As a result of a review conducted by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and the Office for National Statistics (ONS), both previous government social classifications, Social Class based on Occupation and Socio-Economic Groups, were replaced in 2001 by a new classification, the National Statistics Socio-Economic Classification (NS-SEC). A Researcher's Guide to the National Statistics Socio-economic Classification arises from original research, including primary data collection, undertaken by ESRC for ONS. There is a foreword from Gordon Marshall the Chief Executive of the ESRC. A Researcher's Guide to the National Statistics Socio-economic Classification introduces researchers to all aspects of the new classification. In particular, it: fully describes the NS-SEC and elucidates its conceptual basis; guides readers into how the NS-SEC has been validated as a measure; evaluates how well NS-SEC works in describing and explaining the relationships between social class and key health and employment variables; demonstrates the applications of NS-SEC in research
David J. Pevalin is Senior Research Officer at the Institute for Social and Economic Research, University of Essex
PART ONE: INTRODUCTION TO THE NATIONAL STATISTICS SOCIO-ECONOMIC CLASSIFICATION The NS-SEC Described - David Rose and David J Pevalin The NS-SEC Explained - David Rose and David J Pevalin PART TWO: THE NS-SEC AS A MEASURE OF EMPLOYMENT RELATIONS - David Rose and David J Pevalin Empirical Variation in Employment Relations and Conditions - Abigail McKnight and Peter Elias Employment Relations, Employment Conditions and the NS-SEC - Colin Mills and Geoffrey Evans Criterion Validity and Occupational Classification - Anthony P M Coxon and Kimberly Fisher The Seven Economic Relations Measures and the NS-SEC An Initial Exploration of the Employment Conditions of Full-Time and Part-Time Workers Using the NS-SEC - Kimberly Fisher PART THREE: CONSTRUCT VALIDATION Earnings, Unemployment and the NS-SEC - Peter Elias and Abigail McKnight Examining Mortality Rates by NS-SEC Using Death Registration Data and the 1991 Census - Justine Fitzpatrick Social Class and the Incidence of Low-weight Births - David J Pevalin Gender, Health and Occupational Classifications in Working and Later Life - Helen Cooper and Sara Arber Old and New Social Class Measures - Anthony Heath, Jean Martin and Roeland Beerten A Comparison PART FOUR: FURTHER REFLECTIONS ON THE NS-SEC The Problem of Lower Sales, Services and Clerical Occupations - David Rose and David J Pevalin The NS-SEC - David Rose and David J Pevalin Overview and Conclusions
`Health researchers in the US and more globally would do well to study this book and consider its implications for monitoring and analyzing socioeconomic inequalities in health within and across diverse countries' - Journal of Public Health Policy
