Sociology 239A-B

   INTRODUCTION TO SOCIAL STRATIFICATION AND SOCIAL MOBILITY
 
                     David D. McFarland
                     Donald J. Treiman

                    Winter & Spring 1998

The official catalog title is Quantitative Research on Social
Stratification and Social Mobility, but the above, which was the
title submitted with the course proposal, more accurately
describes it. In particular, (a) not everything we will cover is
quantitative, and (b) during the course we will be reading
previous research rather than conducting original research,
although with a view toward doing the latter subsequently.
 
Professors:   Donald J. Treiman, Haines 248, 825-1610, 
treiman@dudley.sscnet.ucla.edu, and David D. McFarland, Haines 
257, 825-6380, mcfarland@soc.ucla.edu
  
The goal of the course is to introduce graduate students to the
basic English language research literature on social
stratification and social mobility, both in the U.S. and abroad.
Those satisfactorily completing the course will have read and
assimilated the most important research monographs and journal
articles and will have a general understanding of the major
theoretical and empirical problems of the field, and of the data
sources and statistical tools required to do research on these
problems.

Each week will include a discussion of assigned reading and an
introduction to the topic of the following week's reading.  

Evaluation of student performance will be based on a combination
of class participation, short papers and/or examinations. Term
papers based on original empirical research will NOT be assigned
(those wishing to write such research papers may arrange
independent study with either of the professors or, depending on
the format that particular year, may enroll in Soc. 263, Seminar
in Social Stratification, subsequent to completing this course).

Prerequisite: Soc. 209A-B or 210A-B or equivalent. We assume
basic familiarity with: (a) multiple regression, including
inference procedures; (b) bivariate contingency tables, including
chi-square tests of independence. Additional, more complex
techniques will be covered in the course as needed. 

Course Outline

1.  Introduction.

2.  Types of Resources.

3.  Occupations, Prestige, and Socioeconomic Status.
 
4.  Discrete Social Classes. 
 
5.  Status Attainment I.

6.  Status Attainment II: Intelligence.

7.  Educational Attainment.

8.  Intergenerational Occupational Mobility.
 
9.  Career (Intra-generational) Mobility.
 
10.  Firms, Markets, and Status Attainment.

11.  Ethnicity (including Race) and Stratification.
 
12.  Gender and Status Attainment.
   
13.  Wealth and the Wealthy.
 
14.  Downward Mobility, Unemployment, Poverty.  
 
15.  Correlates and Consequences of Status.
 
16.  Correlates and Consequences of Mobility.
 
17.  Trends in Stratification and Mobility.              

18.  Stratification in Transitional Societies.
 
19.  International Comparisons of Stratification and Mobility.

20.  Wrap up.  Emerging Research Issues.