The Construction and Use of an Occupational Class Scale

Author:
  • BBBernard R. Blishen
    Bernard R. Blishen
Publisher website
Google Scholar
Abstract
The construction and use of occupational scales to serve as an index of social class have recently absorbed much of the time of sociologists in the United States. In Canada, on the other hand, very few studies of this nature have been published. This paper will outline the method used in the construction of such a scale, and the results obtained when it is applied to certain features of Canadian society.The problems involved in the methodology of studies of stratification result partly from the lack of agreement among sociologists on a theoretical framework in this field, and partly from the lack of precise tools of measurement. The theoretical difficulties involved can be seen from an examination of four main lines of theoretical development in the works of Marx, Weber, Warner, Davis, and Parsons.The individual's position in the system of production was seen by Marx as the fundamental determinant of class position. A subjective awareness of class is another vital element in his theory although such awareness follows from the objective position. The objective economic foundation of class is an important aspect of Max Weber's theory also, but unlike Marx, Weber gives equal importance to subjective awareness, and he shows the importance of power as well. The approach of W. L. Warner, which has been followed by so many sociologists, emphasizes the subjective awareness and claims that class is what people in the community say it is. It is the consensus of people about other people's position, and about the class divisions in the social structure.

This publication has 5 references indexed in Scilit: