1. STATUS MEASUREMENT AND THE VARIABLE DISCRIMINATION HYPOTHESIS IN AN ISOLATED BRAZILIAN REGION.
- Author
-
Haller, Archibald O. and Saraiva, Helcio Ulhoa
- Subjects
COST of living ,FOOD consumption ,SOCIAL status ,SOCIAL isolation ,COMMUNITY life - Abstract
Instruments to measure status position in rural Brazil are presented and evaluated. Seven basic "component" indexes measuring wealth (food consumption, level of living property, monetary income), education, power (political influence), and prestige (occupational rating) are analyzed for stability and concurrent validity. One factor (SES) describes their linear intercorrelations. A plot of each against SES provides support for the variable discrimination hypothesis. holding that nonlinear relations obtain among variables which are components of a unitary stratification system. A new technique for measuring a person's prestige in the community is presented, and it is used with two other variables to provide external evidence of validity of the instruments. Spliced-score indexes designed to utilize the varying discriminatory power of each component are tentatively presented. Linear techniques for status placement seem to work well despite the evidence of variable discrimination. An eight-item level-of-living scale is shown to be a reliable, valid, and economical Indicator of the SES factor measured by all of the stratification Instruments discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 1972