An expanding literature in the sociology of sociology, evidenced by works such as those of Horowitz (1968), Curtis and Petras (1970), Friedrichs (1970), Gouldner (1970), and Reynolds and Reynolds (1970), reflects the increasing interest of sociologists in the structure of their discipline and, as Oromaner (1972) has noted, with its patterns of stratification. In particular, the relative prestige relationship of the areas of specialization in sociology (see ASA Directory of Members, 1970:viii) has been explored in several studies, and specialty area prestige hierarchies have been proposed (e.g., Simpson, 1961; Brown and Gilmartin, 1969; McCartney, 1970; and Akitani, 1971). The basic method for determining these hierarchies focuses upon rates, or volume, of a specialty area's publication in the leading sociology journals. The relationship between the prestige of a specialty area and its volume of publication is, as stated by Brown and Gilmartin (1969:284), such that . . sheer number of publications may ... be taken as indicative of the relative importance and prestige of an area. A similar relationship between volume of publication and prestige has been demonstrated between the prestige rankings of graduate departments of sociology and indices of publication productivity (Lewis, 1968; Knudsen and Vaughan, 1969; Glenn and Villemez, 1970; Light field, 1971; and Solomon, 1972). The major difference between these departmental prestige and specialty area prestige comparisons is that the index of departmental prestige has been derived from the ratings of graduate departments in Cartter's An Assessment of Quality in Graduate Education (1966:42-43), Roose and Andersen's A Rating of Graduate Programs (1970:68-69), or both. In concluding his report of departmental prestige and publication rates, Solomon (1972:14) states ...that there are strong relations