SIZE DISTRIBUTION OF FIRMS (BY INDUSTRY GROUP)

BY NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES AND BY ANNUAL GROSS DOLLAR SALES (TABLES 113 AND 114)

Q. IV-26

Which of the following choices most closely indicates the current attitude of your company toward increased metric usage in your operations?

Three questions were common to both this survey and the Manufacturing Survey. These questions were believed to be of special significance in determining overall attitudes toward national adoption of metric measurement. They also served to establish a common denominator between manufacturing and nonmanufacturing survey data.

The 3 questions attempted to determine:

1. What the attitudes of the respondents' companies were toward increased metric usage and how strongly they felt about it, i.e., would they be willing to changeover; (Q. 26)

2. Whether they thought it was in the best interests of the country to adopt SI (Q. 27); and

3. If it were decided that metric measurement should be adopted, what kind of national changeover policy should be used-a planned or evolutionary policy; a mandatory or totally voluntary program. (Q. 28) Answers to the first of these questions showed nearly half of the total sample carefully taking a neutral position on the issue, with just about equal representation from all employer sized groups (see histograms, p. 157).

Those in the neutral category indicated through extra comments made to the interviewers that their organizations realized the costs that would be involved in converting to a new measurement system, but they were not willing to stand against a trend that might possibly improve the national economic position. They were, simply, willing to let others make the decision, those to whom the issue was perhaps more critical. The neutral group implied they would go along with whatever the majority decided.

In two industries, respondents spoke appreciably more often against metrication than for it—

As might be expected, those spokesmen whose companies wanted to take more than 10 years for conversion were also most frequently "strongly against" any increase in use of metric measurement by their own organizations (25% of their group).

In an attempt to see if certain special characteristics relative to metric usage or foreign commerce had some relationship to company attitude, three subpopulations were compared with the total sample: (1) all exporting firms, (2) all firms having licensees or subsidiaries in foreign countries, and (3) all firms making significant use of equipment, supplies, or components described in metric units or designed to metric standards.

All three of the subgroups shown on page 156 differed from the total population in company attitudes toward increased metric usage. Exporters and "metric users" had fewer firms in the neutral category and more firms expressing favorable attitudes. Firms having licensees or subsidiaries had approximately the same proportion of neutral firms as the total sample population; fewer unfavorable attitudes expressed. The group of firms which is currently using goods or equipment designed to metric standards or described in metric units, held by far the most favorable attitudes: a majority (53%) said they were strongly or mildly for increased metric usage in their own operations as compared with the 30 percent of the total population.

Responses to this question were also cross-tabulated with the answers which were given during the first interview when respondents were asked to define the metric system. As the text table below shows, those respondents who had given acceptable definitions ("full" or "partial") tended to be from firms where attitudes were more positive toward metric usage in company operations.

In summary: Forty-three percent of the total sample remained noncommittal about company attitudes toward increased metric usage in their own firms. Slightly more firms expressed favorable attitudes than unfavorable

ones.

Those firms which had more knowledge of and/or experience in using the metric system were much more favorably inclined toward increasing metric usage within their own companies, although even these groups contained small percentages who were "strongly against" this policy.

TABLE 116A, B & C

Q. IV-27

Do you believe that increased metric usage is in the best interests of the United States?

A substantial majority of the population of interest stated they believed that increased usage of metric measurement was in the best national interest.

Large employers said this significantly more often than small employers, but the majority opinion was favorable toward national metrication in all employer size classes.

PERCEIVED "BEST INTEREST" OF U.S. IN TERMS OF INCREASED METRIC USAGE (BY SIZE CLASS) (Table 116)

A majority in all industries supported the idea that increased metric usage was best for the nation. The range of endorsement levels is shown below:

The percentages by individual industry are shown in the histograms on page 160. It will be noted that Construction representatives showed a 57 percent majority who believed increased metric usage was in the best interests of the U.S., even though they had been the most opposed of any group to increased use of metric measurement within their own industry (see table 115B).