Despite the unresolved controversy over the validity of using occupational prestige scales to provide a measure of 'social class', or position in the social structure, researches continue to use such scales for this purpose. The objective of this paper is to assist such researchers in selecting an appropriate scale for their data by outlining the construction and uses made of those scales developed in Australia. It also provides a comparison of the two most recently developed scales, in terms of their methodological and practical advantages and disadvantages, based on the findings of the application of these scales to father's occupation obtained from a random sample of children's birth records. Selection of an appropriate scale is discussed further in relation to the objectives of a study and the type of data available.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Australian Bureau of Statistics, (1961, 1971a), Classification and Classified List of Occupations , Canberra, Commonwealth Government Printing Office.
2.
Australian Bureau of Statistics, ( 1971 b), Index of OccupationsCanberra, Commonwealth Government Printing Office.
3.
Australian Bureau of Statistics, (1980-81), ASCO Working Draft. Australian Standard Classification of Occupations , Canberra, Government Publishing Service .
4.
Blaikie, N.W.H. (1977), 'The meaning and measurement of occupational prestige' , Australian and New Zealand Journal of Sociology , 13, 2, 102-115.
5.
Blaikie, N.W.H. (1978), 'Towards an alternative methodology for the study of occupational prestige: a reply to my reviewers', Australian and New Zealand Journal of Sociology, 14, 1, 87-95.
6.
Broom, L. and F.L. Jones (1973), A Blanket a Year, Canberra , ANU Press.
7.
Broom, L., P. Duncan-Jones, F.L. Jones and P. McDonnell, (1977), Investigating Social Mobility, Canberra, ANU Press.
8.
Broom, L.P.Duncan-Jones, F.L.Jones and P. McDonnell (1974), Social Mobility in Australia Project: Notes for Coders. Copy obtained from authors.
9.
Broom, L., F.L. Jones, P. McDonnell and T. Williams (1980), The Inheritance of Inequality, London, Routledge and Kegan PauL
10.
Broom, L., F.L. Jones and J. Zubrzycki (1965), 'An occupational classification of the Australian workforce', Australian and New Zealand Journal of Sociology , 1 (Oct), Supplement.
11.
Brotherton, P.L., T. Kotler and S.B. Hammond (1979), 'Development of an Australian index of social class', Australian Psychologist, 14, 77-83.
12.
Congalton, A.A. (1969), Status and Prestige in Australia, Melbourne, Cheshire.
13.
Congalton, A.A. and R.J. Havighurst (1954), 'Status ranking of occupations in New Zealand', Australian Journal of Psychology , 6, 10-15.
14.
Connell, R.W. (1983),'Social class in Australia', Search, 14, 248-49.
15.
Daniel, A.E. (1978),'A researcher's reflections on the Blaikie contribution' , Australian and New Zealand Journal of Sociology , 14, 1, 81-87.
16.
Daniel, A.E. (1983a), 'The measurement of class', Search, 14, 9-10, 248-249.
17.
Daniel, A.E. (1983b), Power, Privilege and Prestige, Melbourne, Longman Cheshire.
18.
Dasvarma, G. (1977), 'Causes of death amongst males of various occupations', Environmental Studies Occasional Paper (University of Tasmania). Special Issue: 'Studies in Australian Mortality' , (ed. McGlashan, N.)
19.
Graetz, B. (1984), 'Too little in too much', (a review of Ann Daniel's book on Power, Privilege and Prestige 1983b), Australian Society, April 1, 45-46.
20.
Jones, F.E. and F.L. Jones (1972), 'Occupational prestige in Australia and Canada: A comparison and validation of some occupational scales', Australian and New Zealand Journal of Sociology, 8, 75-82.
21.
Jones, I.G. and D. Cameron (1984), 'Social class analysis - an embarrassment to epidemiology', Community Medicine, 6, 37-46.
22.
Keeves, J.P. (1972), Educational Environment and Student Achievement , Melbourne, Australian Council for Educational Research.
23.
McMichael, A.J. and J.M. Hartshorne (1982), 'Mortality risks in Australian men by occupational groups, 1968-78: variations associated with differences in drinking and smoking habits', Medical Journal of Australia , 1, 253-56.
24.
Nixon, J. and J. Pearn (1984), 'Australian state-specific reference data, by socioeconomic status, for the analysis of health and disease correlates' , Medical Journal of Australia, 140, S2-S4.
25.
Office of Population Censuses and Surveys, ( 1970, 1980), Classification of Occupations , London, HMSO.
26.
Quine, S. (1984), 'State differences in socioeconomic status', Medical Journal ofAustralia, 140, 10, 628.
27.
Reiss, A.J. (1961), Occupations and Social Status, New York, Free Press.
28.
Schleindl, H.M.O. (1975), Social Inequality in Australian Measurement and Theory. Unpublished PhD. thesis, Canberra, Australian National University.
29.
Taft, R. (1953), 'The social grading of occupations in Australia' , British Journal of Sociology, 4, 181-87.
30.
Zubrzycki, J. (1969), 'Migrants and the occupational structure', in H. Throssell (ed.), Ethnic Minorities in Australia , Sydney, Council of Social Services .
