COUNTRY-MUSIC AND SUICIDE - A REPLY

This article responds to Maguire and Snipes's comments on the correlat ion between country music and suicide. Our country music data as well as country music data for fall 1986 correlate highly with McGuire and Snipes country music data. The source of inconsistent findings rests, instead, in a substantial amount of error in the Maguire and Snipes es timates of white suicide rates. Measurement error in their suicide dat a renders the correlation between country music and the suicide rate i nsignificant. Using the correct suicide rates, all measures of country music - including Their's and our's - are significantly related to su icide.