ABSTRACT
In 1962, M. B. Sussman and L. G. Burchinal commented that most sociologists investigating family patterns had used urban samples, confining research to the WUMP—white, urban, middle-class Protestants. The few comparisons of rural-urban patterns that exist suggest there are differences in family interactions and, indeed, that many aspects of rural patterns run counter to extant myths of the integrated rural setting. In a rural Pennsylvania community, most residents felt that it was admirable to live alone and either disapproving or at least neutral toward the idea of older persons living with family. Many qualified their responses by suggesting that it would be acceptable for older persons to live with relatives if they could no longer care for themselves. In the area of health, the vast majority of men in each occupational category felt the family was responsible for such assistance; at least four-fifths of each occupation ranked the family as the institution most responsible to provide help.
