Sosioøkonomisk status - Korleis best måle dette hos barn og unge? Ei valideringsstudie av "The Family Affluence Scale" og "The MacArthur-Scale of Subjective Social Status - Youth Version"

The topic of this thesis is socioeconomic status and how to measure this in a sufficient way among adolescents. The purpose is to contribute to further development of solid measures by validating the Family Affluence Scale (FAS) against another established measure of socioeconomic status, the MacArthur Scale of Subjective Social Status. The intention was to investigate whether a simple one-item measure like MacArthur can tap the same information as a more extensive four-item measure like FAS. The data was based on a cross-sectional study of 6th -, 8th - and 10th graders in Bergen (n=386). Frequency- , correlations- and hierarchical multiple regression analysis was carried out. The results showed that most of the sample scored high on both scales, but that there was a larger variance in the responses to the MacArthur Scale than FAS. The two scales had a week, but significant, positive correlation. Furthermore, the results showed that the MacArthur Scale could explain more than FAS of the variance in life satisfaction and perceived health, two measures that previously have shown to be related to socioeconomic status. Finally, it was concluded that a subjective scale like the MacArthur Scale seems to be a better measure of adolescent's socioeconomic status than FAS, but that on the basis of the sampling method this findings can not be generalized. In further research it would be beneficial with a representative sample, this could provide clearer answers. It would be particularly interesting to validate the two scales against the parent's income and educational level, to see who best measure the family's objective socioeconomic status