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International Stratification and Mobility File About ISMF The International Stratification and Mobility File [ISMF] is a collection of harmonized sample survey data with information on social stratification and social mobility, in particular respondent's and parent's social statuses (education, occupation). The data set is created and maintained by Harry B.G. Ganzeboom at Free University Amsterdam, in collaboration with Donald J. Treiman, Dept.of Sociology, and Elizabeth Stephenson, Social Science Data Archive - Institute for Social Science Research, University of California-Los Angeles. This website and index of data files is developed and maintained exclusively by the Social Science Data Archive - Institute for Social Science Research, University of California, Los Angeles. The goal of the ISMF project is to create a comparative database to study mobility patterns over time and throughout the world. To this end, the ISMF aims to be as comprehensive as possible in its inclusion of all surveys that meet the specified criteria (see below). For some nations, included surveys extend as far back as the 1940’s and are as recent as 2003. As of November 2004 the database includes more than 200 surveys, from 42 nations. With time measured by 5-year birth cohorts, these surveys include data for over 400 nation*time combinations. In all, about one million individuals, both men and women, are included in the database. Criteria for inclusion in the ISMF are: • The survey contains information on father's occupation, respondent's level of education, and respondent's current occupation, which together define the most elementary status attainment model. • The survey is representative of a national or sub-national population. "Sub-national" refers to political units that are parts of larger states but that have distinct identities, separate education systems, separate labor markets, and sometimes separate languages. Examples include England and Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland within Great Britain; English and French Canada; and Dutch and French-speaking Belgium. • The survey is available to researchers at no cost or low cost. See overview of harmonized variables in ISMF.

  
This page maintained by Libbie Stephenson
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Last Updated February 16, 2005