Two measures of social complexity: an empirical comparison

A Handbook of Method in Cultural Anthropology • Rowman & Littlefield Publishers • • Published In • Pages: 766-833 •
By Tatje, Terrence A., Naroll, Raoul

Abstract

This paper examines three measures of cultural complexity: Naroll’s (1956) social development index, Freeman’s (1957) Guttman scale of folk-urbanism, and Carneiro and Tobias’ (1963) Guttman scale of cultural complexity. The authors find significant associations between these three measures, suggesting that their strong validity. When used together, these measures account for a culture’s urbanization, organizational ramification, occupational specialization, and cumulative informational content of culture.

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