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NPBOSS90
Nam-Powers-Boyd occupational status score, 1990 basis

Description

NPBOSS90 is a constructed 4-digit numeric variable that assigns a Nam-Powers-Boyd occupational status score to each occupation using the occupational classification scheme available in OCC1990 variable.

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.

The NPBOSS90 is a measure of occupational status based upon the median earnings and median educational attainment associated with each category in the occupational scheme available in OCC1990 variable. Occupational status score gives equal weights to education and earnings, and can be interpreted as the percentage of persons in the civilian labor force who are in occupations having combined levels of education and earnings below that occupation. The scores can vary from 0 to 100. The scores were calculated at the Minnesota Population Center following the methodology described by Nam and Boyd (2004). The scores were based on the earnings and education levels of the employed civilian labor force aged 16 and above, excluding persons who did not work in the past one year.

For more information, see C. B. Nam and M. Boyd, "Occupational Status in 2000: Over a Century of Census-based Measurement," Population Research and Policy Review 23 (2004): 327-358.

Alternative measures of occupational standing measures that are based on OCC1990 are available in EDSCOR90, ERSCOR90, HWSEI, and PRENT. For information on occupational standing measures, see "Integrated Occupation and Industry Codes and Occupational Standing Variables in the IPUMS."