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Description

SEI is a constructed measure that assigns a Duncan Socioeconomic Index (SEI) score to each occupation using the 1950 occupational classification scheme available in the OCC1950 variable. The SEI is a measure of occupational status based upon the income level and educational attainment associated with each occupation in 1950.

User caution: There is significant debate about the usefulness of composite measures of occupational standing (in the IPUMS, these variables include SEI, HWSEI, NPBOSS50, and NPBOSS90). We strongly urge researchers to read our user note on this issue and to familiarize themselves with the debates surrounding the use of these variables.

Using data from the 1947 National Opinion Research Center (NORC) survey and the 1950 census, Duncan regressed the occupational prestige ratings (i.e., percentage of "excellent" and "good" ratings on the five-point scale used in the 1947 NORC survey) on occupational education (i.e., age-standardized percentage of male occupational incumbents who are high school graduates) and occupational income (i.e., age- standardized percentage of male occupational incumbents whose incomes were $3,500 or more in 1949) for a limited number of occupations. The resulting statistical model was used to generate socioeconomic scores for the entire range of 1950 occupations. The SEI is, therefore, the weighted sum of occupational education and occupational income.

See O. D. Duncan, "A Socioeconomic Index for All Occupations," in A. Reiss et al., Occupations and Social Status (Free Press, 1961).

The SEI variable is based on OCC1950. Alternative measures of occupational standing that are based on OCC1950 are available in EDSCOR50, ERSCOR50, NPBOSS50, OCCSCORE, and PRESGL. For information on the construction of OCC1950 and occupational standing measures, see "Integrated Occupation and Industry Codes and Occupational Standing Variables in the IPUMS." Users must judge for themselves how socioeconomic or prestige status may have changed relative to the circa-1950 survey results.