Reply to Brown

Abstract

A number of Carolyn Brown's criticisms deal with my choice of items for inclusion in the factor analysis out of which the dimensions of Sanskritization were generated. I had initially planned to include an item on actual incidence of widow remarriage. However, it was necessary to replace that item with one dealing with attitudes toward widow remarriage since pretests of the behavioral item showed that even among low castes widow remarriage is not common enough to warrant inclusion of such an item in the interview schedule. The difficulty I experienced with the widow remarriage item illustrates the broader problem of whether to work toward a definition of Sanskritization in terms of theological differences alone or in terms of more general norms and values which differentiate between high and low castes. In agreement with White (1968) that full assessment of the religious factor requires examination not only of theological differences but of any and all norms and values which differentaite religious bodies, I included a broad range of items in the Sanskritic pool. In the end, all items in the study which could have differentiated among the life styles of high and low castes in preBritish India, ie, in pre-Western times, were included in the Sanskritization pool. The items which failed to meet this criterion-eg, those dealing with newspaper reading, ownership of Western-style clothing, etc. -were included in a separate factor analysis, not reported in my paper, aimed at exploring the dimensions of Westernization. The item dealing with willingness to borrow to meet festival expenses satisfies my criterion for inclusion in the Sanskritic pool as does the item concerning trust in belief vs. science, as science, if not experimentation, has ancient roots in India. (see Weber, 1958: 13-14).