Provide a brief definition and then illustrate your definition by comparing social class briefly to other forms of social stratification – what does social class do or not do that one or two other social stratification systems do or do not do (for example, use social mobility)
Then explain the meaning of the importance of the changing nature of social class in the UK over the last 75 years or so. How does this relate to whether class matters or not – what does it mean to say class does or doesn’t matter? Think – if there has been social mobility and inequality has reduced, then class no longer matters (make sure you are clear as to what class is supposed to matter or not matter to).
How is class measured – explain how class is measured – what indicators are used to classify which class someone belongs to and provide examples. (Clue: there are two types of indicator which sociologists use to indicate someone’s social class – provide examples of these). Then provide the advantages of each. And finally, explain what official classification system is used to measure someone’s social class and provide a couple of disadvantages of using this system. Then say something about why it is so difficult to measure social class.
Introduce the British Class Survey. What was it aiming to do, and what were its main, headline findings? How did the GBCS measure social class (which indicators of class did they use and provide a couple of examples of each) and how do the findings relate to changing class structures in the UK, and how contribute to the debate as to whether class matters, or not.
2. Changes to the British class structure – Class doesn’t matter. Outline the 3 major changes in Britain in the 20th Century – remember what we went through in class on the board – what changed – examples, why and how did the changes affect the British class structure. Link to embourgeoisement thesis and the GBCS – how do each describe new social class structures in the UK (is there still a working-class? If so, what does it now look like?). (150 words)
3. How can embourgeoisement be critiqued – and who provided research which contributed a major critique and undermined its credibility? What is missing from how class is measured in relation to embourgeoisement thesis? (remember, for embourgeoisement to be taking place the working-class now need to be middle-class both in terms of objective and subjective indicators. –Which one is missing from embourgeoisement thesis? You could very briefly compare Goldthorpe’s ideas about the new working-class with that of the GBCS – both identify a divided working-class)
4. What evidence is there to suggest Class Does Matter?
provide evidence that class matters, which is the other side of the argument you presented in 2. Class doesn’t matter – above.