Hi Mark.
I have struggled with exactly this issue over the past few years. If SEC is
not central to your research (e.g. a control measure of minor interest
rather than an important DV), then you don't really need a lot of personal
questions about income, education etc which might put people off answer
your questionnaire.
After some advice, the solution I have settled on is to ask this single
question (based on the ONS measure of SEC/SES):
"In order to get some idea of your social background, please
state the occupation of the person in your household who was responsible
for owning/renting your accommodation when you were aged about 14 years
old".
I analyse the outcome using the ONS's 3-part hierarchy, but you could use
their more complex hierarchies if you need to.
Hope this helps.
Best wishes,
John.
-----Original Message-----
From: "Kennedy, Mark" <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Mon, 31 Aug 2009 11:15:23
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Best way to ascertain SES data
Hi everybody,
Just a very quick question regarding my research. I am conducting
observations with additional short questionnaires and I need to ascertain
data on the participant's Socioeconomic Status via the questionnaire (in
amongst other variables).
What is the best way to obtain SES data in a sensitive manner without
unnecesserilly offputting questions such as "what is your annual
wage...what is your education level". Due to my sample I think questions
like that are likely to go unanswered.
I have seen job scales to indicate SES but I am carrying out research on
parents and due to that I don't really think that's the best method.
Any advice would be great on how I can find out my participant's SES
quickly, empathetically and in an unbiased objective manner. Also in the
interests of data analysis I will also have to be able to compare different
SES 'groups' too so this must also be an option.
Any advice will be welcome.
Regards,
Mark Kennedy
PhD Researcher in Developmental Psychology @ NTU
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