Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 3.djvu/634

 620 THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGY

pendent of each other and the further fact that the families were taken from two neighborhoods differing largely in their economic and social organization. The Stock Yards is a specialized industrial community, almost all the residents being connected with the one industry, with its peculiarities of wages and trade fluctuations. Englewood, on the other hand, is almost suburban in many of its characteristics ; has no dominant industrial center ; its residents are engaged in a great number of small and con- siderably diversified industries. The small number of cases selected makes this uniformity more remarkable, and if it had been possible to have analyzed a much larger number, undoubt- edly many of the existing differences would have been elimi- nated.

That the method as here carried out has many defects no one is more thoroughly aware than the writer, and it might be well, in conclusion, to say just a few words regarding the more evident criticisms. In the first place, the list of causes might easily be criticised, both for sins of omission and commission. It is especially deficient, perhaps, in those causes, indicating lack of moral character dishonesty, roving disposition, moral weak- ness, etc. But these are causes particularly susceptible of sub- jective influence, and do not lend themselves readily to classifica- tion, and, finally, it is always a question with such characteristics,

NOTE. In the left half of the tables the cases are arranged after the name of each factor in the order of the number of units contributed by the factor, as indicated by the figures at the head of the column ; for example, in the Stock Yards table, lack of employment contributed the entire 10 units in eight cases, 9 units in three cases, etc. In the right half of the tables those cases in which the main cause (given at the extreme left) contributed more than 5 units are further analyzed to show the character and importance of contributing causes. For example, in the Stock Yards table, in those cases in which lack of employment was the principal cause (contribut- ing 5 or more units), intemperance was a contributing factor II times; laziness, 6; incompetence, 17, etc. The extent to which these contributing causes entered is shown by the number of units they contributed, indicated by the italic figures placed beneath the number of cases. For example, intemperance contributed 25 units in the ii cases in which it entered. In every instance the upper figures indicate number of cases, the lower, italic, the units. As there seemed to be several instances where no one cause contributed five units, the footings of the right half of the table will not agree with those on the left.