On the analytical division of social class.

The article focuses on the analytical division of social class. The subtleties of class systems have always presented a challenge to social investigators. New categories have been offered for measuring the stratification of British society. In the U.S., although class is a less obtrusive phenomenon, the variety of empirical approaches has been if anything even greater. The current study of British political attitudes have led to examine the accepted measures of class and in particular the point at which the line is usually drawn between the middle and working classes. Research into the political effects of class is peculiarly dependent on the way in which classes are defined empirically; answers to the simplest questions about, for instance, the relative party solidarity of classes must depend on the operations by which the classes are separated. The publics perceptions of class can also help in selecting the boundary between the classes in analyses based on occupational or other objective measures-and indeed in choosing the best types of measure.