Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Existing Measurement Instruments for Data Collection

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Harmonising Demographic and Socio-Economic Variables for Cross-National Comparative Survey Research

  • 637 Accesses

Abstract

The improvement of the comparability of demographic and socio-economic variables across the countries of the world has been on the United Nations’ agenda for decades now. UN specialised agencies have developed standard classifications for the measurement of education, occupation and other labour market variables. These instruments are also suitable for use in academically driven social research. Building on the UN standard classifications, academic social researchers have developed scales for the measurement of prestige, status and nominal class categories and for the classification of the socio-economic status of respondents. Although the UN has not developed any instruments for the standardised survey measurement of the third core status variable – household income – statisticians and social researchers can avail of standards that have been developed by a UN.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    The authors would like to point out that neither the respondents, nor – in all probability – the interviewers, and in some cases not even the field institute, were aware of this objective because the information was contained only in the instructions for the national coordinator of the ESS.

  2. 2.

    Text of item in the Austrian questionnaire: ‘F6: What is the highest level of education that you have achieved?’ (ipr – Sozialforschung, 2003, our back-translation).

  3. 3.

    In the fourth round of the ESS, which was fielded in 2008 (see ESS, 2008e), clarifications were added, the target variable was stated more precisely, and the mappings with which the national educational programmes are coded into the international standard were made available to the survey coordinators.

  4. 4.

    The field interviews were conducted in the course of 2009.

References

  • Blau, P. M., & Duncan, O. D. (1967). The American occupational structure. New York: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brauns, H., Scherer, S., & Steinmann, S. (2003). The CASMIN educational classification in international comparative research. In: J. H. P. Hoffmeyer-Zlotnik & W. Christof (Eds.) (pp. 221–244).

    Google Scholar 

  • Canberra Group. (2011). Handbook on household income statistics (2nd ed.) (Draft Canberra Group Handbook March 2011). Accessed October 18, 2010, from http://10.0.0.48:9091/servlet/com.trend.iwss.user.servlet.sendfile?downloadfile=IRES-78885795-A998668-9080-9049-80

  • Elias, P. (1997). ‘Occupational classification (ISCO-88): Concepts, methods, reliability, validity and cross-national comparability’, OECD Labour Market and Social Policy Occasional Papers, No. 20, OECD Publishing. Accessed August 21, 2012, from http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/304441717388

  • Elias, P., & Birch, M. (1991). Vorgeschlagene Fassung der Internationalen Standardklassifikation der Berufe (1988) für nationale Vergleiche der in der Euro-päischen Gemeinschaft in Volkszählungen und Erhebungen ermittelten Informa-tionen. Coventry, UK: Universität Warwick.

    Google Scholar 

  • Erikson, R., & Goldthorpe, J. H. (1992). The constant flux: A study of class mobility in industrial societies. Oxford, UK: Clarendon.

    Google Scholar 

  • Erikson, R., Goldthorpe, J. H., & Portocarero, L. (1979). Intergenerational class mobility in three Western European societies: England, France and Sweden. British Journal of Sociology, 30, 415–451.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • European Commission, Eurostat. (2008). Implementation of ISCO 2008. Doc.Eurostat F0/08/DSS/11/3.2/EN. Accessed October 18, 2011, from http://circa.europa.eu/Public/irc/dsis/ssd/library?I=/dss_meetings/meeting_22-23september/32_isco_2008pdf/_EN_1.0_&a=d

  • European Social Survey. (2010b). ESS Round 5, source questionnaire. London: Centre for Comparative Social Surveys, City University London.

    Google Scholar 

  • European Social Survey. (2011b). ESS5 – 2010 documentation report. Appendix A1 Education. ESS5DataDocReportAppendix_A1_1.0.pdf. Accessed October 18, 2011, from http://ess.nsd.uib.no/ess/round5/

  • European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions. (2011). EU-SILC user database, version 01 August 2011.

    Google Scholar 

  • Eurydice. (2011c). Poland. Structure of the national education system 2011/12. Accessed January 10, 2012, from https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/fpfis/mwikis/eurydice/index.php/Poland:Overview

  • Ganzeboom, H. B. G., De Graaf, P. M., Treiman, D. J., & de Leeuw, J. (1992). A standard international socio-economic index of occupational status. Social Science Research, 21, 1–56.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ganzeboom, H. B. G., Luijkx, R., & Treiman, D. J. (1989). Intergenerational class mobility in comparative perspective. Research in Social Stratification and Mobility, 8, 3–84.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ganzeboom, H. B. G., & Treiman, D. J. (1996). Internationally comparable measures of occupational status for the 1988 international standard classification of occupations. Social Science Research, 25, 201–239.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ganzeboom, H. B. G., & Treiman, D. J. (2003). Three internationally standardised measures for comparative research on occupational status. In: J. H. P. Hoffmeyer-Zlotnik & C. Wolf (pp. 159–193).

    Google Scholar 

  • Geis, A. J. & Hoffmeyer-Zlotnik, J. H. P. (1991). Zur Vercodung von Beruf, Branche und Prestige für die DDR. In: Lebenslagen im Wandel: Basisdaten und -analysen zur Entwicklung in den Neuen Bundesländern (pp. 139–147).

    Google Scholar 

  • Geis, A. J., & Hoffmeyer-Zlotnik, J. H. P. (2000). Stand der Berufsvercodung. ZUMA-Nachrichten, 47, 103–128.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goldthorpe, J. H. (1980). Social mobility and class structure in modern Britain. Oxford, UK: Clarendon.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goldthorpe, J. H. (2000). On sociology, numbers, narratives and the integration of research and theory. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Harrison, E., & Rose, D. (2006). The European Socio-economic Classification (ESeC) user guide. Colchster, UK: Univesity of Essex. Accessed October 18, 2011, from www.iser.essex.ac.uk/files/esec/guide/docs/UserGuide.pdf.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hoffmann, E. (2003a). International statistical comparisons of occupational and social structures: Problems, possibilities and the role of ISCO-88. In: J. H. P. Hoffmeyer-Zlotnik & C. Wolf (pp. 137–158).

    Google Scholar 

  • Hoffmann, E. (2003b). International Classification of Status in Employment, ICSE-93. In: J. H. P. Hoffmeyer-Zlotnik & C. Wolf (2003a) (pp. 125–136).

    Google Scholar 

  • International Labour Organization (ILO). (1969). International Standard Classification of Occupations, Revised Edition 1968. Geneva, Switzerland: ILO.

    Google Scholar 

  • International Labour Organization (ILO). (1990). International Standard Classification of Occupations, ISCO-88. Geneva, Switzerland: ILO.

    Google Scholar 

  • International Labour Organization (ILO). (1993). Resolution concerning the International Classification of Status in Employment (ICSE) adopted by the Fifteenth International Conference of Labour Statisticians (January 1993). Accessed August 29, 2012, from http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/-dgreports/-stat/documents/normativeinstrument/wcms_087562.pdf

    Google Scholar 

  • International Labour Organization (ILO). (1998). Guidelines concerning treatment in employment and unemployment statistics of persons on extended absences from work, endorsed by the Sixteenth International Conference on Labour Statisticians (October 1998). Accessed October 18, 2011, from www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/-dgreports/-stat/documents/normativeinstrument/wcms_087606.pdf

    Google Scholar 

  • International Labour Organization (ILO). (2004a). ISCO International Standard Classification of Occupations. Accessed October 18, 2011, from http://www.ilo.org/public/english/bureau/stat/isco/

  • International Labour Organization (ILO). (2004b). ISCO International Standard Classification of Occupations 1958. Accessed October 18, 2011, from http://www.ilo.org/public/english/bureau/stat/isco/isco58/major.htm

  • International Labour Organization (ILO). (2004c). ISCO International Standard Classification of Occupations 1968. Accessed October 18, 2011, from http://www.ilo.org/public/english/bureau/stat/isco/isco68/major.htm

  • International Labour Organization (ILO). (2004d). ISCO International Standard Classification of Occupations 1988. Accessed October 18, 2011, from http://www.ilo.org/public/english/bureau/stat/isco/isco88/index.htm

  • International Labour Organization (ILO). (2004e). Resolution 1: Resolution concerning household income and expenditure statistics, adopted at the 17th International Conference of Labour Statisticians, December. Geneva, Switzerland. Accessed October 18, 2011, from http://www.ilo.org/global/statistics-and-databases/standards-and-guidelines/resolutions-adopted-by-internatio nal-conferences-of-labour-statisticians/WCMS_087503/lang-en/index.htm

    Google Scholar 

  • International Labour Organization (ILO). (2007). Resolution concerning updating the International Standard Classification of Occupations. Accessed August 28, 2011, from http://www.ilo.org/public/english/bureau/stat/isco/docs/resol08.pdf

  • International Labour Organization (ILO). (2009). ISCO-08 Structure definitions and correspondence tables. Accessed October 18, 2011, from www.ilo.org/public/english/bureau/stat/isco/isco08/index.htm

  • International Labour Organization (ILO). (2011a). International Standard Classification of Occupation. Accessed October 18, 2011, from www.ilo.org/public/english/bureau/stat/isco/isco08/index.htm

  • International Labour Organization (ILO). (2011b). The 14th ICLS adopted the Resolution concerning The International Classification of Status in Employment (ICSE), known as ICE-93. Current guidelines. Accessed October 18, 2011, from www.ilo.org/global/statistics-and-databases/statistics-overview-and-topics/status-in-employment/current

  • ipr – Sozialforschung. (2003). “European social survey” Frühjahr 2003. Accessed October 18, 2011, from http://ess.nsd.uib.no/ess/round1/fieldwork/Austria

  • OECD Statistics Directorate. (2011). Purchasing Power Parities (PPP). Accessed October 18, 2011, from http://www.oecd.org/department/0,3355,en_2649_34357_1_1_1_1_1,00.html

  • Schneider, S. L. (2010). Nominal comparability is not enough: (In-)Equivalence of construct validity of cross-national measures of educational attainment in the European Social Survey. Research in Social Stratification and Mobility, 28(3), 343–357. Accessed October 18, 2011, from http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.rssm.2010.03.001, http://www.nuffield.ox.ac.uk/users/Schneider/pdfs/schn10.pdf.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Statistisches Bundesamt (Ed.). (1971). Systematische Verzeichnisse: Internationale Standardklassifikation der Berufe. Deutsche Ausgabe 1968. Stuttgart, Germany: Verlag W. Kohlhammer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Treiman, D. J. (1975). Problems of concepts and measurement in the comparative study of occupational mobility. Social Science Research, 4, 183–230.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Treiman, D. J. (1977). Occupational prestige in comparative perspective. New York: Academic.

    Google Scholar 

  • Treiman, D. J. (1979). Probleme der Berufsbildung und Operationalisierung in der international vergleichenden Mobilitätsforschung. In: F. U. Pappi (pp. 124–167).

    Google Scholar 

  • UNESCO. (2003). International Standard Classification of Education, ISCED 1997. In: J. H. P. Hoffmeyer-Zlotnik & C. Wolf (pp. 195–220).

    Google Scholar 

  • UNESCO. (2011). Revision of the International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED). General Conference 36th Session, 36C/19. Paris. Accessed October 18, 2011, from http://www.uis.unesco.org/Education/Documents/UNESCO_GC_36C-19_ISCED_EN.pdf

  • UNESCO-UIS. (2009). ISCED 1997 MAPPINGS. Accessed October 18, 2011, from http://www.uis.unesco.org/Education/ISCEDMappings/Pages/default.aspx

  • UNESCO-UIS. (2011a). Revision of the International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED). 36 C/19, 5 September 2011, Original: English. Accessed October 18, 2011, from http://www.uis.unesco.org/Education/Pages/standards-and-methodologies.aspx

  • UNESCO-UIS. (2011b). Global education digest 2011. Comparing education statistics across the world. Montreal. Accessed October 18, 2011, from http://www.uis.unesco.org/Library/Documents/global_education_digest_2011_en.pdf

  • United Nations. (1977). Provisional guidelines on statistics of the distribution of income, consumption and accumulation of households. Working Paper Series, Studies in Methods, Series M, No. 61. New York: UN DESA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Warwick Institute for Employment Research. (2005). ISCO-88: International Standard Classification of Occupations. ISCO 88 (COM) – the European Union Variant of ISCO-88 Establishment of Community-wide Occupational Statistics. Accessed October 18, 2011, from http://www2.warwick.ac.uk./fac/soc/ier/research/isco88/

  • Wolf, C. (1995). Sozio-ökonomischer status und berufliches prestige. ZUMA-Nachrichten, 37, 102–136.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Political Science, Justus Liebig University of Giessen, Giessen, Germany

    Jürgen H. P. Hoffmeyer-Zlotnik

  2. CEPS/INSTEAD Centre d’Etudes de Populations de Pauvreté et de Politiques Socio-Economiques/International Network for Studies in Technology Environment, Alternatives, Development, Esch/Alzette, Luxembourg

    Uwe Warner

Authors
  1. Jürgen H. P. Hoffmeyer-Zlotnik
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Uwe Warner
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2014 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Hoffmeyer-Zlotnik, J.H.P., Warner, U. (2014). Existing Measurement Instruments for Data Collection. In: Harmonising Demographic and Socio-Economic Variables for Cross-National Comparative Survey Research. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-7238-0_3

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation