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Inadvertent Social Theory: Aggregation and its Effect on Community Research

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 May 2017

Peter H. Greenwood  and
A. E. Luloff
Peter H. Greenwood
Affiliation:
University of New Hampshire
A. E. Luloff
Affiliation:
University of New Hampshire
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Abstract

Although continued attention has been given to the general study of “community,” we still lack a consensus, operational definition. Such an absence impedes development in this area of study. Because authors have used different areal conceptualizations, knowledge is, at best, case specific. This paper reviews the problem most often associated with aggregation of data, namely, aggregation bias, and considers some additional problems not usually associated with aggregation. The review serves as a prelude to a discussion of community research methodology which, at present, is beset with potential aggregation problems. Interpretation and possible implications of these findings are advanced.

Type
Articles
Information
Journal of the Northeastern Agricultural Economics Council , Volume 8 , Issue 1 , April 1979 , pp. 44 - 47
Copyright
Copyright © Northeastern Agricultural and Resource Economics Association 

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Footnotes

*

Published with the approval of the Director of the New Hampshire Agricultural Experiment Station as Scientific Contribution No. 917.

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