Cross-Cultural Research

The linked pair solution to Galton's problem is examined from the per spective of the autocorrelation problem in economics. The estimated de grees of freedom, but not the correlations, are shown to be inflated due to diffusional and historical associations. An alternate form of the linked pair method is derived from the Orcutt-James solution to the autocorrelation problem. This technique permits unrestricted sampling of societies along a diffusion or geographic arc, and then provides a formula for calculating the effective number of nonredundant cases for statistical tests. The advantages and disadvantages of the method are discussed.

This paper presents new evidence and a model which are consistent with the theory that the prohibition of familial mating became universal and may have originated because of the problem of inbreeding. The new evi dence has to do with why the incest taboo may be extended to first cousins; of all the available theories, only that of inbreeding seems to explain the cross-cultural variation in cousin marriage. The model described here gen erates estimates of reproductive rates that might have obtained in earlier hypothetical populations. These estimates suggest that the differences in re productive rates between familial and nonfamilial matings may have been great enough for people to have recognized the disadvantage of inbreeding and to have consciously prohibited it.

The Human Relations Area Files has a number of computer programs specifically designed for cross-cultural survey (hologeistic) research. The programs can deal with many of the methodological problems routinely encountered in such research, greatly simplifying the task of data analysis. These HRAFLIB programs are being made available to the general pub lic. People who want to use them can either obtain the programs from HRAF (and adapt them to their own computer systems) or send their data to HRAF for analysis and have the output mailed back.