lore further the casual links between wealth, status, polygyny, and reproduction” (Cronk 1991: 345.)The other propositions, Iron’s and Mulder’s, are discussed only briefly in the article but are worth mentioning. Through re-evaluation of past studies and correlation to his own study Cronk was able to validate Iron’s (1979) hypothesis “that culturally defined values are goals proximate to the ultimate goal of reproductive success” (Cronk 1991: 357.) Through testing, his own queries were broken down and validated, as well as enabling him to validate Iron’s. In lieu of Mulder’s hypothesis, the focal point was centered on the productivity of wives and children in correlation to wealth and reproductive success. Cronk compared Mulder’s study to his own so as to have a parallel. In both cases, correlations persisted and suggested that these were not due to Mulder’s hypothesis, disproving that aspect of the possible influencing characteristics.Research Design UseIn terms of the research design used, one does not have to look to deeply into Cronk’s study. Plainly, as is evident by the 8 tables utilized and in the style of the research methodology, he administers the correlation version of static group comparison. A multitude of confounding variables and factors are correlated with the ‘livestock wealth and reproductive success correlation’, as well as each of these (livestock wealth and reproductive success), independently of each other. Not taking for granted that past studies aid in Cronk’s research, one is able to easily ascertain that his research design is more than adequate due to the detailed analysis of the variables in correlation of other influencing factors. Using hypothesis postulated by Mulder and Iron, Cronk successfully weeded out erroneous factors, implemented them into his calculations, and provided efficient data in relation to his own propositi...
