The construction of HISCAM: A stratification scale based on social interactions for historical comparative research

Citation

Lambert P, Zijdeman R, van Leeuwen MHD, Maas I & Prandy K (2013) The construction of HISCAM: A stratification scale based on social interactions for historical comparative research. Historical Methods: A Journal of Quantitative and Interdisciplinary History, 46 (2), pp. 77-89. https://doi.org/10.1080/01615440.2012.715569

Abstract
A new occupational stratification scale, "HISCAM" (historical CAMSIS), has been developed to facilitate the analysis of data coded to the Historical International Standard Classification of Occupations. This article describes the derivation and properties of the HISCAM measure. The scale was derived using patterns of inter-generational occupational connections, replicating a method of "social interaction distance" analysis which is widely used in contemporary sociology. Analysis was performed on data for the period of 1800-1938, principally derived from marriage registers covering Belgium, Britain, Canada, France, Germany, the Netherlands, and Sweden, and encompassing over two million inter-generational relationships. Researchers report how several different HISCAM scales were evaluated and show how this approach can explain social stratification and inequality in the past.

Keywords
HISCO; HISCAM; occupations; social interactions; social stratification

Journal
Historical Methods: A Journal of Quantitative and Interdisciplinary History: Volume 46, Issue 2

People

Professor Paul Lambert

Professor, Sociology, Social Policy & Criminology