H.—34.

(2) lonospheric Research. Research into the ionosphere is carried on principally at Canterbury University College, but absorption measurements are also made at Victoria University College. The automatic recordingequipment at Christchurch, which registers the critical frequencies of the F and E regions at hourly intervals, has been in continuous operation. An attempt is being made to relate the considerable amount of data being obtained to radio communication circuits. The following Radio Research Publications have been issued by this section: — No. 4 : " The Estimation of Wireless Transmission Data from lonospheric Observations," by Professor F. W. G. White. (N.Z. Jour. Sci. & Tech.) No. 5 : " The Dispersion of Wireless Echoes from the lonosphere," by Professor F. W. G. White. (Proceedings of the Physical Society, London.) No. 6 : " The Diurnal Variation of Absorption of Wireless Waves," by Professor F. W. G. White and F. W. Straker, M.Sc. (Proceedings of the Physical Society, London.) No. 7 : " The Antartic Zone of Maximum Auroral Frequency," by Professor F. W. G. White and M. Geddes, M.A., F.R.A.S. (Journal of Terrestrial Magnetism and Atmospheric Electricity.) Data on auroral observations are being supplied regularly to the committee by the Director of the Carter Observatory, Wellington. Also regular reports of ionospheric data are being received from the National Physical Laboratory, Teddington. SOCIAL SCIENCE RESEARCH BUREAU. Since its establishment, the Bureau has collected a large amount of data relating to the standards of living of workers in three selected industrial groups —namely, dairy-farmers, boot and shoe operatives, and tramway employees. Standards of Life op Dairy-farmers. The material for the dairy-farmers' survey, which was collected in the summer of 1937-38, has now been analysed and the results incorporated in a bulletin which is to be published during the coming year. The bulletin will contain information on a variety of topics connected with the standards of life of the industrial group with which it deals, covering such topics as housing, household budgets, work, home amenities, and leisure-time activities. Standards of Life of Urban Workers. The information gathered by the Bureau in the latter part of 1938 concerning the standards of life of two selected groups of urban workers —viz., operatives in boot and. shoe factories and tramway employees —has now been coded, and its analysis has formed the major task of the Bureau during the past year. The experience gained in the analysis of the data from the dairy-farmers' survey has been of great assistance. The reports on these urban surveys are being written up in sectional form, each section being complete in itself. Three of these sections have been completed, and the work on others is well forward. These sections deal with work and wages, insurance against sickness and other emergencies, leisure-time activities, and spend ing-habits. The work will form a valuable base-line for sociological studies in New Zealand.

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