Social Research Glossary A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z Home
Citation reference: Harvey, L., 2012-24, Social Research Glossary, Quality Research International, http://www.qualityresearchinternational.com/socialresearch/
This is a dynamic glossary and the author would welcome any e-mail suggestions for additions or amendments.
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Class
Class in social science is a division of a society based on social and economic status, also refered to as social class.
Elwell's Glossary of Sociology (undated) defines class thus:
Class: Most sociologists use the term to refer to socioeconomic differences between groups of individuals which create differences in their life chances and power.
Class (social class) - A large category or group of people within a system of social stratification who have a similar socioeconomic status in relation to other socioeconomic segments of the society or community. A social class is not necessarily organized (but may become so, as in the case of the Marxian working-class), but the individuals who compose it are relatively similar in political, economic, educational, occupational, and prestige status. Those who are part of the same social class have similar life-chances. Max Weber has defined class in this manner, i.e., in terms of the expectations in life that an individual may have. One's class position yields certain probabilities (or life-chances) as to the fate one may expect in society. Of course, the Marxian definition of social class is in terms of a class's objective position or relation to the means of production in society - thus, not being explicitly concerned with other sociological criteria like occupational status, income, etc.
Class: A term used by Max Weber to refer to a group of people who have a similar level of wealth and income.
Class system: A social ranking based primarily on economic position in which achieved characteristics can influence mobility.
See also
Schaefer, R. T., 2017, 'Glossary' in Sociology: A brief introduction, Fourth Edition, originally c. 2000, McGraw-Hill. Available at http://novellaqalive.mhhe.com/sites/0072435569/student_view0/glossary.html, site dated 2017, accessed 11 June 2017. Not found 1 June 2019.
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