ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the various schemes that have been used for sociological, as opposed to macro-historical, purposes. It discusses the process of identifying and coding occupations themselves. Occupational differentiation is strictly non-hierarchical. Doorstep coding of something as complicated as social class is a risky procedure; it is impossible to maintain either quality control or strict comparability across time and organization. David Lockwood discussed social class in terms which many sociologists have subsequently found useful. K. Marx's opposing camps of bourgeoisie and working class are not differentiated by occupation but by the ownership/non-ownership of capital. The chapter considers the schemes developed with men's occupations in mind, and are not well-suited to grouping women's jobs anyway; some argues that the head of household solution has merely prevented the necessary work required to develop a scheme suitable for women. It argues that different measures have been used for and appear to perform best at different tasks in contrary to the general recommendations.
