Occupational Prestige and Social Status among Urban Africans in Northern Rhodesia

Opening Paragraph A significant aspect of the newly developed towns of Central and Southern Africa is the degree to which social relationships in certain situations are being organized in terms of social strata. It is not always easy, however, to secure data on the nature of the system of stratification—there are, in fact, very few substantial studies available. One method of approach, which promises to be fruitful, is through the study of the ranking of occupations by their social prestige. This method has the advantage that the techniques are fairly simple. They can be applied at successive times, thus yielding some measure of change, and they can be applied at different places, thus yielding comparative material.