Date of Award

1982

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Abstract

It was assumed that the introduction of large scale industry into a traditional agrarian society would bring about some changes in the values, beliefs, attitudes, and behavior of individual members of the social system. Such changes are related to one's place of residence as well as personal characteristics. It was hypothesized that (1) one's religious-behavior and one's attitudes toward some consequences of industrialization (modernism) are related to one's place of residence, age, educational attainment, and one's degree of contact with industry; (2) one's degree of contact with the industry is related to or effected by one's place of residence, age, and educational attainment, (3) one's educational attainment is related to one's place of residence and age; and (4) the differences in the respondents' religious behavior is related to their attitudes toward modernism. Using survey data (N = 699) collected in North Aceh, Northern Sumatra, in 1976, three measures (religious behavior, attitudes toward modernism, and contact with industry) were constructed. When the data including the constructs, were subjected to statistical analysis, the data generally supported the hypotheses, with the exception of age which did not contribute significantly to variation in religious behavior and attitudes toward modernism. Also the degree of contact with industry was not significantly related to the respondents' religious behavior. Additionally, the variation in the respondents' religious behavior was not related significantly to their attitudes toward modernism. It was found that compared to the rural residents the urban dwellers display less traditional religious behavior and more positive attitudes toward modernism; the urban residents have a higher degree of contact with industry than the rural population, and the educational attainment of urban dwellers is relatively higher compared to the educational level of rural residents. It was concluded that the introduction of the large scale industry, the Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) processing plant into the district of North Aceh early in the 1970s has had various effects on the people's religious behavior, attitudes toward modernism, and contact with industry. It is suggested that the rural-urban typological approach is still useful in sociological investigations of social change.

Pages

168

DOI

10.31390/gradschool_disstheses.3773

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