Differences in Final Arrangements between Burial and Cremation as the Method of Body Disposition

Abstract

A survey of close survivors of deceased persons from six metropolitan areas of the United States investigated the differences in final arrangements when burial or cremation was employed as the method of body disposition. Survivors rated the influence that various factors had on making final arrangements. The results from the cremation sample (N = 407) and a smaller, but comparable, burial sample 233) indicate both similarities and differences between the body disposition samples with respect to various respondent and deceased characteristics; the use of final arrangement products and activities carried out for the deceased; and in the influence and importance of various factors on final arrangements.