Path Models of Functional Theories of Social Stratification as Representations of Cultural Beliefs on Stratification

The Functional Theory of Stratification: a Test of Some Structural Hypotheses

“…They found that perceived skill, prestige, and economic rewards were highly correlated, but that with statistical controls for a third variable, the association between functional importance and all of the other variables was considerably reduced. This indicates that prestige, which is dependent on value standards, is the fulcrum variable in explaining social stratification . Land (1970) reanalyzed the Lopreato-Lewis data in a path-analytic framework and arrived at essentially the same conclusion.…”

“…The pattern suggested by these attempts to specify the Davis-Moore theory and operationalize its concepts is that the strongest support for the theory comes from those tests using structural measures of the variables (Svalastoga, 1959;Abrahamson, 1973;with reservations, Broom and Cushing, 1977). Tests using perceptual measures seem to refute it (Lopreato and Lewis, 1963;Land, 1970; Grandjean and Bean, 1975). Because the perceptual variables are not direct measures of dimensions of the stratification Functional Theory of Strati3cation 417 structure, however, they do not permit a true test of the functional theory of stratification as formulated by Davis and Moore.…”

“…It is our contention that any empirical test of the Davis-Moore theory must satisfy three conditions: (a) the unit of analysis must be the position rather than the individual; (b) despite the fact that individual perceptions and cultural beliefs may be theoretically interesting (Land, 1970; Grandjean and Bean, 1975), indices of the theoretical concepts must be measures of the stratification structure itself rather than perceptions of that structure; (c) a universe or representative sample of positions must be used to determine if the relationships specified by the theory are applicable throughout the labor force, that is, throughout a society.…”

The Davis–Moore theory of stratification: The life course of a socially constructed classic

“…However, Land also concluded that the Davis-Moore theory would fit best, and would most likely be empirically confirmed, under conditions of high interdependence of activities in a social system, rather than low interdependence. 69 Collins, evaluating the evidence favoring either the functional or conflict theories with respect to educational stratification, concludes that the Davis and Moore thesis contributes relatively little to understanding why educational requirements for employment have become increasingly widespread, both at the higher and lower levels of the occupational hierarchy. 7~ Collins notes that neither the movement from a "low skill" economy to a "high skill" economy, nor the upgrading of skill requirements for particular jobs, can explain the unceasing increase in educational requirements for all jobs in the American economy over the last half century.…”