Prestige Scores for all Occupations: Replication and Extension

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The objectives of this study are to develop, assess and disseminate measures of occupational prestige, replicating the prestige scores generated for occupations in the United States in the 1960s. The scales developed at that time are widely used but out of date. The proposed study will include (1) formal replication -- with selected improvements -- of the original 1960 prestige study, but with more occupations, more respondents, and titles generated for and from the 1980 Census classification system, and (2) begin some preliminary investigations of trends in occupational prestige over time. These objectives will be accomplished by adding a supplementary set of questions to an on-going national survey of a representative sample of adults, the General Social Survey. The goal is to develop a prestige index that is both improved and up-to-date, reflecting current public consensus as to the ranking of occupations. "Prestige" is a theoretical concept that has generated studies of upward (and downward) social mobility both within and across generations. The rationale for recalibrating the prestige scales rests on (a) the need for new estimates, given the dramatic changes in 1980 Census classification system relative to prior versions; (b) the need to generate estimates for many new titles, not in existence in the 1960s; and (c) substantive interest in the question of stability and change in prestige evaluations, a core feature of the American value system. This project will produce a valuable prestige index for use by the social science community at large.