DEFINING AND MEASURING SOCIAL CLASS

• What did Beck say about social class?

  It is a zombie category. Less clear cut and obvious to determine, social mobility is greater and a category has lost meaning (postmodern view)
• what did Pakulski and Waters say about social class?

  class is dead. we live in a pick and mix society where you can choose identity according to which goods we buy. Societies are increasingly fragmented, belong to multiple groups at once or different groups at different times. Need infinite labels to adequately define society
• How did Giddens define class?

  class position is determined by “market capacity” (the way people make a living)
• what is the Upper Classes market capacity according to Giddens?

  capital ownership
• what is the middle Classes market capacity according to Giddens?

  educational credentials
• what is the working Classes market capacity according to Giddens?

  labour power
• how did Runciman define class?

  believed there to be seven class positions determined by economic power
• where does economic power come from according to Runciman?

  ownership of the means of production

  control of labour or capital

  marketability (having a skill that’s valuable in labour market)
• what are the seven classes according to Runciman?

  upper class

  upper middle

  middle middle

  lower middle

  skilled working class

  unskilled working class

  underclass
• How did Wright define social class?

  society is divided into owners and employees but this is too simplistic. Employees are divided according to level of authority and expertise. Owners are divided by how much capital they are in possession of
• How did Bourdieu define social class?

  determined by status others perceive you as having.

  Status is determined by economic capital, cultural capital and social capital. Those at the top possess wealth, cultural preferences and useful contacts that enable them to resist downward mobility
• what is economic capital?

  wealth you have
• what is cultural capital?

  values, tastes, qualifications
• what is social capital?

  contacts and networks
• How do sociologists operationalise social class?

  they need to define class and develop indicators of class that form the basis of measurement and testing
• what are some indicators of “objective” social class?

  occupation

  housing

  income

  educational background

  family background

  hobbies
• What is the Registrar General’s scale?

  classification used by the government from 1911 to 2000

  ranked thousands of jobs into six classes based on ‘standing in the community’
• what was an individuals class determined by on the RGS?

  occupation of the male head of the household
• what were the six classes in the RGS?

  Professional

  lower managerial

  skilled (non-manual)

  skilled (manual)

  semi skilled

  unskilled manual
• What is the Feminist alternative to the RGS?

  Arber created the Surrey Scale, classified men and women separately and more closely reflected the occupations generally carried out by women. But was further criticised as people argued women’s social class couldn’t be reliably measured using occupation
• What is the National Statistics Socio-Economic Classification?

  used by the government from 2001 onwards. Ranks jobs into categories based on security of income, prospects of advancement and authority over others. the households position was determined by the highest earner
• what are the 8 classes on the NS-SEC?

  Upper middle

  middle

  lower middle

  small employers/self employed

  upper working

  working

  lower working

  underclass

  Non Employed (students. Retired people classed from last main job)
• How is the NS-SEC different to the RGS?

  categories can obscure more important differences in status and earning power, people may share an occupation but have different responsibilities and power.

  People could also fall into the same class on the NS-SEC but have very different social backgrounds, hobbies and attitudes. People born into a class may have different attitudes to those who have earned it through social mobility
• What are subjective class identities?

  a post modern perspective, asks people what class they believe they belong to. Most people don’t know what class they belong to and are unsure when being asked about it