The Revised Cambridge Scale of Occupations

Abstract

The article describes the revision of the original Cambridge scale, a measure of similarity of life-style and therefore of generalised advantage/disadvantage, and compares this new version in a number of areas with other occupation-based measures of social stratification.

The revision has been carried out using a much larger dataset, with respondents from a wide range of occupations. Female occupations have been specifically incorporated. Data from several previous studies are reanalysed using the Cambridge score and other measures or class categorisations. Areas considered include income and education, friendship, the occupations of husbands and wives and of fathers and children, and voting. In all cases it is shown that the Cambridge scale gives relationships at least as strong as, and in the great majority of cases stronger than, those found with the alternatives. The significance of this for the issue of the existence of discrete class categories and for the distinction between class and status is briefly raised.