Pathways to Social Class: A Qualitative Approach to Social Mobility - Hardcover

Bertaux, Daniel; Thompson, Paul

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0198279310 ISBN 13: 9780198279310

Publisher: Oxford University Press, 1997

Synopsis

Calling for a broader new approach to social mobility research which goes beyond statistics and utilizes life stories and family case histories, this richly suggestive volume explores sociological issues such as transmission between family generations, how immigrants make good, how social elites survive revolutions, and the meanings of houses, places and dreams for mobility.

About this title

About the Author

Daniel Bertaux is Director of Research at Le Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique in France. Paul Thompson is Founder of the National Life Story Collection and Research Professor at The University of Essex.

From the Back Cover

Calling for a broader, new approach to social mobility research, Daniel Bertaux and Paul Thompson here move beyond pure statistics to use qualitative techniques - such as life stories and family case studies - to examine more closely the dynamics of mobility and address more fundamental sociological questions. Up to now, the extensive sociological literature on mobility has been based around the survey method. As a result, we have access to abundant statistical data, but there is little information available to explain how and why people follow particular life paths. To overcome these limitations, the authors have developed an alternative, complementary approach using life stories, case histories of whole families over several generations, or case studies of local communities. Employing the case-study approach does not prevent the identification of structural trends; on the contrary, it allows us to analyse those collective processes through their local effects, restoring the links with the classics of sociological thought.

Edition details

• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Publication date: 1997
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0198279310
• ISBN 13: 9780198279310
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 344