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Indiana University Studies 



CHAPTER II 



THE OCCUPATIONS OF THE PEOPLE OF INDIANA 



§1. Methods of Determining Importance of Occupations 



The occupations in which people are engaged in a community 

 serve in a general way to indicate the possible lines of employ- 

 ment and also the type of vocational education required. Although 

 the total number of occupations in various States is about the 

 same, the workers in the various groups of occupations may not 

 be evenly and constantly distributed. Thus, while in Mississippi, 

 Idaho, and Massachusetts all of the nine groups of occupations 

 are represented, about 77 per cent of all workers in Mississippi 

 and Idaho are engaged in the agricultural pursuits and 10 per 

 cent in manufacturing; whereas in Massachusetts less than 10 per 

 cent of all workers are engaged in agricultural pursuits and over 

 55 per cent in the manufacturing and mechanical pursuits. By 

 determining the number of workers in each of the groups of occupa- 

 tions it is possible to determine the productive interests of the 

 community, and a comparison of the number of workers in the 

 various occupations is one preliminary measure of the importance 

 of the pursuits. The number of workers within a given occupa- 

 tion, however, is not to be considered as a final measure of the 

 importance of the occupation from either a social or economic 

 standpoint. 



Other measures in determining the relative importance of oc- 

 cupations are the monetary value of the product, value added to 

 the raw material as a result of the manufacturing process, the 

 amount of capital invested, and amount of wages paid. These 

 measures apply with most directness to the agricultural and manu- 

 facturing and mechanical pursuits. The last and final measure, 

 more significant than all of the others, is that of the value of the 

 activity to the people of the community, in terms of continued 

 and increased health, happiness, and physical and spiritual well- 

 being. If the product of the pursuit of the occupation represents 

 no social value, or a minimum of social value to the community, 

 then the occupation cannot be regarded as being of positive im- 

 portance and positive worth; it is rather of negative importance 



