Charles Murray
Social Class Test
1. Y/N Have you ever lived for at least a year in any American neighborhood in which the majority of your neighbors did not have a college degree?
2. Y/N Did you grow up in a family in which the chief breadwinner was not a managerial job or a high-prestige profession (attorney, physician, dentist, engineer, scientist, or professor)?
3. Y/N Have you ever lived for at least a year in an American community under 50,000 population that is not part of a metropolitan area?
4. Y/N Have you ever lived for at least a year in the U.S. at a family income that was close to or below the poverty line (under $30,000 in 2010 dollars)?
5. Y/N Have you ever walked on a factory floor?
6. Y/N Have you ever held a job that caused something to hurt at the end of the day?
7. Y/N Have you ever had a close friend who was an evangelical Christian?
8. Y/N Do you now have a close friend with whom you have strong and wide-ranging political disagreements?
9. Y/N Have you ever had a close friend who could seldom get better than Cs in high school even if he or she tried hard?
10. Y/N During the last month, have you voluntarily hung out with people who were smoking cigarettes?
11. Y/N Can you identify military ranks by looking at the insignia for rank?
12. Choose one. Who is Jimmie Johnson? Or: Have you every purchased Avon products?
13. Y/N Have you or your spouse ever bought a pickup truck?
14. Y/N During the last year, have you every purchased domestic mass-marketed beer to stock your own fridge?
15. Y/N During the last five years, have you or your spouse gone fishing?
16. How many times in the last year have you eaten at one of the following restaurant chains? Applebee’s, Waffle House, Denny’s, IHOP, Chili’s, Outback, Ruby Tuesday, TGI Friday’s, Ponderosa Steakhouse.
17. Y/N In high school, did you letter in anything?
18. Y/N Have you ever attended a meeting of a Kiwanis Club or Rotary Club, or a meeting at a union local?
19. Y/N Have you ever participated in a parade not involving global warming, a war protest, or gay rights?
20. Y/N Since leaving school, have you ever worn a uniform?
21. Y/N Have you ever ridden on a long-distance bus (Greyhound, etc.) or hitched for a trip of fifty miles or more?
22. Which of the following movies have you seen (movie or DVD)? Iron Man 2, Inception, Despicable Me, Tron Legacy, True Grit, Clash of the Titans, Grown Ups, Little Fockers, The King’s Speech, Shutter Island
23.Duiring the last year, how many of the following TV series did you watch regularly? American Idol, Undercover Boss, The Big Bang Theory, Grey’s Anatomy, Lost, House, Desperate Housewives, Two and a Half Men, The Office, Survivor
24. Have you ever watched an Oprah, Dr. Phil, or Judge Judy all the way through?
25. What does the word Branson mean to you?
1. 4 pts if yes, plus a bonus pt for every 5 years you have lived in such a place up to fifteen years.
2. 4 pts if yes, and add 3 pts if your parents had such a job all of your childhood
3. 7 pts max: 5 pts if yes, add 1 pt if under 25,000, and 2 pts if under 10,000
4. 5 pts for yes, add 2 more pts if both a child and adult
5. 2 pts for a yes; 4 pts if you had to visit floors as part of your job; and 6 pts if you have worked on a factory floor
6. 3 pts if yes; add 2 pts if job lasted more than one summer
7. 2 pts for yes; 4 pts if you are an evangelical Christian
8. 2 pts if you have one friend; 4 if you have than one
9. 4 pts for yes
10. 3 pts for yes
11. 1 pt if most; 3 if you are confident of all; 5 pts if you have served in the armed forces
12. 3 pts if you IDed Johnson; 3 pts if you ever bought Avon
13. 2 pts for yes
14. 2 pts for yes
15. 1 pts for yes; 2 pts if more than once a year
16. 1 pt for each up to 4
17. 2 for a HS letter, also 2 pts for cheerleader or marching band
18. 2 pts for yes
19. 2 pts for yes
20. 1 pts for yes; 1 more pts if part of your job; add another pts if you were in the military
21. Add 2 pts for each
22. Add 1 pt for each up to 4 max
23. Add 1 pt for each up to 4 max
24. Add 1 pt for each
25. Add 2 pts if you know what it is, add 2 more pts if you have been there
Scoring:
Range 48-99; Typical = 77
Working class
Range 42 – 100; Typical = 66
First generation middle-class with working-class parents
Range 11-80; Typical = 33
First generation upper middle-class with middle-class parents
Range 0 – 43; Typical = 9
A second generation upper middle-class who gets out a lot
Range 0 – 20; Typical = 2
A second generation upper middle-class (or more) who associated almost totally with their own class.