International comparisons of social stratification and mobility. Some remarks on applications

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Album, Dag¹

Note: [1] Dag Album is a sociologist from the University of Oslo, Norway. Between 1973 and 1978 he did research at the Institute for social sciences at the University of Tromsø. He is now a Research Associate in the Research Department of the Norwegian Central Bureau of Statistics, working on levels of living. He was on the editorial committee responsible for the two latest issues of the Norwegian Social Reports (Sosialt Utsyn). Album has been responsible for the construction of the socioeconomic classification in use in the Norwegian Bureau and has taken part in the construction of a joint Nordic classification.

Abstract: Although most of the statistical bureaus in the industrialized world and their international organizations have done much to develop internationally harmonized concepts of stratification, a review of articles in major sociological journals shows no example of use of bureau classifications in comparisons of social stratification and mobility. The solutions chosen in the articles can be discussed with a view to obtaining guidance for the further work of government statisticians. Two points seem to be of greater importance than others: The computerization of statistical work has made it much easier to do secondary analysis of data sets. Therefore it is nowadays more important to secure comparable coding of occupations and other “brickstone variables” than to construct similar fully developed socioeconomic classifications. ISCO seems to be the most valuable tool if we are to obtain the desired comparability.

DOI: 10.3233/SJU-1987-4302

Journal: Statistical Journal of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, vol. 4, no. 3, pp. 237-244, 1987