Measurement of Social Class

ELBERNEZER ANDREW
Learning Objectives

 To Identify the different types of measures for social class

 To examine the different types of measurement
The measures of Social Class

 The objective measure

 Subjective measure
 Reputational Method
Objective Measure

 Ranks individuals into classes based on measures such as education, income, and
occupational prestige
 It was created by Lloyd warner in 1949 in his analysis of the class system of small
community.
 He created an “index of status characteristics” based on at first six main indicators:
occupation, types of house, area of residence, source of income, amount of income, and
amount of income.
 It was the first set of standards for determining class membership and then divides the
population into several classes on this basis
Advantage and Disadvantage of the
objectives Method

 It gives a clear- cut result and usually requires no painstaking collection of data. The
relevant statistics are readily available from the bureau of the census and agencies and
merely must be interpreted.
 Disadvantage
 It is to arbitrary ( contingent solely on one’s discretion.
 Different sociologist may use different criteria for determine class membership and may
divide some population into very different class categories.
 The method requires the belief that the people themselves have about the class system
The Subjective Method

 This method allows people to place themselves in a social class

 The main advantage of this method is that it can be applied to a large population by
pulling a random sample.
 Disadvantage: the results are influenced by the form of question that is asked.
 Many people may. Rank themselves higher than their incomes and lifestyles seems to
justify.
Reputational Method

 Places people in various social class on the basis of reputation in the community
 It is useful in small communities where the residents know one another in those cases. It
can provide fascinating insights into people’s conceptions of the class system.
 Disadvantage: it is difficult or even impossible to apply to a large community where
people do not know many others well or to an online community.
 Second , the methods depends heavily on personal interpretation of the observer.