This study presents a sociological theory of marriage type based on socioeconomic organization. Results suggest that intensive agriculture, more stratification, greater political integration, a fixed settlement pattern, a larger population, and greater labor specialization tended to be correlates of monogamy.

This article suggests that the relationship of monogamy and independent families to societal complexity is best represented by a curvilinear rather than a linear model. Though the variance explained in this relationship is low, it is somewhat increased when variables are scored as dummy variables rather than ordinal.

Explores 109 traits relating primarily to physical habitat, economy, political and social organization, and religion, to see how they relate to the role and treatment of the aged. General patterns were sought. Numerous ethnographic examples are given.

Through review of the economic literature and cross-cultural analysis of families (nuclear, stem, and complex), the authors show that family type is heterogeneous and argue that types other than nuclear have been largely ignored by economists. They encourage, based on their findings, further research on family structure and the development of better models for household decision making. They use ancestral populations in the ethnographic record to estimate country-level family patterns.

This paper examines relationships among mode of production, sedentarism, and population size. Generally, agricultural societies were found to be sedentary and have larger populations, while migratory societies (such as herders or hunters) had smaller population size.

This study investigates the relationship between societal complexity and familial complexity. Results suggest that the relationship is somewhat curvilinear; that is, in simpler societies more societal complexity is associated with a larger familial system, but the most developed societies have smaller familial systems. The demographic, economic, and politcal correlates of maximum family size are discussed.

This study presents a sociological theory of marriage type based on socioeconomic organization. Results suggest that intensive agriculture, more stratification, greater political integration, a fixed settlement pattern, a larger population, and greater labor specialization tended to be correlates of monogamy.

This review article explores relationships among socialization practices, family organization, and sex-typed behavior. The role of subsistence type is also considered.

Explores 109 traits relating primarily to physical habitat, economy, political and social organization, and religion, to see how they relate to the role and treatment of the aged. General patterns were sought. Numerous ethnographic examples are given.

The author examines modes of marriage and societal organization from a functionalist (general evolutionary) perspective. He focuses on the relationships of subsistence (economic) patterns, settlement patterns, and social complexity to predicting modes of marriage, with particular emphasis on the importance of subsistence as an underlying structural influence upon social patterns.