Knowing the class structure of a society and the rate of the people's
social move, from a specific class to another one, are two main discussions in sociology. Thus through studying these important topics, it
may help us know the society much better. It can also show us the rate of being an open society or a closed one.
In this research, an extensive survey concerning the social move and migration was done in 1995. The research subjects are the men being 30 years or more old and working in Tehran, Iran.
In the past, due to the social and class structures of the society which were unchangeable and full of prejudice, those who belonged to a
specific social class were born, lived, and died in that class only. As the societies gradually developed and the variety in the class structure
appeared, the ability to move from a class to another one was also increased. The major objective of this research is to know the class
structure of the Tehrani people scientifically and to measure the rate of their social move from a generation to the next one.
The research findings demonstrate the following facts:
- 22.9% of the research subjects belong to a high eonomic and social
class.
- 38.7% of them belong to a middle economic and social class. - 38.4% of them belong to a low economic and social class.
Through comparing the social class prestige of those who filled out the research questionnaire with their fathers' prestige, it may be noticed
that 61.3% of those who filled out the research questionnaire, from a class structure point of view, have the vertical social move. 38.7% of
them either doesn't have this move or have the horizontal one. Among
those with the vertical social move, 35.8% of them have a higher status than their fathers', a rising social move, and 25.5% of them have a lower status than their fathers', a falling social move.
At the end, based on the scientific findings of this research, it may be concluded that the Tehrani society, from a class structure point of
view, is an open one but the rate of its social move is merely limited to a class, whether upwards and rising or downwards and falling.
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