Class analysis and the U.S. census public use samples.

Abstract

In this article I will examine the possibilities for a Marxist analysis of class through the use of the information available in the various U.S. census public use samples....The public use samples are machine-readable individual- and household-level microdata samples entered from the original census manuscripts....Public use samples of varying densities exist for 1880 1900 1910 1940 1950 1960 1970 and 1980. The author concludes that the census data are useful but that "the social scientific mapping of classes explains nothing until we can make connections to the other levels of class formation. The public use samples need to be used to help us understand the historical context within which the process of class formation has taken place. By applying the public use samples we can attempt to compare the relative influences of class gender and race over time." (EXCERPT)