The development, content, societal and individual effects of selected myths toward the aged in American society were reviewed and analyzed. Emphasis was placed on factors associated with the development of the myths . The myths were compared with facts or reality relative to the major dimensions of the lives of the aged. The functions and dysfunctions of the myths for the aged as a group, for the individual, and for society were analyzed. Secondary sources of data were utilized in the preliminary identification of the selected myths. The sources were also used to justify the selection and analyze the development of myths within their socio-cultural milieus. Myths were utilized in the analysis of the attitudes toward the aged, and the effects.

This study is an investigation of the relationships between selected structural characteristics of the community and the quality of housing. It quantitatively examines the relationship between the following structural elements as independent variables and quality of housing as the dependent variable. The independent variables are city size, sex-age composition, socioeconomic status, racial-ethnic composition, age of the city, regional location, form of government, city type and occupancy status.

Since World War II there has been a "revolutionary" increase in nonparental preschool-age child care. However, the effects of nonparental preschool care remains illusive. In an effort to address some of the limitations of previous research, seven different types of preschool-age care were statistically analyzed. Survey research and available data were gathered on 456 students in a large mid-south metropolitan area. Academic performance was measured by intelligence test scores and report card spelling grades from the sample children's third grade permanent record file. School behavior was measured by the child's conduct score over several years. Fourteen background conditions served as controls.

The problem of the investigation was to ascertain the contributions of various sociological theorists to a sociology of emotions. Emphasis was to be placed on the symbolic interactionist school. The method employed was that of a literature review, with an evaluative analysis of each of a number of writers as each contributed to a sociology of emotions. The study had the purpose of remedying the long-standing neglect of emotions by sociologists. This purpose was accomplished by indicating the distinctive contributions of each theorist and areas of convergence among theorists. The investigation was organized according to groups of theorists. Each theorist was examined for conceptions of human nature and of the relationship between the individual and society. Chapter I discussed the problem in general; the remaining chapters analyzed the theorists. Chapter II discussed the classical theorists Emile Durkheim, Max Weber, Georg Simmel, and Talcott Parsons. Chapter III presented the views of the symbolic interactionists George Herbert Mead, Charles Cooley, Herbert Blumer, Hans Gerth and C. Wright Mills, and Erving Goffman. Chapter IV treated contemporary theorists: Arlie Hochschild, Theodore Kemper, Susan Shott, and Norman Denzin.

This research sought to identify the determinants of nonuse and high use of physician services and assess whether or not patterns of nonuse and high use changed over time. The population of interest was a group of elderly unmarried women who participated in the Longitudinal Retirement History Survey from 1969 to 1979. Andersen and Newman's (2) health care services utilization model served as the conceptual framework for this research. Of specific interest was the relationship between age strata and health care behavior. Age proved to be a stratifying variable within the health care delivery system. Over the ten year survey period, the health care behavior of preretirement and postretirement nonusers and high users differed significantly. A decline in nonuse was also associated with the transition years. This finding could be attributed to the "near poor" becoming eligible for Medicare. In any event, these data show that utilization of physician services is likely to increase among some unmarried women in their middle 60's.

The purpose of this research is to investigate the changes in countries of origin and occupational groups of immigrants to the United States after the implementation of the 1965 Immigration Act. The basic policy change in the 1965 Immigration Act was essentially the abolition of the National Origins Quota System. The new law led to obvious changes in the origins of immigrants. The number of Southern European, Asian and Caribbean immigrants significantly increased since the implementation of the Act. The sources of the various occupational groups shifted to some extent. The number of immigrants in the professional and highly skilled categories increased significantly. The impact of the changes aggravated the "brain drain" problem.

This study begins to fill the gap in sociological literature on movements and countermovements by exploring the dynamic environment of two movement organizations. After documenting the climate of public opinion on abortion, it investigates the strategy and tactics employed by a movement to maintain that opinion and a countermovement to reverse that opinion. It relates social movements to their social environments, social change, opposition, and strategy and tactics. It illustrates the efficacy of single-issue groups in the American social and political environment. Finally, this thesis demonstrates the validity of exploratory studies by uncovering elements of social movements and countermovements that had not been previously investigated.