This paper examines the theoretical merits and the importance of social stratification. It re-conceptualizes social stratification based on the functionalist theory and works it into a more useful framework while avoiding confusion with Marx’s notion of social class. The logic of this re-conceptualization lies in the response to the question of what a proper index for identifying social stratification should be. Our conclusion is that occupational prestige is the proper index for identifying social stratification. We confirm this by examining Iranian data and use our findings to critically review the commonly-used indices of social stratification.
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