ABSTRACT
The conventional approach to social inequality involves the search for the abstract dimensions of persons or units before considering the components of these dimensions and establishing a measure for each component. It is assumed that there exists a normative framework which sets certain goals, evaluates performances, etc. with success being measured against this normative framework. The community of study is an upland village in north Wales which, like most such villages, has been subject to considerable depopulation and a corresponding change in the occupational structure. Apart from the minister and the schoolteacher the educational experience of the villagers is fairly similar, few of them having proceeded beyond the minimum legal requirements. The status dimension is probably the least studied of the various social rewards associated with social inequality. Some workers have claimed that a system of social status will exist given a total knowledge of the individual and the existence of a community.
