Measuring Social Class

Question 1

Savage (2000)

Answer 1

'Regardless of whether people choose to identify with a particular class background...class inequality is persistent'
Found out that although people did not identify as working class, class inequality was MORE important now than 50 years ago

Question 2

What did Bourdieu identify?

Answer 2

Three types of capital. Social, economic, cultural

Question 3

What did Scott identify in the upper class?

Answer 3

Social closure through conspicuous consumption

Question 4

What did Sugarman identify in the middle class?

Answer 4

They value education and delayed gratification

Question 5

What did Sugarman identify in the working class?

Answer 5

Immediate gratification

Question 6

What is the division in the working class?

Answer 6

New vs old

Question 7

What did Miller identify in the working class?

Answer 7

Miller’s focal concerns

Question 8

What did Murray identify

Answer 8

The underclass who held deviant values and norms

Question 9

What did Bottero suggest?

Answer 9

The underclass are not deviant, just unfortunate - caused by social constraints and life events

Question 10

What was the Registrar-Generals Scale?

Answer 10

Used until the 1990s to define class
Used a manual/non manualdivide.
Women and unemployed ignores
Missed the very wealthy

Question 11

What was the Hope-Goldthorpe Scale?

Answer 11

Influenced by Weber, tried to acknowledge middle-class growth.
Still left out women and the unemployed

Question 12

What was the Surrey Occupational?

Answer 12

Measuring class - feminist version that included women

Question 13

Was is the NS-SEC?

Answer 13

The class scale now used by the government.
Now used by government, acknowledges women and the unemployed
Removes manual and non-manual divide
However still uses occupation, ignoring the very wealthy

Question 14

What did Marshall find?

Answer 14

53% of white collar workers saw themselves as working class.
Measures of class ignore the person's view

Question 15

What did Savage find?

Answer 15

People identified with being middle class as this is seen as ‘ordinary’

Question 16

What are some problems with the occupational scales?

Answer 16

Grouping occupations together ignores differences in status and income
Savage/Marshal’s findings
Ignores the views of individuals
Snapshot view: occupations may change
Ignores dual earners who may be in ‘different classes’
Pakulski and Waters say class is dead - occupation cannot define you, as it is how you spend money which leads to identity