Page 71 - The Importance of Common Metrics for Advacing Social Science Theory and Research

The Importance of Common Metrics for Advancing Social Science Theory and Research: A Workshop Summary
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SOCIAL SCIENCE CONSTRUCTS 59

find themselves. Both sociology and economics are focused on the economic
standing of individuals and how it is transferred from one generation to
the next. However, one could take a more narrow interpretation of oc-
cupational income as a measure of permanent income, so that the annual
variations in income that one observes could be seen as noise centering on
the occupational mean.
Another line of debate in sociology is about how the reproduction of
social standing from one generation to the next is secured. Grusky described
three types of reproduction, each with its own subtradition of analysis:

1. Gradational form—parents pass on a hierarchical position (i.e.,
amount of resources) associated with a particular occupation. Chil-
dren of parents with many resources (social, cultural, economic)
end up in good occupations; children of parents with few resources
fare less well.
2. Big-class form—children inherit a big class of origin (e.g., children
of professionals become professionals) with associated cultures,
networks, and skills. Class-specific resources are transferred from
one generation to the next, which would raise the probability of
class reproduction. Two big classes of the same overall desirability
(e.g., proprietors, nonmanual laborers) do not convey identical
mobility chances.
3. Micro-class form—children benefit by resources or perspectives
quite specific to the detailed occupations that parents might have.
For example, the attack on the World Trade Center might gener-
ate family discussion about motivation and cultural differences in
a family of sociologists, but discussion about structural integrity
and construction materials is more likely to occur in a family of
engineers.

Putting aside narrow-gauge methodological problems for now, Grusky
underscored the primary need to overcome two main structural obstacles
to developing a national protocol for measuring intergenerational mobility:
the balkanization of economics and sociology traditions and sparse data.
He sees value in maintaining both economic and sociological approaches
to studying mobility. Economic position is distinct from occupation as an
omnibus measure of social position. One obviously cares about how much
money people have, but one also should care deeply about the social and
cultural milieu in which they live and whether or not the milieu in which
they grew up is also the one in which they find themselves as adults. This
question is distinct from whether the economic standing of individuals is
the same from one generation to the next.
Possible solutions to the sparse data problem include better surveys,

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