Watch and learn! Carefully selected videos will help bring key concepts and theories to life, preparing you for your studies and exams.

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1.  Class vs. Prestige

Recently, the New York Times published a special series on how class matters, including an interactive website. You can access the website here: http://www.nytimes.com/packages/html/national/20050515_CLASS_GRAPHIC/index_01.html. Under the section “Components of Class,” they list occupational prestige, education, income, and wealth as “characteristics that could be used to describe a person's class.” How do these perspectives differ from the author's class categories? In particular, how does Gilbert define the relationship between class and status/prestige, and how is this different from the New York Times website?

2.  Prestige of Occupations

Using the link above, focus on “Occupation” under the tab “Components of Class.” By selecting an occupation, it gives you the relative prestige of that occupation. What is the relative occupational prestige of your chosen occupation(s)? How does the occupational prestige of sociologists compare with other occupations?

3.  Median Earning of Occupations

The Census Bureau provides a wealth of information. You can access the website in general here: http://www.census.gov/

To access information specifically about occupation and median earnings go here: http://factfinder2.census.gov/faces/nav/jsf/pages/index.xhtml

Click on “Advanced Search” in the toolbar at the top of the window and then on “Show Me All.” At the left-hand side of the window, click on “Topics” and open “Employment” and choose “Occupation.” Close the “Topics” box. You will see that American FactFinder has loaded a series of documents for you. ¹ Select S2401.

This chart provides you with data on American occupations and breaks it down by males and females. It also provides you with data on median earnings. Do these match what you learned in Chapter 2? Is there a difference in the earnings between men and women? Are there certain job categories that seem to have more men or women in them? How do the median earnings in these categories compare?