7 Social Stratification Key Studies – YOU MUST KNOW Sociologist Theory Research Method Key Findings Functionalism Work of other • Societies must allocate people (role allocation) to different roles – some roles are functionally Davis and Moore sociologists important (essential for society e.g doctors) – this is meritocratic (rewarded for hard work). (1945) - • These roles have high status and rewards to attract best people to them. Stratification • Stratification is necessary to ensure the most talented people get best jobs. Marxism Work of other • Argues there are two main social classes: bourgeoisie and proletariat. Karl Marx – Social sociologists • Bourgeoisie have more power- those than own means of production. Class • Proletariat are exploited and experience alienation – class conflict exists • Bourgeoisie impose the ruling class ideology on working class and create false class consciousness. NA Work of other • Classes are formed in the labour market – a class is a group who have similar life chances. sociologists • 4 main classes: property owners, professionals, petty bourgeoisie, working class. Max Weber - • Classes based both on economic factors and status and power too. Social Class • Believed the middle class is expanding (not getting smaller like Marx says) and therefore there will not be a proletariat revolution. NA Work of other • Power is based on coercion (use of threat/ violence) or authority (when someone obeys you as they Max Weber – sociologists think they should). 3 types of authority: Power and 1. Charismatic authority (inspiring qualities) – e.g. a religious leader. Authority 2. Traditional authority (based on tradition) – e.g. royal family. 3. Rational legal authority (based on a set of rules and laws which are accepted) – e.g. judge. NA Intensive • Revisited Luton to see how far WC life had changed – compared to Goldthorpe’s Study. Fiona Devine’s (unstructured) • Found WC lifestyles had not changed as much as Goldthorpe suggested – no evidence of a ‘new (1992) -Affluent interviews working class’. Workers Revisited • Home life not purely home-centred and privatised, interviewees did not have a purely instrumental attitude to work, plenty of evidence of solidarity.

Peter Townsend - NA Face to face survey • Created the term relative deprivation – preferred measuring poverty with this. (1979) - Relative • Found almost 24% of population were suffering from relative poverty. Deprivation • Much higher than 7% using the Government’s definition of Poverty. New Right Secondary sources - • Argues welfare benefits create a culture of dependency – discouraging people to find work and actually Charles Murray statistics creates more poverty. (1984) - New • The underclass are a threat to society – a group who drain resources and do not work – associates it with Right on Poverty rising crime and single-parent families (lack of discipline). Feminism Work of other • Patriarchy - a system of structures in society which allow men to dominate and exploit women. Sylvia Walby sociologists • Argued that there were ‘six pillars of Patriarchy’. (1990) - • Paid employment, household, culture, sexuality, male violence against women and the state. Patriarchy • Stated patriarchy has changed; use to be private (home) now it is public (workplace). • Young women have more equality due to rise in feminism – however still suffer from public patriarchy. Extra Social Stratification Sociologists – YOU DON’T HAVE TO KNOW BUT YOU CAN USE AS EVIDENCE! Sociologist/s Theory Research Method Key Findings Marxism N/A Criticise Davis & Moore. They argue – 1) Functionally important is hard to establish – e.g. an engineer in charge of a factory depends on his workforce who are also important. 2) Not everyone who is talented and able will get rewarded – Elites will preserve their power. 3) Melvin Tumin Education & training do not necessarily justify inequalities – e.g. – Just because someone is highly qualified and trained does not mean they should get paid higher forever. 4) They believe societies did not need stratification to operate efficiently.

N/A N/A In 1946, he found that an executive earned just over twice the wage of a normal worker. C Write Mills Thomas Frank checked again in 2016 and found that an executive now earned 261 times that of a normal worker and the chief executive earned 486 times that of a normal workers wage.

N/A N/A Found link between a persons home background and their future job. They concluded that a Devine & Li persons grades were a critical factor in determining their future job. N/A N/A Revealed disturbing evidence that there was an increasing divide between the health of the middle and working class. The 1992 study confirmed these findings. Working class children were The Black Report much more likely to suffer from conditions such as low birth weight, obesity and visual/hearing – 1980 & 1992 problems. They suffered more short-term and long-term conditions and their life expectancy is significantly lower. N/A Study in He found that ‘affluent workers’ had an instrumental attitude to work (paid the bills but not Luton. interested in it). He also found the ‘affluent workers’ were adopting a middle class lifestyle, John Goldthorpe hence termed them the ‘new working class’. Also found their personal lives were privatised with no evidence of community based activities. Fiona Devine revisited the ‘affluent worker’ and found the opposite of Goldthorpe. N/A N/A Research the ‘American Dream’ and found that opportunities for social mobility, in reality, were Pitirim Sorokin far more limited – thus showing America is no longer the ‘land of opportunity’.

Seebohm N/A N/A Created the idea of the poverty line – a basic income level below which an individuals income Rowntree can not buy them the minimum necessities. Marixism N/A He believed that the British state was not run by a single capitalist class but a number of elite Ralph Miliband groups who had a shared interest in maintaining the existing capitalist (private property) system.