The first of two experiments conducted in Detroit investigated the relationship between class and ethnic membership and identification of class and ethnicity; the role age and sex of respondent play in accuracy of speaker identification; and attitudes toward various socioethnic speech patterns. The second study was concerned with the attitudes of employers and potential employees toward various speech patterns. The evidence from the first study made it clear that in Detroit, regardless of the age, race, sex or socioeconomic status of the listener, Negro identity of taped speakers could be made accurately from a minimum of 74.4% to a maximum of 86.2% of the time. It was also significant that lower socioeconomic status was more accurately identified. The use of the semantic differential scale was also noted to compensate for the general inarticulateness of the public in evaluating speech. The second study indicated that employers do judge potential employees on the basis of speech. As it relates to possible job opportunities, however, the employers consistently rated the speech as appropriate for lower level jobs than the actual employment level of the speaker. In addition, teenagers seemed to correlate the concept of "successful" and "acceptable" speech with opportunity. (HOD)