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The power of economic elites, as measured by studies of interlocking corporate directorates, is one of the major issues in social science. Interlocks are identified for the 200 largest nonfinancial & the 50 largest financial corporations in both 1935 & 1970, using direct factor analysis as a means of clique identification. Rotation identifies 10 principal interlock groups for 1935 & 10 principal interlock groups for 1970. The 1970 interlock groups include smaller numbers of corporations & are less cohesive than in 1935, & financial & investment ties have become less important within groups. These results do not entirely conform or contradict any of the major theories of economic elites. 2 Tables. W. H. Stoddard

Sociologists are often confronted with a discrepancy between the level of measurement required by the linear statistical model and that characteristic of most variables of sociological interest. This problem is typically resolved by the use of conventional scores which assign equal interval scores to the categories of ordinal variables subject only to a monotonicity constraint. Alternatively, it is often possible to obtain optimal interval scores which maximize the average interitem correlation within a set of variables. However, since optimal scores can be seen as simply nonlinear transformations of conventional scores, these optimal scores can increase the correlations between the variables only to the extent that the conventional scores yield nonlinear relationships among the variables. Therefore, it is possible to assess the optimality of conventional scores for a particular set of variables by comparing the squared correlation coefficients with the monotonic correlation ratios for those variables. Differences between the correlation coefficients obtained from conventional and optimal scores are limited, even in the presence of nonlinear relationships among the conventionally scored variables, by the "quasi-invariance" property of the correlation coefficient under nonlinear transformations of the variables.

This research examines the procedural and substantive legitimacy of the Australian capital city wine show system as a cultural consecration project. The analysis is based on the ratings of 5654 wines by judges at four capital city wine shows in 2007. Large wineries are more likely to enter wines into these competitions than small wineries. In general, there is a moderate degree of agreement between judges in terms of the medals awarded to wines entered into multiple competitions. Disagreement among the judges was most pronounced in the distinctions between different medal classes and much less pronounced between wines that received medals and those that did not. The analysis confirms that wines that won medals, especially gold and silver, commanded higher release prices than other wines. The results generally confirm the legitimacy of the capital city wine show system as a means of assigning symbolic as well as economic value to premium wines.

The impact of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 is assessed by a comparison of contributions to presidential campaigns in 1972 & 1984 by 590 members of 100 wealthy capitalist families. Included are contributions to both Republican & Democratic National Committees & to the 13 independent political action committees (PACs) making the largest expenditures to the presidential campaign in 1984. Results show a substantial decline in both number & magnitude of presidential campaign contributions in 1984. Families with high public visibility were most likely to contribute, & the Republican party was less affected by the decline in contributions than was the Democratic party. It is pointed out that the effect of PACs, entrepreneurs who have accumulated new wealth, & families who circumvented limitations of the act is not addressed. 4 Tables, 31 References. Adapted from the source document.