Social networks and occupational structure

What can we learn about social stratification and socio-economic structure through the study of the social relationships that connect people from different occupations? Sociologists have long recognised that empirical patterns of social interaction are revealing about the nature of the underlying social structure, and that the social relationships of occupations are major forces in defining the social structure.
This project deals with observational data about the social interations held between the incumbents of occupational positions in order to apply two contrasting statistical approaches to the analysis of social interaction data. By doing so it makes new substantive and methodological contributions to exploring the occupational order and its relationship to social structure in both general and specific ways.
The study uses large scale census and survey data from many different countries and time periods. The two methodologies used are 'social network analysis' and 'social interaction distance analysis'. The latter has been used before to analyse occupations (eg the applicants' 'CAMSIS' project);  this project updates previous analysis, extending the range of results and methodological resources linked to the approach. The former is an exciting emerging methodology which offers innovative new insights into the nature of social relations in occupations.