Human Organization, Vol. A system of social indicators is proposed for use in examining social change in native Alaskan communities, based on a triangulation approach using several methodologies, research designs and data sets. These include autoregressive time-series analysis of archival data, multivariate analysis of interview data, and contextual and anecdotal analysis of ethnographic observations. These are interpreted in terms of two models of social change, Western industrial and underdevelopment, though both are modified to account for the importance of subsistence economies in the Arctic and Subarctic. The authors examine processes of social change in four villages from the Aleutian-Pribiloff Islands region and four from the Northwest Alaska Native Association.
Findings allow for both postulation of a set of indicators and conclusions.
If naturally occurring species on which village life depends are so disrupted by human activity that they cannot sustain native subsistence and commercial pursuits, the result will be underdevelopment. The authors propose restudies to test these hypotheses. A new methodology is outlined for social impact assessments, which includes a monitoring system and a forecasting technique. Koran, Lorrin M. and Kenneth Meinhardt. Social Indicators Research, Vol.