ABSTRACT 



Although continued attention has been given to the general study 

 of "community," we still lack a consensus, operational definition. 

 This absence impedes development of a unified sociology of com- 

 munity. Because authors have used different area conceptualiza- 

 tions, knowledge is, at best, case specific. Our examples demon- 

 strate how similar conceptual models estimated with different 

 community definitions generate divergent levels of statistical and 

 substantive significance. Such findings underlie the need for social 

 scientists to pay more careful attention to their areal definitions 

 when study "community." 



KEYWORDS: Sociology, A gg egation Bias, Comm ...y, Tax Characteristics 



