ABSTRACT
A range of people may be met and various types of activity enjoyed on occasions, but overall it is the few recurrent situations undertaken with the same people which predominate. The variation evident in the range of different people’s sociable activities is structured by the same factors as affect their wider life-styles. Like many of the other differences between these two sectors of the population, this variation relates to their different material and occupational circumstances. The financial and temporal constraints imposed by these factors shape their patterns of sociability as much as they do all other aspects of their way of life. Middle- and working-class sociable networks also differ in their geographical spread. Working-class kin and non-kin networks both tend to be more localised than middle-class ones. The individual’s occupation can affect sociable patterns more positively. The stage reached in the family- and life-cycle can also affect the individual’s pattern of sociability.
