The Construction of HISCAM: A Stratification Scale Based on Social Interactions for Historical Comparative Research

A new occupational stratification scale, “HISCAM” (historical CAMSIS), has been developed to facilitate the analysis of data coded to the Historical International Standard Classification of Occupations. This article describes the derivation and properties of the HISCAM measure. The scale was derived using patterns of inter-generational occupational connections, replicating a method of “social interaction distance” analysis which is widely used in contemporary sociology. Analysis was performed on data for the period of 1800–1938, principally derived from marriage registers covering Belgium, Britain, Canada, France, Germany, the Netherlands, and Sweden, and encompassing over two million inter-generational relationships. Researchers report how several different HISCAM scales were evaluated and show how this approach can explain social stratification and inequality in the past.