Doppler-shift attenuation measurements following the inelastic neutron
scattering reaction have been employed to determine the lifetimes of
a large number of states in Nd-146 and many fast E1 transitions have b
een identified. From an examination of this new information and simila
r data for two N=82 nuclei, ambiguities in determining the degree of n
uclear collectivity from reduced E1 transition rates are illustrated.