A new international measure of social stratification

Abstract

In this paper we present a new international measure of social stratification, the ICAMS (International Cambridge Scale). Our aim is to bring new evidence to the hypothesis that the construct that underlies measures of social stratification as different as prestige scales, socioeconomic indexes, social distance and social status scales is actually unidimensional. We evaluate the new scale according to both criterion-related and construct validity. Our analysis shows that the ICAMS is a valid indicator of social stratification, being almost as valid as International Socio-Economic Index (ISEI) in what we termed the generic, the homogamy and the social mobility models, and being better than ISEI in the cultural consumption model. The second key result is that all continuous measures we consider (ICAMS, ISEI and Standard International Occupational Prestige Scale) are indicators of the same latent dimension, which is unidimensional. This latter result is compatible with more than one explanation, hence calling for further research.

Measuring Class Hierarchies in Postindustrial Societies: A Criterion and Construct Validation of EGP and ESEC Across 31 Countries

“…Lower managers' socio-economic status is not higher than that of lower professionals, nor do the working classes score higher than routine workers. ISEI reflects the levels of income and education of different occupations: lower professionals and routine workers display lower earnings, but not lower levels of education or cultural resources than their counterparts (Meraviglia, Ganzeboom and De Luca 2016). Hence, using EGP and ESEC under the three-level hierarchy assumption might be justified if these class schemes are conceived of as synthetic measures of social position averaging economic and cultural resources.…”

The Voice of the Absent? The Link Between Descriptive and Substantive Representation of the Working Class in Western Europe

“…Alternative continuous measures place occupations on a one-dimensional scale ordered by the status and prestige attributed to each job (e.g. Meraviglia et al, 2016). Using a categorical measure is most adequate for the research question at hand because (1) the claim to descriptive representation applies to broader social groups that face structural disadvantages (e.g.…”

The presence of occupational structure in online texts based on word embedding NLP models

“…Treiman [33] also used questions on subjective perceptions, and from these, he created the Standard International Occupational Prestige Scale (SIOPS), a widely used analytical scale. The International Socio-Economic Index (ISEI) (Ganzeboom-Treiman [12]) and the Cambridge scale (Prandy-Lambert [28], and Meraviglia et al [23]) are good examples for the other type of scales, which use objective data in their measurement. ISEI builds on the educational level and average income of the occupations to create their hierarchy.…”

“…In their interpretation, the scale measures the hierarchy of social status. Meraviglia and her colleagues [23] argue that all continuous measures of social stratification are indicators of the exact latent dimensions.…”