ABSTRACT
One of the main objects of the sample inquiry described in Chapter IV was to make possible an assessment of the amount and direction of social mobility in Great Britain since the end of the nineteenth century. And it is on this question that the present chapter is focused. It should, however, be emphasized that given the information now available and the techniques of analysis so far developed, the assessment is a somewhat limited one. Though both more precise and more comprehensive than earlier estimates, the assessment is still a second, if not a first, approximation. In large part the limitations of the present study are due to the fact that there are no previous comparable investigations to serve as a background. But technical difficulties also arise, as will be seen in the discussion of the actual results. Before turning to that discussion, however, it is necessary to describe how the concept of social mobility is used in the subsequent analysis.
