
ing membership, and a maintained social distance between the "society"
group and others in the cornmunity--the null hypothesis was rejected.
It can be stated that Wheelsburg, as a midwestern and relatively young
community, has developed a closed, societal group at the apex of its
stratification hierarchy similar to such groups in Older eastern com-
munities.

That Old family membership is important to closed societal
groups even in young communities is tested in the second hypothesis
which states that:

There will be no correlation between old family member-
ship and being a social leader.

It was found that there is a significant association between social
leadership and membership in an Old Wheelsburg family and that,
furthermore, 25 Of the 36 members Of groups A and B are second and
third generation descendants of these early families.

The description of the top prestige group, as a gemeinschaft-like,
communal collectivity, covered several aspects. First, it was pointed
out that there is an informal organization or structure to this social

group. One way of delineating this structure was through the use of
O

83

social rank scores. A structural division into a tOp and bottom twenty
based on social rank was found to be associated. with age differences
between the two groups, length of residence, type and extent of
organizational participation, and with the formation of smaller friend-
ship cliques within the total group. Thus generally, the older a person,
the longer his residency in Wheelsburg, and the more restricted his
associational participation, the higher his social rank.

The tendency to associate with persons closest to one in social
rank is modified by the age structure; age appears to be more important
than similarity of social rank in picking one's closest associates. In
addition, social rank v as important in delineating the position of social
leader within the group structure. That this position is clearly
conceptualized by group members is attested to by the extent of agree-
ment on who fills these positions and the qualities which these women
possess. The definite place of this status-role in the group structure
is demonstrated by the high correlation between social leadership and
social rank (+. 86) and the fact that the five key social leaders have the
five highest social rank scores in the top twenty. Finally, the high
' correlation of agreement (+.67)on the ranking of families suggests
that this is_a group with well—defined boundaries.

Another way of delineating the structure of the top prestige group
was through the use of sociometric techniques. When the 42 reSpondents
were given an unlimited number of free choices of best friends, the
sociogram in Figure 2 resulted. Through the use of this technique,
two sociometric sub-groups were isolated which were found to differ
significantly in age (and consequently in social rank), group expansive-
ness, and extent and kind of group membership. No reciprocal choices
were observed between the two sub-groups and the number of one-way
choices is very small. And yet, these two groups are linked by family

connections and the few overlapping and tangential friendships between

8—1

the older members of group B and the younger ones in group A. Thus,
while these sub—groups differ on certain variables--presumably because
of the age difference involved--they are linked by family connections
and tangential friendships and are similar in the extent of mutuality

I
within each group. This seems to justify classifying group A and B
as sub—groups of a single social system.

A second aSpect covered in the' discussion of the top prestige
group is a description of general characteristics. The data in the
present study confirm what the literature leads us to expect, namely,
that upper status groups in this country are white, Protestant, Republi-
can, above average in education, and in executive or entrepreneurial
positions. More particularly, religious participation is concentrated
in the Congregational and Presbyterian Churches; the average edu-
cation of the women interviewed is 15 years with husbands having
roughly a year Inore of schooling than their wives. An advanced
occupational position appears to be more important in determining

social rank than a e since three—fifths of the top twenty as opposed to

g
not quite one-fifth of the bottom twenty are in presidential or entre-
preneurial positions.

Still another important descriptive aspect concerns the extent
and type of associational participation characteristic of the women in
the top prestige group. Considerable unanimity of opinion was found
on which organizations were civically and socially most important in
the community (from the viewpoint of this social group). Important
differences in the extent of participation in different type organizations
were observed. The women in group B had a consistently higher
average participation in civic, social and religious, and governmental
organizations. Here age appears to be a more differentiating factor

than social rank suggesting that there is a definite age-grading, both

of Specific activities and in breadth of participation. When current,

85

rather than cumulative, participation is considered, the younger
women belong to as many social organizations as the older women
while their civic participation is still considerably greater.
Sequential patterns of membership in different organizations is
common in this group with a distinct narrowing of participation with
increasing age. Activities also become less community and civically

oriented and become more social in nature.

2. Civic and Social Leaders

 

In this section of the study, the concern was primarily with a
comparison of civic and social leaders as representing two methods
of expressing and enhancing social position in the community. Some
support was found for the hypothesis that:

Women whose husbands are not as active in community and
financial affairs and whose family social position is rela-
tively low will choose civic means of expressing and enhancing
the family's status and the husband's position; while women
whose husbands are economically dominant or more active in
community affairs tend to participate less in community and
civic organizations and to concentrate more on social organi-
zations and activities.

Civic leaders were found to have a significantly lower social
rank than the social leaders (Hypothesis 4) with little variation in
social rank among the latter and great variation in social rank among
the former. Social rank was highly correlated with social leadership,
whereas there was virtually no correlation between social rank and
civic leadership. Carrying this a step further, social rank was also
found to be highlyand negatively correlated with the number of
organizations, civic or otherwise, to which .a woman belongs. Civic
leadership, on the other hand, was positively correlated with the
number of organizations.

These findings suggest several things. First, since civic

leadership is not correlated with social rank, it can be assumed that

86

the respondents were not nominating women as civic leaders because
of their social position. However, a minimum social rank seems to
be a necessary condition since all but two of the women are close to
or within the top forty. The respondents, therefore, nominated women
in their own social group who are leaders in organizations with which
they are familiar. It is quite possible, and even probable, that the
list of civic leaders would be different if other sources in the. com-
munity were tapped. It is equally probable that some of the same
women would appear on these different lists because they are visibly
active in the community-at-large, serving on state-wide and national
boards as well. Nevertheless, it is fairly certain that other factors
entered into their choice of civic leaders other than a minimal social
rank and an extensive participation in community organizations.

A possible intervening variable could be the quality of work done in
civic organizations. The strength of this possibility is supported by
the comments of many of the respondents who frequently associated
different civic leaders with particularly outstanding contributions in
Special areas. However, this is purely Speculative and should be

tested in further research in this area.

B. Limitations of the Study

 

Several, but by no means all of the shortcomings of the present
study can be mentioned in this short section. Those which follow are
generally the more obvious errors and, in some cases, the more
amenable to treatment. Let's begin, however, with one which isn‘t.
Because of the nature of the problem, no acceptable sampling technique
could be used. And given a problem of this type, where a particular
group is being studied as a structural unit, there seems to be no way

to introduce random sampling into the methodological procedure.

87

A second limitation is concerned with the question on the un-
limited and free sociometric choice of best friends. During the
analytical stages of the research, the author became fairly well
acquainted with the available techniques for analyzing sociometric

data, and their shortcomings and assumptions. To date, no analytical

 

technique has been devised which measures the probability of observ-
ing a given number of reciprocal choices where neither the number of
choices made nor the possible number of choices that can be made is
controlled. It is the last criterion which is the stumbling block.

Katz it all have deveIOped a technique for figuring the probability of

an observed number of reciprocal choices where unlimited choice is
permitted; but the technique requires that there be a known number of
possible choices. The author would suggest that, since the socio—
metric technique used in this study provided a great deal of valuable
data, further research might use a similar technique with modifications.
First, restricting the number of choices would provide a tighter con-
ceptualization of a restricted group; it would not give as complete
information about peripheral members of the group. Secondly, however,
if the sociometric technique is used to define the group, there is no way
of limiting in advance the population from which they can choose.

A third shortcoming which arose during the analysis of the data
appeared in the index of entertaining rates. It has been suggested
earlier that a more refined index is needed, and a more accurate
method of obtaining the information. The following is in the nature of
a suggestion for the improvement of this index in further studies.

Select three separate weeks throughout the year; then ask respondents
if they would refer to their "social calendars" and count the number

of times in each week that they attended different types of functions,

 

1Leo Katz, R. Tagiuri, and T. R. Wilson, "A Note on Estimat-
ing the Statistical Significance of Mutuality, " unpublished MS, Dept.
of Statistics, Michigan State University, 1960.

88

i. e. , luncheons and afternoon programs, bridge games and other
informal get-togethers during the day, formal dinners or parties,
informal dinners or parties, and committee or organizational meet-

ings. Sub-totals for each week could then be averaged.

C. Suggestions for Further Research

 

In order to ascertain under what conditions closed societal
groups appear at the apex of community stratification systems, it
would be necessary to perform research of this nature in communities
similar in size but different in its industrial make-up, and in com-
munities similar in industrial make-up, but differing in size.

A second suggestion concerns the method of determining civic
leaders in a community. In order to get a better community-wide
representation, a more diverse panel of judges should be used. The
more inclusive list which would result could then be profitably com—
pared with the list obtained from a relatively restricted social group.

A final suggestion also concerns the second major aspect of this
study. More detailed research in the comparison of civic and social
leaders as they represent polar ways of expressing and enhancing
social position would add to our knowledge of community processes
(power, institutional linkage, etc.), status symbolization, and social

mobility.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Books

 

Amory, Cleveland. Who Killed Society? New York: Harper and
Brothers, 1960.

 

Baltzell. Edward Digby. Philadelphia Gentleman. Glencoe, Illinois:
The Free Press, 1958.

 

Dixon, Wilfred J. , and Massey, Frank J. , Jr. Introduction to
Statistical Analysis. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Co., Inc. ,
1957.

 

 

Davis, Allison, Gardner, Burleigh B., and Gardner, Mary R.
Deep South. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1941.

 

Form, William H., and Miller, Delbert C. Industry, Labor, and
Community. New York: Harper and Brothers, 1960.

 

 

Grund, Francis J. Aristocracy in America. New York: Harper and
Brothers, 1959.

 

Hunter, Floyd. Community Organization: Action and Inaction.
Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1956.

 

Community Pov'er Structure. Chapel Hill: University of
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Kalil, Joseph. The American Class Structure. New York: Rinehart
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Kavaler, Lucy. The Private World of High Society. New York:
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Loomis, Charles P. Social Systems: Essays on Their Persistence
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Lynd, Robert S., and Lynd, Helen M. Middletown. New York:
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Middletown in Transition. New York: Harcourt, Brace
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89

9O

Merton, Robert K. Social Theory and Social Structure. Glencoe,

 

Illinois: The Free Press, 1957.

Mills, C. Wright. The Power Elite. New York: Oxford University
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Siegel, Sidney. Nonparametric Statistics for the Behavioral Sciences.
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Van Rensselaer, lvlrs. John King. The Social Ladder. New York:
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Veblen, Thorstein. The Theory of the Leisure Class. New York:
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Warner, W. Lloyd et a1. Democracy in Jonesville: A Study in Quality
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and Lunt, Paul S. The Status System of a Modern Com-
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, and . The Social Life of a Modern Community.
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, Meeker, Marchia, and Eells, Kenneth. Social Class in
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Zorbaugh, Harvey Warren. Gold Coast and Slum. Chicago: University
of Chicago Press, 1929.

 

Articles

Babchuk, Nicholas, Marsey, Ruth, and Gordon, C. Wayne. "Men and
Women in Community Agencies: A Note on Power and Prestige, ”
American Sociological Review, XXV (June 1960), 399-403.

 

Bendix, Reinhard, and Lipset, Seymour Martin. "Karl Marx‘ Theory
of Social Classes," Class, Status and Power. Edited by Bendix
and Lipset. Glencoe, Illinois: The Free Press, 1953, 26-34.

 

Form, William H. , and Stone, Gregory P. "Urbanism, Anonymity,
and Status Symbolism, " American Journal of Sociology. LXII
(March 1957), 504~51~l.

 

91

Gordon, C. Wayne, and Babchuk, Nicholas. “A Typology of Voluntary -
Associations, " American Sociological Revie\:. XXIV (February
1959): 22-29.

 

Kish, Leslie. "Confidence Intervals for Clustered Samples, ”
American Sociological Review. XXII (April 1957), 154-165.

 

"Some Statistical Problems in Research Design, " American
Sociological Review. XXIV (June 1959), 328-338.

 

 

Komarovsky, Mira. “Voluntary Associations of Urban Dwellers, "
American Sociological Review. XI (December 19-16), 686-698.

 

Kornhauser, Ruth Rosner. “The Warner Approach to Social Stratifi-
cation, " Class, Status and Power. Edited by Reinhard Bendix
and Seymour Lipset. Glencoe, Illinois: The Free Press, 1953,
224-254.

 

Miller, Delbert C. "Industry and Community Power Structure, "
American Sociological Review. XXIII (February 1958), 9-15.

 

lVlinnis, Mhyra S. "The Patterns of Women’s Organizations: Significance
Types, Social Prestige Rank, and Activities, " Community Structure
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Y. Crowell Company, 1959, 369-887.

7

 

 

Parsons, Talcott. "A Revised Analytical Approach to the Theory of
Social Stratification, " Class, Status and Power. Edited by
Reinhard Bendix and Seymour Lipset. Glencoe, Illinois: The
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Pfautz, Harold W. "The Current Literature on Social Stratification,
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Proctor, Charles H. , and Loomis, Charles P. “Analysis of Socio-
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Selected Techniques. Edited WMarie Jahoda, Morton Deufsch,
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561~585.

 

 

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Schulze, Robert O. "The Role of Economic Dominants in Community
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(February 1958), 3-9

 

Slater, Carol. "Class Differences in Definition of Role and Member-
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American Journal of Sociology. LXV (May 1960), 616—619.

 

Stone, Gregory P., and Form, William H. "Instabilities in Status:
The Problem of Hierarchy in the Community Study of Status
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1953L 149-162.

 

Toennies, Ferdinand. ”Estates and Classes, " Class, Status and Power.
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Unpublished hiaterial

 

Clelland, Donald. "The Role of Economic Dominants in the Community
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Form, William H., and Sauer, Warren L. ”Community Influentials
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Department of Statistics, Michigan State University, 1960.

APPENDIX

93

94

THE RELATIONS AMONG THE SOCIAL, INFLUENTIAL
AND ECONOMIC ELITES

When the tOp prestige group as a whole is compared with the two
other elites delineated in Wheelsburg, some interesting things appear.
From Table 18 it is apparent that 6 of the men in the top twenty
families are economic dominants and five are top influentials. Four
in each of these two categories are the same men as can be seen in
the breakdown of Table 18. Only one man in the bottom twenty is both

an economic dominant and a top influential.

Table 18. Extent of Overlap Between Three Wheelsburg Elites.

 

 

 

 

Top Bottom
Husband listed as Twenty Twenty Totals
Economic dominant 6 2 8
Top influential 5 Z 7
Totals 11 4 15

Breakdown, by Family, of Table 18.

 

Top BOttom Top Economic

Family Twenty Twenty Influential Dominant

QL X X I X

LR X X X

WY X X X

EB X X X

DF X X

AG X X

JQ X X

KU X X

PW X

YD X X X

 

1William H. Form and Warren L. Sauer, ”Community Influentials
in a Middle-Sized City: A Case Study, " Institute of Community Develop-

ment in the Labor-Industrial Relations Center, 1960; Donald Clelland,
"The Role of Economic Dominants in the Community Power Structure of
a Mid-Western City, " unpublished MA thesis, Michigan State University

1960.

95

The implications of this overlap between the three elites are difficult

to draw. No necessary correlation between Social position, cmnmunity
power, and control of large economic institutions can be assumed.

But since four of the five then who are in all three elites are in the top
twenty, some complex association between high social position and
economic and community power must exist. That. this association is
complex is attested to by three other observations: 1) of the 12. men
who are both top influentials and economic dominants, only five are

in the top ~10 socially; and 2) when the women reSpondents were asked
whether those who were powerful in the community were also socially
prominent, relatively few answered with a simple yes or no (yes - 8,
no - 5). Twelve women thought most were in the top prestige group,

9 thought most were not socially prominent, and three said it was
about half and half. 3) Finally, several of the women claimed that
those who were wealthy and socially prominent had very little power
in city government or in conununity-wide affairs in which governmental
officials take an active part. Two recent examples were given.

The Wheelsburg school board changed the boundaries of several
school districts in order to equalize the number of students attending
two schools. The adjoining districts are extremely diverse economically
and racially so that the new districts required that children in the
wealthiest and socially more prominent section of town attend a school
chiefly attended by lower class Negroes and whites. The parents in
this upper economic area organized a fight through the city council
using as their official complaint the fact that their children had to
cross a dangerous traffic artery and insisting that an overpass be
built so that their children could safely attend the school. The racial
issue was not raised officially, but several respondents mentioned
that they were all considering private schools if the school board did
both the school board and the

not reverse its decision. However

96

city council remained adamant; the new boundaries remained and the
request for an overpass was rejected.

A second case involved city government alone. Because of the
increasing population of outlying areas and of an increase in the area
around Wheelsburg from which the labor force comes, there deve10ped
a need for a new or increased capacity artery into the city. Three
plans were proposed: one was for widening an already existing main
street and an old bridge spanning the river which runs through down-
town W'heelsburg; another advocated a new route considerably south
of town and also involved widening a bridge; and the third proposed
a new route and nnw bridge which could cut through the country club
and the. highest evaluated private prOpertv in Wheelsburg--the same
section affected by the school board' 5 decision. No decision has been
made as yet, but many respondents in this area claimed that there
was absolutely nothing they or their husbands could do to prevent the
city government from accepting Plan 3.

This points to two issues where both community influentials and
economic dominants are powerless perhaps because most men in
city government are. white collar officials or workers who are
economically not vulnerable. In line with these two issues, it is
interesting to observe that the most frequently mentioned cmnplaint
about Wheelsburg by those interviewed centered around the lack of
planning for future growth and the mixed residential and industrial
districts which have resulted from this lack of planning in the past.
The reason for this is suggested by the discussion of the two issues.
Men in the business community, whose visibility makes them
cautious about taking positions in the community, have assiduously
refrained from taking part in city government in any way. Where
airports, industrial developments, and renewal of the downtown area

are concerned, these men are very active and successful. But because

\O
‘1

of the controversies and ambiguous situations involved in government--
and perhaps for other, less obvious reasons--bankers, corporation
presidents, other executives, and retail businessmens-all men of
outstanding organizational ability and experience--refrain from
participation in the more general, and perhaps mundane, planning of

a city.

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