Abstract
In the past few years, factor analysis has been used with increasing fre quency as a means for simplifying and epitomizing relationships among sociocultural attributes. For the most part, those who have used the factor analytic model have applied it to the search for simple structure-for the discovery of homogeneous and mutually independent subsets of variables.
In this paper, one factor analysis of comparative ethnographic data, per formed by Sawyer and LeVine, is transformed (by selective rotation) away from the simple structure mode. The transformation produced a number of perspectives on the data which are different from those elicited in the Sawyer-LeVine factor structure. The present findings in no way con tradict those of Sawyer and LeVine; rather, they provide expansions on, and refinements of, certain points. Most importantly, they demonstrate the utility of taking a more flexible approach than has been traditional to the problem of factor rotations.
Some specific results of the present analysis with clear relevance to sociocultural theory include the following: a factor strongly linking food- producing technology to sociopolitical complexity; a partitioning of patri lineal social organization into a general variable, on the one hand, and a specific variant, on the other; and the definition of a general sociopolitical model for smaller-scale, yet politically organized, societies. These results are discussed in the light of theories of culture patterning and cultural evo lution. [Factor analysis; Cross-cultural comparison; Cultural evolution; Culture patterns.]
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