Ronald C Wimberley
Biographic Data
| ID | 3923651 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Ronald C Wimberley |
| GIVEN NAMES | Ronald C |
| FAMILY NAME | Wimberley |
| SIGNATURE | WIMBERLEY R C |
| AFFILIATIONS | North Carolina State University |
| VERIFIED | No |
| TOTAL WORKS | 29 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 65 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 29 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1971 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2008 |
| H-INDEX | 5 |
Sociology with a Southern Face: Why Are We Sociologists and What Are We Doing About It in the South
Sociology with a Southern face characterizes Southern sociologists and Southern social issues. This article asks why we are sociologists and what we are doing about it in the South. I posit that many Southern sociologists share common biographical experiences that provide insights for understanding and solving Southern problems. Longstanding conditions of the Black Belt are used as an example with special focus on Southern demographics and persis…
Communicating Research to Policymakers
The World Is Still Round, And Sociology Is Still Flat
Expanded version of the keynote address for the annual meeting of the Georgia Sociological Association, St. Simon’s Island, October 21, 2005
Services and Quality of Life in Rural Villages in the Former Soviet Union: Data from 1991 and 1993 Surveys
This book examines rural households' use of and views toward different types of services during the collapse of the Soviet Union and the beginning of the market economy. Using data from 1991 and 1993 household surveys in two rural villages, one in southern Russia and the other in eastern Ukraine, the researchers describe how rural residents viewed the transition from state, mainly kolkhoz (collective farm), monopolies on the provision of retail f…
Dismissal of a Sociologist: The Aaup Report on Carl C. Taylor1
The dismissal in 1931 of a distinguished sociologist, Carl C. Taylor, after 11 years as an influential faculty member, and the investigation by the American Association of University Professors which followed has received little attention in the literature on the history of sociology. Taylor did not have the security of a tenure system. Years later, he received an honorary degree from the same institution, now North Carolina State University, fro…
Applied sociology? Even musicians give concerts
Forgotten Places: Uneven Development in Rural America
Policy Perspectives on Social, Agricultural, and Rural Sustainability1
Three types of agricultural, or sustainability, policy are introduced. One deals with the interests of society, another with the agricultural sector, and the third with rural people and places. Each type serves different purposes, interest groups, and issues. Yet, they share some common ground. Because social, agricultural, and rural objectives are interdependent, we need all three policy types if any is to be effective in a highly specialized so…
The challenge of training in applied sociology
Varieties of Civil Religion
American Civil Religion: An Assessment
Civil religion, social indicators, and public policy
Civil Religion and Other Religious Identities
Civil religion has been conceptualized as an integrative belief system that transcends denominational sectors of the society. However, this claim has remained unsubstantiated. Neither has it been tested whether the unchurched subscribe to civil religion or whether any differential levels of civil religion among religious groupings can be attributed to other social factors. In this study it is found that practically all the respondents share civil…
Civil Religion and the Choice for President: Nixon in '72
Civil Religion and Church and State
Earlier conceptualizations suggest a socially integrative civil religion in the United States and define it as not infringing upon church and state separation. No published empirical evidence exists, however, of the alleged compatibility of these two beliefs in the minds of the citizenry. Because the idea of civil religion rests largely upon such an assumption, the relationship between civil religion and church-state separatism is tested in an an…
Continuity in the Measurement of Civil Religion
Comparing Package Programs for Factor Analysis
Earlier comparisons of packaged programs for factor analysis are updated because of recent revisions in some programs. The top status of SPSS is no longer so apparent as formerly. BMD and SAS now have expanded options. SAS has flexibility and convenience
Who Is Civil Religious
Civil religious ideology is allegedly shared by a vast majority of Americans. This paper explores civil religious adherence for various religious, political, social, economic, and demographic aggregates. Data were obtained from a statewide survey of 3,054 North Carolinians conducted in 1975. Findings indicate a fairly uniform level of support for tenets of civil religion from most segments of the population. Implications of such support are discu…
The Supreme Court and Religion
Dimensions of Commitment: Generalizing from Religion to Politics
Several dimensions of religious commitments have been proposed and studied in the sociology of religion. These are taken as empirical generalizations which may be applicable to politics. Results of data from a metropolitan sample are factored, obliquely rotated, and interpreted. As hypothesized, corresponding sets of dimensions result for religious and political variables. Rather than thefive dimensions originally sought, six are considered to be…
Division in the Protestant House
Alam and Alas: Questioning Error Assignments in Unidimensional Guttman Scaling
When researchers use the Guttman scalogram rather than multidimensional techniques, scalogram error assignment techniques should be questioned. An alternative to the customary minimizing error rule is suggested through ALAM and ALAS criteria which use ordinal information in scalable item marginals
Testing the Civil Religion Hypothesis
The purpose of this study is to measure civil religion and to test Bellah's hypothesis of a separate civil religious dimension. An essentially transcendent conceptualization of civil religion is assessed through factor and cluster analyses. Indicators of civil religion are observed to form a distinct composite variable which juxtaposes other dimensions of religion and politics. These results confirm thefindings of earlier research on civil and ch…
The Civil Religious Dimension: Is It There
This study seeks the empirically elusive dimension of civil religion which has been suggested by Bellah and others. It is done against the backdrop of previously established orientations to church religion. Items designed for both civil and church religious dimensions are factor analyzed and obliquely rotated. In contrast to previously unsuccessful efforts with less direct techniques, civil religion clearly emerges as a distinct factor, separate …
A Program for the T-Score Normal Standardizing Transformation
This FORTRAN program transforms raw values of a variable into T-scores having a normal distribution with a mean of 50 and a standard deviation of 10. Options are available for the categorization of data, the assignment of missing data, and the merging of old input data records with new output records which contain T-scores of the variables for each case. New records alone or new plus old record output may be placed on cards, tape, or disk
Who Is Civil Religious
Civil religious ideology is allegedly shared by a vast majority of Americans. This paper explores civil religious adherence for various religious, political, social, economic, and demographic aggregates. Data were obtained from a statewide survey of 3,054 North Carolinians conducted in 1975. Findings indicate a fairly uniform level of support for tenets of civil religion from most segments of the population. Implications of such support are discu…
Conversion in a Billy Graham Crusade: Spontaneous Event or Ritual Performance
Literature on religious conversion contains turnabout and ritualistic explanations. This paper examines the nature of the contemporary religious revival or crusade and finds evidence that revival conversions are ritualistic, integrative events. Crusaders are over-whelmingly church members and frequent church attenders. The Graham organization carefully structures the conversion process through local community organization, counselors, screening q…
Policy Perspectives on Social, Agricultural, and Rural Sustainability1
Three types of agricultural, or sustainability, policy are introduced. One deals with the interests of society, another with the agricultural sector, and the third with rural people and places. Each type serves different purposes, interest groups, and issues. Yet, they share some common ground. Because social, agricultural, and rural objectives are interdependent, we need all three policy types if any is to be effective in a highly specialized so…
Testing the Civil Religion Hypothesis
The purpose of this study is to measure civil religion and to test Bellah's hypothesis of a separate civil religious dimension. An essentially transcendent conceptualization of civil religion is assessed through factor and cluster analyses. Indicators of civil religion are observed to form a distinct composite variable which juxtaposes other dimensions of religion and politics. These results confirm thefindings of earlier research on civil and ch…
Sociology with a Southern Face: Why Are We Sociologists and What Are We Doing About It in the South
Sociology with a Southern face characterizes Southern sociologists and Southern social issues. This article asks why we are sociologists and what we are doing about it in the South. I posit that many Southern sociologists share common biographical experiences that provide insights for understanding and solving Southern problems. Longstanding conditions of the Black Belt are used as an example with special focus on Southern demographics and persis…
Civil religion, social indicators, and public policy
Civil Religion and Church and State
Earlier conceptualizations suggest a socially integrative civil religion in the United States and define it as not infringing upon church and state separation. No published empirical evidence exists, however, of the alleged compatibility of these two beliefs in the minds of the citizenry. Because the idea of civil religion rests largely upon such an assumption, the relationship between civil religion and church-state separatism is tested in an an…
Continuity in the Measurement of Civil Religion
Dimensions of Commitment: Generalizing from Religion to Politics
Several dimensions of religious commitments have been proposed and studied in the sociology of religion. These are taken as empirical generalizations which may be applicable to politics. Results of data from a metropolitan sample are factored, obliquely rotated, and interpreted. As hypothesized, corresponding sets of dimensions result for religious and political variables. Rather than thefive dimensions originally sought, six are considered to be…
Applied sociology? Even musicians give concerts
The challenge of training in applied sociology
Civil Religion and Other Religious Identities
Civil religion has been conceptualized as an integrative belief system that transcends denominational sectors of the society. However, this claim has remained unsubstantiated. Neither has it been tested whether the unchurched subscribe to civil religion or whether any differential levels of civil religion among religious groupings can be attributed to other social factors. In this study it is found that practically all the respondents share civil…
The Civil Religious Dimension: Is It There
This study seeks the empirically elusive dimension of civil religion which has been suggested by Bellah and others. It is done against the backdrop of previously established orientations to church religion. Items designed for both civil and church religious dimensions are factor analyzed and obliquely rotated. In contrast to previously unsuccessful efforts with less direct techniques, civil religion clearly emerges as a distinct factor, separate …
Communicating Research to Policymakers
Dismissal of a Sociologist: The Aaup Report on Carl C. Taylor1
The dismissal in 1931 of a distinguished sociologist, Carl C. Taylor, after 11 years as an influential faculty member, and the investigation by the American Association of University Professors which followed has received little attention in the literature on the history of sociology. Taylor did not have the security of a tenure system. Years later, he received an honorary degree from the same institution, now North Carolina State University, fro…
Civil Religion and the Choice for President: Nixon in '72
In the Company of the Converted: Characteristics of a Billy Graham Crusade Audience
This article is an examination of the social characteristics of a Billy Graham Crusade audience in Knoxville, Tennessee. Basic data sources are (1) a short questionnaire administered to persons in randomly selected seats, (2) a larger follow-up mail questionnaire, and (3) a comparison survey of area residents. Crusade attenders are more educated and of higher income and occupational prestige than area residents. They attend church more frequently…
Toward the Measurement of Commitment Strength
This paper suggests that strength of commitment be measured apart from the underlying commitment positions. This suggestion is empirically directed to the study of religious commitments where much conceptual and empirical effort has been spent. Guttman attitudinal components plus items of an intrinsic-extrinsic nature are offered as possible guidelines for measuring this strength. Data on commitment and its strength in the dimension of religious …
Mobility in Ministerial Career Patterns: Exploration
of Southern Baptist pastors is analyzed according to various career mobility patterns. Weighted summary data reveal that about forty per cent are upwardly mobile and slightly more than one-fourth have stable mobility patterns; the remainder are roughly split between erratic mobility, downward mobility, and immobility. The patterns are analyzed according to congregation variables and personal characteristics of the pastors
In the Company of the Converted: Characteristics of a Billy Graham Crusade Audience
This article is an examination of the social characteristics of a Billy Graham Crusade audience in Knoxville, Tennessee. Basic data sources are (1) a short questionnaire administered to persons in randomly selected seats, (2) a larger follow-up mail questionnaire, and (3) a comparison survey of area residents. Crusade attenders are more educated and of higher income and occupational prestige than area residents. They attend church more frequently…
Toward the Measurement of Commitment Strength
This paper suggests that strength of commitment be measured apart from the underlying commitment positions. This suggestion is empirically directed to the study of religious commitments where much conceptual and empirical effort has been spent. Guttman attitudinal components plus items of an intrinsic-extrinsic nature are offered as possible guidelines for measuring this strength. Data on commitment and its strength in the dimension of religious …
A Program for the T-Score Normal Standardizing Transformation
This FORTRAN program transforms raw values of a variable into T-scores having a normal distribution with a mean of 50 and a standard deviation of 10. Options are available for the categorization of data, the assignment of missing data, and the merging of old input data records with new output records which contain T-scores of the variables for each case. New records alone or new plus old record output may be placed on cards, tape, or disk
Conversion in a Billy Graham Crusade: Spontaneous Event or Ritual Performance
Literature on religious conversion contains turnabout and ritualistic explanations. This paper examines the nature of the contemporary religious revival or crusade and finds evidence that revival conversions are ritualistic, integrative events. Crusaders are over-whelmingly church members and frequent church attenders. The Graham organization carefully structures the conversion process through local community organization, counselors, screening q…
Alam and Alas: Questioning Error Assignments in Unidimensional Guttman Scaling
When researchers use the Guttman scalogram rather than multidimensional techniques, scalogram error assignment techniques should be questioned. An alternative to the customary minimizing error rule is suggested through ALAM and ALAS criteria which use ordinal information in scalable item marginals
Testing the Civil Religion Hypothesis
The purpose of this study is to measure civil religion and to test Bellah's hypothesis of a separate civil religious dimension. An essentially transcendent conceptualization of civil religion is assessed through factor and cluster analyses. Indicators of civil religion are observed to form a distinct composite variable which juxtaposes other dimensions of religion and politics. These results confirm thefindings of earlier research on civil and ch…
The Civil Religious Dimension: Is It There
This study seeks the empirically elusive dimension of civil religion which has been suggested by Bellah and others. It is done against the backdrop of previously established orientations to church religion. Items designed for both civil and church religious dimensions are factor analyzed and obliquely rotated. In contrast to previously unsuccessful efforts with less direct techniques, civil religion clearly emerges as a distinct factor, separate …
Division in the Protestant House
Comparing Package Programs for Factor Analysis
Earlier comparisons of packaged programs for factor analysis are updated because of recent revisions in some programs. The top status of SPSS is no longer so apparent as formerly. BMD and SAS now have expanded options. SAS has flexibility and convenience
Who Is Civil Religious
Civil religious ideology is allegedly shared by a vast majority of Americans. This paper explores civil religious adherence for various religious, political, social, economic, and demographic aggregates. Data were obtained from a statewide survey of 3,054 North Carolinians conducted in 1975. Findings indicate a fairly uniform level of support for tenets of civil religion from most segments of the population. Implications of such support are discu…
The Supreme Court and Religion
Dimensions of Commitment: Generalizing from Religion to Politics
Several dimensions of religious commitments have been proposed and studied in the sociology of religion. These are taken as empirical generalizations which may be applicable to politics. Results of data from a metropolitan sample are factored, obliquely rotated, and interpreted. As hypothesized, corresponding sets of dimensions result for religious and political variables. Rather than thefive dimensions originally sought, six are considered to be…
Continuity in the Measurement of Civil Religion
Civil Religion and the Choice for President: Nixon in '72
Civil Religion and Church and State
Earlier conceptualizations suggest a socially integrative civil religion in the United States and define it as not infringing upon church and state separation. No published empirical evidence exists, however, of the alleged compatibility of these two beliefs in the minds of the citizenry. Because the idea of civil religion rests largely upon such an assumption, the relationship between civil religion and church-state separatism is tested in an an…
Civil Religion and Other Religious Identities
Civil religion has been conceptualized as an integrative belief system that transcends denominational sectors of the society. However, this claim has remained unsubstantiated. Neither has it been tested whether the unchurched subscribe to civil religion or whether any differential levels of civil religion among religious groupings can be attributed to other social factors. In this study it is found that practically all the respondents share civil…
Varieties of Civil Religion
American Civil Religion: An Assessment
Civil religion, social indicators, and public policy
The challenge of training in applied sociology
Policy Perspectives on Social, Agricultural, and Rural Sustainability1
Three types of agricultural, or sustainability, policy are introduced. One deals with the interests of society, another with the agricultural sector, and the third with rural people and places. Each type serves different purposes, interest groups, and issues. Yet, they share some common ground. Because social, agricultural, and rural objectives are interdependent, we need all three policy types if any is to be effective in a highly specialized so…
Forgotten Places: Uneven Development in Rural America
Applied sociology? Even musicians give concerts
Services and Quality of Life in Rural Villages in the Former Soviet Union: Data from 1991 and 1993 Surveys
This book examines rural households' use of and views toward different types of services during the collapse of the Soviet Union and the beginning of the market economy. Using data from 1991 and 1993 household surveys in two rural villages, one in southern Russia and the other in eastern Ukraine, the researchers describe how rural residents viewed the transition from state, mainly kolkhoz (collective farm), monopolies on the provision of retail f…
Sociology (24 works) · Political science (22 works) · Law (14 works) · Religion and Society Interactions (13 works) · Religion, Society, and Development (10 works) · American Constitutional Law and Politics (8 works) · Computer Science (8 works) · Philosophy (7 works) · Politics (7 works) · Law (6 works)