With an identical data base-the SRC/CPS election studies conducted over the 1952-1976 period-scholars arrive at conflicting conclusions about the future politics of the South. One problem is alternative regional definitions-the survey category Solid South (which includes the states of the former Confederacy minus Tennessee) or the combined categories Solid South and Border South. Another problem is the choice to analyze native whites, whites, or all election participants. Based on data presented here, these choices are not neutral; rather, they influence the research findings. If the intent is to build upon the aggregate data-based research of Key and others, one should use the Solid South definition. Moreover, if the intent is to predict about the future politics of the South, one should analyze all election participants. Charles D. Hadley is an Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science, University of New Orleans. The data, originally collected by the University of Michigan's Survey Research Center/Center for Political Studies, were made available by the Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research. The author wishes to express his appreciation to Harold W. Stanley, Michael D. McDonald, and Bruce A. Campbell for their helpful comments on earlier versions of this paper. Responsibility for the analysis and the interpretations presented here are the author's alone. At the University of New Orleans, the analysis was conducted at the Computer Research Center and supported by a research grant from the College of Liberal Arts. Public Opinion Quarterly Vol. 45 393-401 ? 1981 by The Trustees of Columbia University Published by Elsevier North-Holland, Inc. 0033-362X/81/0045-393/$2.50 This content downloaded from 40.77.167.85 on Fri, 30 Sep 2016 05:48:39 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms 394 CHARLES D. HADLEY and Arseneau, 1978); and (3) a political dealignment occurred and continues in the South (Beck, 1977). How, then, can scholars analyzing the identical SRC/CPS surveys come to such widely varying conclusions about the future of southern