This presentation consist an introduction about social class.

1. PRESENTATION ON:
Social Class
PRESENTED BY:
Shafiq-ur-Rehman
M.Phil (Education) Student
SUBJECT:
Sociology of Education
COURSE SUPERVISOR:
Dr. Umar Alli Khan
I.E.R Gomal University
D.I.Khan

2.  “We define social classes as groups of families more or
less equal in rank and differentiated from other families
above or below them with regard to characteristics such
as occupation, income, wealth, and prestige”

3. “Birds of a feather flock together”
 Social class – a status hierarchy by which groups and
individuals are classified on the basis of esteem
(regard, respect) and prestige (reputation, influence
derived from achievements). – American Marketing
Association
 The different lifestyles of social classes lead to
different benefits being sought

4.  Members of the same social class tend to share
common values, beliefs, and behaviors that unite them
(as opposed to simple demographics).
 Common factors used to place people into different
social classes: occupation, source of income,
possessions, associations with others, and level of
influence.

5.  What a person does for a living.
 It is an indicator of other signs of class membership:
income, personal associations, and status.
 Further, class assumptions within an occupation may be
based on performance level.

6.  Level of income is not by itself a good indicator of
class.
 Income source along with occupation may help us
determine whether two individuals that have the same
income belong in the same class: investments,
inheritance, old wealth, etc.
 Does a professional athlete making $20 million belong
in the same social class with a physician making
$150,000

7.  Consumption patterns and interaction networks are
inherently linked.
 People tend to associate with others that share the
same tastes and recreational activities.
 Class consciousness – sense of belonging to a certain
class is reinforced by our associations. The higher
our class the more class conscious we are.
◦ A mechanic wins a $50 million in the lottery…will his/her
social class change?

8.  Membership in a higher class generally leads to greater
influence within the workplace, organizations, and
society as a whole.
 The more responsibility one has the greater the
influence s/he can exert on others.

9.  The study of social class has its origin in Western
Philosophy.
 Philosophers during this period realized that wealth,
power, and prestige were not equally distributed in
society.
 They understood that this unequal distribution of
resources reflected a social hierarchy composed of
families with different class interests based on the
amount of wealth, power, and prestige that they
controlled.

10.  Marx argued that social classes are characterized by
their relationship to the means of production.
 Marx identified two classes:
◦ The bourgeoisie, or the capitalist class, who own the
means of production (e.g., factories).
◦ The proletariat, or the working class, composed of
those individuals who must sell their labor to members
of the bourgeoisie for a wage in order to survive.

11.  Like Marx, Weber made the distinction between those
who owned property and those who did not.
 In contrast to Marx, Weber allowed for more than
two distinct social classes and even suggested that
“the proletariat were really a highly differentiated
group” (p.7).
 Social class: “group who share the same
economically shaped life chances” (p.8).
◦ An objective economic fact

12. 1. Economic basis
a. Occupation
b. Wealth
c. Income
d. Poverty
2. Social Basis
e. Prestige
f. Association
g. Socialization
h. Social mobility
3. Political
Implications
i. Power
j. Class Consciousness

13.  The five indicators may be used singly or in
combination to establish an individual’s class status.
 Methods normally used to classify people into social
classes include (all are subjective):
◦ The reputational approach
◦ The subjective approach
◦ Objective approaches:
 Single-item measures
 Multiple-item measures

14.  A five-class hierarchy
◦ Upper class (Upper – “Landed gentry”,
Lower “New money”)
◦ Upper-middle class (Professional class,
Cultural protectors)
◦ Lower-middle class (Moral compass of
society, “Typical American”)
◦ Upper-lower class (“Monotonous” existence)
◦ Lower-lower class

15. Upper class (Upper – “Landed gentry”, Lower “New
money”)
Attend elite schools, old/new money, in/not in the
“register”
Upper-middle class (Professional class, Cultural
protectors)
Professionals, independent businesspeople, corporate
executives
Lower-middle class (Moral compass of society, “Typical
American”)
Salespeople, clerical workers, supervisors, construction
contractors, small retail store owners, “white collar”
Social Class Types

16. Upper-lower class (“Monotonous” existence)
Skilled and semi-skilled blue-collar workers, narrow
existence
Lower-lower class
Lower blue-collar workers, the unemployed, families on
welfare, and unskilled workers
Social Class Types

17.  Social class is an important source of beliefs, values,
and behaviors
 Different social classes value education differently.
 Attitudes toward family life, raising children, the role
of women, etc. vary from class to class.
 People in various social classes exhibit markedly
different lifestyles

18. Lower-class people are less likely to subscribe to
newspapers than are members of the middle class.
Choice of magazine is likely tied to education and
reading ability
 Lower-middle class – Reader’s Digest, Ladies
Home Journal
 Upper-middle class – Time, SI, The New Yorker,
etc.
Broadcast media choice also varies by social class
 Lower-middle class – more responsive to
audiovisual forms of communication

19.  Lower-status consumers are more receptive to
advertising that depicts activity, ongoing work and life,
expressions of energy, etc.
 Upper-middle class consumers are more critical of
advertising, suspicious of emotional appeals and
skeptical of claims

20.  Lower-class women are the most “impulsive” about
shopping.
 Outlet choice varies by social class (class match very
important)
 Upper-lower class women are likely to respond to
promotions offering coupons or other special
inducements
 Bowling, TV, and bingo are favorite lower-class
leisure pursuits
 Most activities enjoyed by middle- and upper-class
people are less time consuming than lower-class
choices.