Song as a measure of culture

Folk Song Style and Culture • American Association for the Advancement of Science • Washington, D.C. • Published In • Pages: 117-169 •
By Lomax, Alan

Hypothesis

Interlocking, a maximally individualized and leaderless style [in which everyone present sings independently in melody, rhythm, and harmony] occurs most frequently among cultures dependent on collecting (156).

Test

Test NameSupportSignificanceCoefficientTail
GammaSupportedp<.001.71UNKNOWN

Variables

Variable NameVariable Type OCM Term(s)
CollectingIndependentCollecting
Interlocked SingingDependentMusic

Related Hypotheses

Main AuthorHypothesis
Goodenough, Ward H.". . . there should be a progression upward in mean community size from hunting-collecting, through fishing and herding, to agricultural communities . . ."
Goodenough, Ward H.". . . hunting-collecting and herding communities should tend to be migratory, with band organization; whereas fishing and agricultural communities should tend to be sedentary, with village organization" (292)
Barry III, Herbert"[Societies] with stronger pressure toward compliance rather than assertion in child training generally also had greater emphasis on food producing than on food collecting in the subsistence economy" (31)
Rudmin, Floyd WebsterCertain characteristics of societies will be significantly correlated in the same direction with both Swanson's (1966) and Murdock's (1967) measures of private property ownership.
Read, DwightA greater than expected implement elaborateness than what is predicted by the interaction model of growing season (GS) and number of annual moves (NMV) suggests a "collecting" subsistence strategy, and a lesser value than expected predicts a "foraging" subsistence strategy.