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A Scale for Assessing Socio-
Economic Status in
Survey Research
B Y
C H AR L E S L . V A U G H N
This article contains the description of a socio-economic scale based on the answers
to five simple questions. The scale has been found useful in urban and rural areas
and is particularly adapted to survey research.
Charles L. Vaughn is in the Marketing and Social Research Division of the Psycho-
logical Corporation.
COMMON METHOD USED
in assessing socio-economic status of respondent
homes in survey research is to obtain interviewer ratings of the variable.
These ratings are generally based upon a quick inspection of the dwelling
unit in which the person is conducting the interview and upon the personal
care and speech of the respondent The interviewer may or may not have
advance knowledge of the general characteristics of the area in which he or
she is working. If the interviewer is approaching people on the street, the
personal care and speech of the respondents are almost the sole guides he or
she has for making the ratings.
Although some of the largest differences in survey results are revealed in
the analyses by socio-economic groups, ratings suffer a nu m be r of limitations,
of which the following would appear to be the principal ones:
1
(1) They are not very reliable:
2
(2) They require considerable interviewer instruction—which may con-
siderably reduce the instruction that can be given on the aspects of
the questionnaire more directly pertinent to the research problem at
hand .
(3) The ratings may fail to differentiate between households. In the
usual situation, interviewers rate the large majority of homes in the
mid dle gro up . Th is error of central tendency is com mo n to a great
many types of ratings. In the survey situation, of course, the tendency
may be reduced or eliminated by assigning quotas by socio-economic
group)—although other errors may be introduced by this procedure.
1
For a
detailed review
of the
subject
of
social class
see W.
Lloyd Warner, Marcia Meeker,
and
Kenneth
Eelj, Social Class
in
America.
Chicago: Science Research Associates,
1949.
xiil
+
274 pp.
3
Vaughn, Charles
L. and
William
A.
Reynold*. Reliability
of
Personal Interview Data.
Journal of Applied Psychology, 35, 1951, pp. 61-63.
a t AAP ORI n s t i t u t i on a l M e
m b e r onA u g u s t 5 ,2 0 1 4
h t t p : / / p o q . oxf or d j o ur n a l s . or g /
D o wnl o a d e d
f r om
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SCALE FOR ASSESSING SOCIO-ECONOMIC STATU S 21
of the household. These reports, however, were not substituted for ratings
because hou sehold inc om e reflects less of the social aspect of socio-economic
status than desired. There arc also other objections to use of household in-
come, viz: questioning on the subject tends to irritate respondents and thus
to demoralize interviewers. Family income also fluctuates widely and rela-
tively few persons in the househ old can repo rt reliably on th e subject. A no the r
solution that was considered was to spread interviewer ratings over twelve
rather than four groups, but this procedure still resulted in poor discrimina-
tion.
RESEARCH PLAN
Seven questions were included in a national personal interview survey of
7,500 homes in urban territory and rural villages. The survey was conducted
in Janu ary an d F ebru ary , 1951. Each answ er to five of these seven que stions
was then scaled against interviewers' ratings of socio-economic status. The
scaling was done in such a way that the scale values, or scores, assigned each
answer would reflect the deviation of the answer from the mean of the dis-
tribution of socio-economic status. All scale values were expressed in terms of
the standard deviation of the distribution of households by socio-economic
status. Since all answers were expressed as deviations from the mean in terms
of equivalent units, the scale values assigned the respective answers were
then additive. Once the scale values had been determined, they were con-
verted to code numbers appropriate for IBM processing. The questioning
and recording were condensed for field use; and scale results from subse-
quent studies were cross-validated against interviewer ratings.
The Questions.—
(1) Are you or is somebody else the chief wage earner in your home?
(2) (About chief wage earner) What is (your, his, her) occupation?
(Record occupation of chief wave earner in detail by type of work
and position)
(3) {About chief wage earner) About how far did (you, he, she) go in
school? 8th grade or less; 1-2 years high school; completed high
school; some college; completed college.
(4) Is there a car in your ho m e ( I f Yes) How many (If one car only)
Was it bought new or used
(5) Is there a telephone in your hom e (If Yes) Party or private line
(6) Do you rent or own the place where you are living?
(7a) How many bedrooms are there in your home
(7b) How many people live there?
These particular questions were included in the study because it was
judged on an
a priori
basis that they would differentiate homes on a socio-
econom ic basis. Q uestion 1 was included to set u p Qu estions 2 and 3 . It
a t AAP ORI n s t i t u t i on a l M e
m b e r onA u g u s t 5 ,2 0 1 4
h t t p : / / p o q . oxf or d j o ur n a l s . or g /
D o wnl o a d e d f r om
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22 PUBLIC OPINION QUARTERLY
was believed that Questions 2 and 3 would differentiate along the entire
ra ng e; Qu estions 4 and 5, at the bottom end of the scale; e tc
One might assume that Questions 2 and 3 would be sufficient, and this as-
sumption is correct, except for the fact that more than two questions were
necessary to provide relatively fine discriminations. The questions on num-
ber of bedrooms and number of people in the home (Q's 7a and 7b) were
included to obtain an index of crowding, but the questions met with so
much respondent resistance that they were later dropped. The index of
crowding also posed difficulties in processing and was not very discriminating.
The Sample. The national sample in which the questions were originally
include d represented all urban and small tow n ( rura l non-farm) households
in the United States. Interviews were made in 123 localities, i.e. standard
metropolitan areas or non-metropolitan counties, and in 273 cities, towns, and
villages within those areas.
Within cities, towns, and villages, interviewers were assigned to spots on
the basis of socio-economic maps of the places, prepared by field supervisors,
or Research Associates of Th e Psychological Co rporation . These m aps showed
the respective parts of the locality where the upper, middle, and lower socio-
economic groups resided. Because of variations in socio-economic status, even
within small areas in a city, interviewers were assigned a specific quota of
interviews—i.e. a certain number of interviews with persons in the upper
group, in the middle group, and in the bottom group. The interviewer had
to use judgment in selecting households within these three groups, and rated
the homes as he interviewed.
O nly on e person was interviewed pe r househo ld. T h e individuals inter-
viewed in the households were chosen to match the distribution of individ-
uals aged eight years and older in the United States population as shown by
th e C ensus of 1950. If a person was not at ho m e in a hou sehold, a substitute
was taken, either in that household or in the next household. So that persons
who are frequently away from home would be given some weight in the
sample, a small percentage of interviews were made in shopping districts near
the areas assigned. The interviewing was supervised locally by 120 psy-
chologists serving as Research Associates of The Psychological Corporation.
DERIVATION OF THE SCALE
The Criterion.
The criteria against which the answers to the questions
were scaled, were interviewers' ratings of the socio-economic status of the
households in which respondents resided. These ratings were along a three-
point scale, upper, middle, and lower socio-economic group. Assignments in
a given town or city were made in such a way that 30 per cent of the ratings
were up pe r ; 40 per cent m idd le ; and 30 per cent lowe r . T h e raters
were thus forced to discriminate.
a t AAP ORI n s t i t u t i on a l M e m
b e r onA u g u s t 5 ,2 0 1 4
h t t p : / / p o q . oxf or d j o ur n a l s . o
r g /
D o wnl o a d e d f r om
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SCALE FOR ASSESSING SOCIO-ECONOMIC STATUS 23
The use of interviewer ratings as the criterion may, of course, raise some
questions. However, these ratings, based in part upon socio-economic maps
of the respective interviewing localities, were the basis of breakdowns used
in previous studies, and differences in answers between broad socio-economic
groups were generally quite significant. One aim of the present research was
to develop a scale that would discriminate on much the same basis as the
interviewer ratings had prior to the change in sampling methods, so that
trend comparisons would not be jeopardized by artifacts.
Also, it seemed probable that the persons best able to distinguish between
broad groups locally were the interviewers who called upon the homes and
talked to the people therein even though differentiation in the middle ranges
might not be a fine one. At least the intelligent field interviewer, supervised
by a local resident at the professional level and assisted by a socio-economic
map, would appear to be a better judge of the status of homes than would
someone basing this decision upon an
a priori
and theoretical conception of
what constitutes social status.
As a basis for scaling the answers to the five questions and parts thereof,
the assumption was made that socio-economic status is normally distributed.
This assumption can not be grossly in error. All it means is that some house-
holds have a very high status and others a very low status, but most fall in
a large middle group, those above average being distributed along a bell-
shaped curve in about the same fashion as those below average. Certainly the
normal curve
approximates
the un der lyin g distribution of socio-economic
status, and the ready availability of tables of areas under the normal curve
facilitates scaling and statistical analysis.
Scaling Against Criterion.
—The detailed scaling procedure w ill be illus-
trated below for the occupation of the Chief W age Ea rner . T he other
answ ers wer e similarly scaled.
Respondents' reports of occupation were classified into the standard Cen-
sus categories: Pro prietors , m ana ger s, an d officials except far m ; profes-
sional worke rs, semi-professional wor ke rs; salesmen ; e tc Thes e were then
cross analyzed by socio-economic rating. To illustrate, details of the
pro ced ure for pro prieto rs, m an ag ers , an d officials except far m will be
shown,
PROPRIETORS, MANAGERS, AND
OFFICI LS
Fraction in Lower Socio-Economic Gro up 092
Fraction in Middle Socio-Economic Grou p 34 1
Fraction in Upper Socio-Economic Group 56 7
Total 1.000
a t AAP ORI n s t i t u t i on a l M e m b e r onA u g u s t 5 ,2 0 1 4
h t t p : / / p o q . oxf or d j o ur n a l s . or g /
D o wnl o a d e d
f r om
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24 PUBLIC OP INIO N QUAR TERLY
It was assumed that some of this occupational group would have a rela-
tively high socio-economic status, some
a
relatively
low one, but
that
the
group would tend
to
peak
at a
mid-point along
the
socio-economic
con-
tinuum.
K nowing the fractions
of
proprietors, managers,
e tc
who fell
in the
upper,
middle, and lower group respectively, one may compute the distance of the
mean of this group (Mp) from the mean of the distribution (Mt). This dis-
tance
m ay, in
turn
be
converted into standard deviation units
of the
larger
distribution ( by solving these simultaneous equations:
Equat ion
1. _c
£
(X - M
v
) (X - M,)
=
M^
a, ( O a,
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26 PUBLIC OPIN ION QUARTERLY
In assigning field scores to the respective answers, we have grouped to-
geth er the answers that w ere no more th an 0 5* apart in term s of the scaled
scores. This procedure simplifies scoring in the field and IBM processing in
the office. Since in actual practice there will always be some do n't k n ow or
n o answ er responses we have scaled these alternatives alon g w ith th e others
—as shown in Table 1.
An example of how the score is obtained in the field may be helpful.
Suppose the respondent reports that: (k) the home has a private line tele-
phone; (1) the family owns the home; (m) there are two or more cars in
the household; (n) the chief wage earner is a drug store owner; and (o) the
chief wage earner grad uate d from college. T h e interview er records the scores
as follows:
k _ 2 _
1 _ 2 _
m 3
_
The total socio-economic scaled score for the household is 13.
Thirteen is the maximum score that a household can make. The lowest
score wo uld be m ad e by a household with : no telephone (score = 0 ) ;
rente rs occu pying it (score = 1 ) ; no car (score = 1 ) ; the chief w ag e earner
a laborer (score = 0 ) ; an d with the chief wag e earne r a person w ho left
school after finishing gra m m ar school (score = 0 ). T h e total score for this
household at the lowest level would be
two.
This range in scores from 2 to 13
facilitates IB M processing. A ll scores except 13 are p unc hed as they are . Scores
of
13
are converted to l ' s du rin g the inspection process.
In actual practice, the five basic questions are printed on one side of a
5 x 8 card wi th the field scores correspon ding to the response alternatives
thereon. Only the response record for numbers appears on the questionnaire
blank. Since the office coding of occupation is time consuming and tedious,
illustrative occupations and scores therefore are printed on the second side
of the card containing the questions, so that the interviewer records merely
the number corresponding to the occupational level.
DISTRIBUTION OF SCALED SCORES
Illustration 1 and Table 2 show the distributions of total scaled scores
from two studies:
Study #1. T hi s study was based upon
8,000
interviews, a cross-section of
all households in urban territory and rural villages in the United States.
a t AAP ORI n s t i t u t i on a l M e m b e r onA u g u s t 5 ,2 0 1 4
h t t p : / / p o q . oxf or d j o ur n a l s . o
r g /
D o wnl o a d e d
f r om
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PUBLIC OPINION QUARTERLY
and judgment samples
are
customarily somew hat high er
on the
socio-
economic ladder than are samples from which interviewer judgment has been
largely removed. The small divergence of the distributions from normal,
however, does
not
seriously limit
the
usefulness
of the
scale.
TABLE 2
DISTRIBUTIONS OF SCALED SOOO-ECONO MIC SCORES
FROM Two NATIONAL SURVEYS
Socio-economic
Score
13
12
11
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
Total
Per
Cent
of
Households chieving
Each Score
Study fl
Urban
Rural Village
2 .7
5 .1
6 .7
9 .1
10.0
11.6
12.6
13.3
11.2
8.8
6 .0
2 .9
100.0
Study f2
Urban Only
3 .6
4 .6
6 .5
8.4
10.5
11.6
12.9
12.5
10.8
8.6
6 .1
3 .9
100.0
Suggested Letter
Grade Equivalent
and Description
A
Top (15%)
B Upper
(31%)
Middle
C Lower
(36%)
Middle
D Bottom
(18%)
(100%)
•Numbers in parentheses are approximate per cents achieving each suggested letter
grade.
RELIABILITY AND VALIDITY OF THE SCALE
Validity of the scale is to some extent assured by the manner in which it
was constructed. However, a cross-validational study resulted in a Pearsonian
correlation coefficient of .61 between interviewer ratings of socio-economic
status and total scaled scores.
The cross-validational group comprised 1828 households representing all
households in the New Y ork, Philadelphia, and Boston Standard Metropoli-
tan Areas. Interviews were made
in
some
183
neighborhoods
in the
three
areas, the selection of neighborhoods being made by area sampling methods.
The correlation of .61 between ratings and scaled scores is as high as the
correlation obtained between ratings themselves when different interviewers
were used to rate the same households.*
O n
the
other hand,
in one
study made
in 1956 the
Pearso nia n coefficient
of correlation between original
and
repeat scaled scores from
the
same homes
was £5. This correlation was obtained w ith a group of 317 homes distributed
over
the
U nited States. Interviews were originally m ade
in the
homes
as a
* Vaughn and Reynolds, op. cit.
a t AAP ORI n s t i t u t i on a l M e m
b e r onA u g u s t 5 ,2 0 1 4
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D o wnl o a d e d
f r om
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SCALE FOR ASSESSING SOCIO-ECONOM IC STATU S 31
pa rt of the M ay, 1956, Psychological B arom eter; reintcrviews w ere m ade in
the sam e homes in July, 1956, generally by different interviewers. ( T h e hom es
were those in which a tire had been purchased during the previous year.)
Certain relationships between scaled scores and other variables also indicate
a h igh degree of reliability an d validity of the scale. Fo r ex amp le, studies ind i-
cate that the following variables are closely related in the expected direction
to scaled scores: median family income, when geographic division is held
constant; percentage of homes with television sets; and percentage of Negro
homes. In fact the curves depicting the relationships arc exceptionally smooth
for social data.
Certain brands of products known to have positive prestige value show an
increasing incidence of use in groups with higher scale scores; and con-
versely, brands purchased for other reasons show greater frequency of use in
groups with lower scores. Here again the curves showing the relationships
are unusually smooth for those derived from social data.
Aside from questions in the product field, answers to questions in the
social and political areas also show the expected relationships to scaled scores,
in particular, the percentage of persons w ho answer do n't kn ow to ques-
tions in these areas.
NOTE OK USE OF THE SCALE IN FARM HOMES
Subsequent to preparation of the foregoing article the scale has been ap-
plied to a sample of 447 farm homes. This sample was a cross-section of all
farm homes in the United States and was obtained as a supplement to the
May 1957 Psychological Barometer.
No particular problems were encountered in using the scale this first time
in farm homes, and it does discriminate between homes in this group, as
shown by Table 3. On the surface, at least, the scale would appear to be as
valid with farm as with urban and rural non-farm homes.
SUM M ARY AND CO NCLUSIO NS
This report describes a scale originally designed for assessing the socio-
economic status of homes in urban territory and rural villages in the United
States. Data obtained subsequent to construction of the scale would indicate
that it is also useful with farm homes .
The scale value assigned to a home depends upon the answers of anyone
from that home to five basic questions and parts
thereof.
The questions per-
tain to : telephone own ership ; home own ership; automobile ow nership;
occupation of chief wage earner in the home; and his (or her) education.
The numerical value assigned to each answer has been determined by
scaling the respective answers against interviewers' ratings of homes in urban
territory and rural villages in the United States. These ratings were based in
a t AAP ORI n s t i t u t i on a l M e m b e r onA u g u s t 5 ,2 0 1 4
h t t p : / / p o q . oxf or d j o ur n a l s . or g /
D o wnl o a d e d
f r om
http://poq.oxfordjournals.org/http://poq.oxfordjournals.org/http://poq.oxfordjournals.org/http://poq.oxfordjournals.org/http://poq.oxfordjournals.org/http://poq.oxfordjournals.org/http://poq.oxfordjournals.org/http://poq.oxfordjournals.org/http://poq.oxfordjournals.org/http://poq.oxfordjournals.org/http://poq.oxfordjournals.org/http://poq.oxfordjournals.org/http://poq.oxfordjournals.org/http://poq.oxfordjournals.org/http://poq.oxfordjournals.org/http://poq.oxfordjournals.org/http://poq.oxfordjournals.org/http://poq.oxfordjournals.org/http://poq.oxfordjournals.org/http://poq.oxfordjournals.org/http://poq.oxfordjournals.org/http://poq.oxfordjournals.org/http://poq.oxfordjournals.org/http://poq.oxfordjournals.org/http://poq.oxfordjournals.org/http://poq.oxfordjournals.org/http://poq.oxfordjournals.org/http://poq.oxfordjournals.org/http://poq.oxfordjournals.org/http://poq.oxfordjournals.org/http://poq.oxfordjournals.org/http://poq.oxfordjournals.org/
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32 PUBLIC OP INIO N QUARTERLY
T A B L E
3
DISTRIBUTION OF SCALED SOOO-ECONO MIC SCORES
FROM
SURVEY
OF
FARM HOMES
(Special Sample
of
447 Farm Homes,
May,
1957 Psychological Barometer)
Percent of Household}
Socio Economic
Scare
13
12
11
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
Total
chieving Bach
Score
.8
1.8
8.9
8.3
16.1
9 .4
14.3
13.6
S.I
10.3
6 .7
4 .7
100.0
part upon socio-economic maps
of
places where interviewers operated.
The
method
of
scaling
is
described
in
some detail
in
this report. Scale values
of
the respective items vary from 0 to 3 — they are essentially sta nd ard
scores.
T h e
sum of the
scores
on the
respective items
is the
total scaled score
fo r the hom e . The total scaled scores vary from 2 to 13, inclusive. T he y
are approximately normally distributed, witii a mean of about 7 and a
standard deviation of about 3.
The scale thus discriminates between homes.
The
scale appears
to be
reliable
and
valid. Scale values correlate about
.60
with interviewer ratings.
In several studies, close and consistent relationships were shown between
other variables and scaled scores. Certain of these other variables are those
that one would judge should be related to socio-economic status.
The scale
as
developed
for
field
use
requires very little space
on the
ques-
tionnaire. Children as well as adults can report the necessary facts. The ques-
tions require
no
more than
a few
minutes
of
interviewer-respondent time,
and can be asked in street as well as home interviews. The total socio-
economic score is pre-coded (by the interviewer so to speak) , and can be
punched
in one
column
of an IBM
card.
Norms appear to be relatively stable. Over a period of time, however,
scores for certain of the items may decrease in discriminative value, and the
distributions will require periodic scrutiny, although changes will probably
not
be
rapid.
a t AAP ORI n s t i t u t i on a l M e m
b e r onA u g u s t 5 ,2 0 1 4
h t t p : / / p o q . oxf or d j o ur n a l s . o
r g /
D o wnl o a d e d f r om
http://poq.oxfordjournals.org/http://poq.oxfordjournals.org/http://poq.oxfordjournals.org/http://poq.oxfordjournals.org/http://poq.oxfordjournals.org/http://poq.oxfordjournals.org/http://poq.oxfordjournals.org/http://poq.oxfordjournals.org/http://poq.oxfordjournals.org/http://poq.oxfordjournals.org/http://poq.oxfordjournals.org/http://poq.oxfordjournals.org/http://poq.oxfordjournals.org/http://poq.oxfordjournals.org/http://poq.oxfordjournals.org/http://poq.oxfordjournals.org/http://poq.oxfordjournals.org/http://poq.oxfordjournals.org/http://poq.oxfordjournals.org/http://poq.oxfordjournals.org/http://poq.oxfordjournals.org/http://poq.oxfordjournals.org/http://poq.oxfordjournals.org/http://poq.oxfordjournals.org/http://poq.oxfordjournals.org/http://poq.oxfordjournals.org/http://poq.oxfordjournals.org/http://poq.oxfordjournals.org/http://poq.oxfordjournals.org/http://poq.oxfordjournals.org/http://poq.oxfordjournals.org/http://poq.oxfordjournals.org/
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SCALE FOR ASSESSING SO CiqEC ON OM IC STATU S 33
The fact that the scale distinguishes twelve-points along a continuum
makes it possible to study and highlight certain relationships not clearly
visible with a four-point scale ( A, B , C , and D ) . O n the other han d,
the scaled scores may be grouped into categories, e.g.:
' T o p ,
w ith a letter grade equivalent of A , and comprising the
highest 15 per cent of households
Upper Middle, grade equivalent B , comprising the next 31 per
cent of households;
Low er M iddle, grade equivalent C, comprising the next 36 per
cent of households; and
Bo ttom, grade equivalent D , comprising the lowest 18 per cent
of households.
With the relatively fine discrimination afforded by the scale, other groupings
may be used. Those above appear to be convenient, and the breaking points
loosely correspond with significant parameters of the normal curve, i.e. the
two inflection points and the mean or mode.
Use of all twelve points on the scale, however, makes it relatively simple
to derive mathematical expressions of various relationships—such as those
between television set ownership, incidence of Negroes, use of certain brands
of products, knowledge about various companies, etc. and socio-economic
level. W he th er o r not the m athem atical expression of these relationships
would have any practical value is open to question, although the application
of operational research techniques to problems in marketing, public relation,
and communication might be facilitated thereby.
It would also be a comparatively simple matter to ascertain with a fairly
high degree of precision the specific channels of communication that can most
effectively and efficiently be used to reach homes in which the members are
relatively ignorant on a given topic, those who do not use a given brand of
product, etc.—without relying too heavily on judgment and without re-
peating a media study for every brand of product and on every public rela-
tions topic.
The scale can also be used as a basis for comparing one community with
others across the nation in terms of: (a) its average cultural position and
(b) its variability in cultural status. This topic assumes significance in one
way when the attempt is made to apply a company-wide, or national, com-
munity relations program to a particular community. If the community is
definitely more homogeneous than the cross-section of communities and is
below average culturally, the media and specific appeals required there may
be quite different from those generally applicable. On the other hand, the
uniqueness of a community may be more apparent than real. The use of
objective measuring instruments is necessary to obtain a valid picture of
what the situation actually is.
a t AAP ORI n s t i t u t i on a l M e m b e r onA u g u s t 5 ,2 0 1 4
h t t p : / / p o q . oxf or d j o ur n a l s . or g /
D o wnl o a d e d
f r om
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34 PUBLIC OPINION QUARTERLY
The reader will undoubtedly see many research problems associated with
the use of a scale of t-his nature. A topic, which we are now investigating,
is the variability in cultural level within neighbo rhoods vs. that between
neighborhoods. Of potentially the greatest interest, however, is probably the
subject of what specific communication channels and appeals can be used the
most efficiently to reach homes at the various cultural levels.
a t AAP ORI n s t i t u t i on a l M e m
b e r onA u g u s t 5 ,2 0 1 4
h t t p : / / p o q . oxf or d j o ur n a l s . o
r g /
D o wnl o a d e d
f r om
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