SSM Survey

SSM (Social Stratification and Social Mobility) project has surveyed Japanese people's social status, social mobility, and consciousness on class and inequality, with national representative random samples. In 1955 the first survey was conducted by the Japan Sociological Society. After that basically similar surveys are repeated at intervals of ten years by temporary organizations of volunteer sociologists. The 5th survey was conducted in 1995 by the 1995 SSM Research Group, supported by Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research by Ministry of Education, Science, Sports and Culture. After the publication of the final report of the survey in 1998, the 1995 SSM Research Group dissolved itself. (Note that the SSM Survey Project does not enjoy organizational or financial support on a solid basis.) Now the data collected through the SSM Surveys are under the administration of 1995 SSM Kenkyuukai, a small committee represented by Seiyama Kazuo (University of Tokyo). Some sociologists have started to prepare for the 2005 SSM Survey.

• SRDQ System offers information on 1955-1995 SSM Survey data. You can search questions and conduct some simple analyses on them [2004-04-05]. You can also download PDF reprints of some articles in 1995 SSM Research Series [2004-04-08].
• Raw data of the 1995 SSM Survey (A and B subsamples) are now available from SSJ Data Archive. [2004-04-02]

1995 SSM Survey

Outline of the survey

The fifth survey, represented by Seiyama Kazuo (University of Tokyo), was conducted from October to November 1995. The sample was approximately 10,000 people aged 20-69 of the Japan electoral register. The sample were divided into three subsamples. For these subsamples, different questionnaires---A, B, and P---were used. Questionnaire A and B were built with so a similar architecture that many questions overlapped between them, although they include some unique questions designed for the specific purpose of each questionnaire. Questionnaire P is not similar to the other questionnaires, because it was designed for a special purpose.

• Questionnaire A: Including much of questions about occupational career
• Questionnaire B: Including much of questions about social consciousness
• Questionnaire P: Including questions to determining the occupational prestige scores for 56 occupations

For more details, see the summary in SSJ Data Archive (Japanese only).

Some of websites of the members of 1995 SSM Research Group provide infomation on the 1995 SSM Survey.

Availability of the data

Publication by the 1995 SSM Research Group

Survey design, sampling scheme, questionnaires, and coding manual are contained in the following:

• 1995 nen SSM Tyousa Kenkyuukai [1995 SSM Research Group]. 1996. 1995 nen SSM Tyousa kôdo bukku. NCID BA44064434. (in Japanese).

• Image files: CD-ROM edition of 1995 SSM Research series (2002).
• Text file of the questionnaires and basic tabulation: Information in SSJ Data Archive (in Japanese) (Questionnaire A | Questionnaire B)
• PDF file of the questionnaires, search for questions and simple analyses online: Service by SRDQ (Questionnaire A | Questionnaire B | Questionnaire P)

On the sampling scheme and sampling errors:

• NAKAMURA Takashi. 1998. "Sampling scheme and precisions of the 1995 Social Stratification and Social Mobility Survey". ed.=ISHIDA Hiroshi. 1995 SSM Research Series 1: Social stratification and mobility: basic analysis and cross-national comparison. 1995 SSM Research Group. pp. 77-99. (in Japanese).
• NAKAMURA Takashi. 1998. "Tyousa dêta no hyouhon gosa hyouka to bûto sutorappu hou: soubetu kakuritu hirei hukugen 2dan musakui tyuusyutu no baai" . Estrela. 48: 11-19. ISSN 1343-5647; NCID AN10464515. (in Japanese).

Basic tabulation:

• 1995 nen SSM Tyousa Kenkyuukai [1995 SSM Research Group]. 1997. 1995nen SSM Tyousa Kiso Syuukei Hyou. NCID BA44065244. (in Japanese).
• Information in SSJ Data Archive (in Japanese) (Questionnaire A | Questionnaire B)

Books based on the findings from the 1995 survey:

• 2000. Stratification system in Japan (6 volumes). University of Tokyo Press. (in Japanese.)
  NCID BA47000201.

The final report of the 1995 survey:

• 1998. 1995 SSM Research series (21 volumes) (This page contanins Japanese charactors with UTF-8 encoding).
  NCID BA35669784.
  >> Reprint in CD-ROM was published in 2002.
  >> PDF reprints of some articles in the report are available from the SRDQ System, Osaka University (in Japanese).

Other books including results from the 1995 survey

In Japanese:

• KIKKAWA Toru. 1998. Kaisou, kyouiku to syakai isiki no keisei: Syakai isiki ron no zikai. Mineruva Syobou.
  ISBN 4-623-02852-6; NCID BA35210149.
  >>Book review by HASHIMOTO Kenji (in Japanese, Journal of educational sociology, 64)
• HARA Junsuke + SEIYAMA Kazuo. 1999. Social stratification: Inequality in an affluent society. University of Tokyo Press.
  ISBN 4-13-053012-7; BA43185320. .
  >>Translation in Korean: ISBN 89-460-2973-0 (Hanul Publishing, 2002)
• YAMADA Masahiro. 1999. Parasaito singuru no zidai. Tikuma Syobou.
  ISBN 4-480-05818-4; NCID BA43672015.
• HASHIMOTO Kenji. 1999 . Class structure in modern Japan : theory, method and quantitative analysis Tousindou.
  ISBN 4-88713-337-5; NCID BA43755087.
• SATOU Tosiki. 2000. Hubyoudou syakai Nihon. Tyuuou Kouron Sinsya.
  ISBN 4-12-101537-1; NCID BA47110141.
• KOSAKA Kenji. 2000. Syakaigaku ni okeru fomaru seori. Habesutosya
  ISBN 4-938551-45-4; NCID BA4717010X.
• HASHIMOTO Kenji. 2001 . Japan as class society. Aoki Syoten.
  ISBN 4-250-20118-X; NCID BA52093074.
• KANOMATA Nobuo. 2001. Kikai to kekka no hubyoudou. Mineruva Syobou.
  ISBN 4-623-03482-8; NCID BA51857016.
• YANO Masakazu. 2001. The design for a learning society. University of Tokyo Press.
  ISBN 4-623-03482-8; NCID BA51128606
• Editor= HARA Junsuke. 2002. Kouza syakaihendou 5: Ryuudouka to syakai kakusa. Mineruva Syobou.
  ISBN 4-623-03607-3; NCID BA56560579.
• MURAO Yumiko. 2003. Roudou sizyou to zyenda: koyou roudou ni okeru danzyo hukouhei no kaisyou ni mukete Touyoukan Syuppansya.
  ISBN 4491018685; NCID BA61446244.

Special articles in academic journals

In English:

• 2000. "The composition of stratification and class in contemporary Japan (I)". International journal of sociology. 30(1): 3-87.
  ISSN 0020-7659; NCID AA00228853.
• 2000. "The composition of stratification and class in contemporary Japan (II)". International journal of sociology. 30(2): 3-89.
  ISSN 0020-7659; NCID AA00228853.
• 2000. "Social stratification and social mobility". International journal of Japanese sociology. 9.
  ISSN 0918-7545; NCID AA1104725X.

In Japanese:

• 1997. "Special Articles: Quantitative analysis of social stratification". Japanese journal of behaviormetrics. 24: 1-57.
  ISSN 0385-5481.
• 1999. "Kaikyuu, kaisou no gendaizou". Japanese sociological review. 50: 142-252.
  ISSN 0021-5414.
• 1999. "Kaisou hendou to syokugyou kouzou". Monthly journal of the Japan Institute of Labour. 472 (41-10): 2-58.
  ISSN 0916-3608.
  • IMADA Takatoshi "Beyond the myth of egalitarian society: Industrialization and social stratification in postwar Japan"
  • KANOMATA Nobuo "Changes in income differentials and their determinant Structure"
  • HARA Junsuke "Changes in the labour market and occupational prestige scores"
  • SEIYAMA Kazuo "Is the career structure for women changing?"
  • ISHIDA Hiroshi "A Comparative study of educational attainment and the impact of education on socio-economic attainment"

Papers on the Web

In English:

• TANAKA Sigeto. 1999 "The Rational Household Theory Examined: Does equalization in wages change the sexual division of labor?". Sociological theory and methods. 14(1): 19-34.
  ISSN 0913-1442; NCID AN10096921.
• Wei-hsin Yu. 2002. "Jobs for Mothers: Married Women's Labor Force Reentry and Part-Time, Temporary Employment in Japan". Sociological forum. 17: 493-523.
  ISSN 08848971; NCID AA10701073.
• Papers presented at Tokyo Meeting, RC28, International Sociological Association. 2003.
  • Yoshimichi SATO. "An Analysis of Social Structural Effects on Status Attainment Process" (PDF with non-embedded Japanese fonts).
  • TANAKA Sigeto. "Principal Earner and Accommodator in Household: an illustration of gender stratification process in contemporary Japan".
  • Nobuo KANOMATA. "Dynamic Changes of Social Mobility in Japan 1955-95" (PDF).

In Japanese:

• TANAKA Sigeto. 1997. "Syokuiki bunri no rikigaku". Preprint for the 70th annual meeting of Japan Sociological Society.
• TANAKA Sigeto. 1997. "Change and continuity in the sexual division of labor: Marxist-feminist theory vs. rationalistic economics". Preprint for the 7th annual meeting of Japan Society of Family Sociology.
• TANAKA Sigeto. 1997"Seibetu syokuiki bunri to zyosei no hurutaimu keizoku syuugyou". Preprint for the 23rd meeting of Japanese Association for Mathematical Sociology.
• 1997. 25th meeting of Behaviormetric Society of Japan, Symposium: Nihon no syakai kouzou no keiryou bunseki".
• ENDOU Kaoru. 1998. "Syakaigaku wa nettowaku syakai o dou miruka?"(PDF) Paper presented at the 46th annual meeting of Kanto Sociological Society. (Tema bukai: "zyouhou to nettowaku").
• SATO Yoshimichi. 1998. "Status attainment process and social structure". Monthly journal of the Japan Institute of Labour. 457: 27-40. NCID AN10120163.
• NAKAMURA Makiko. 1999?. "Kougakurekika to zyosei no idou". Gihu o kangaeru 100. NCID AN10273823.
• TANAKA Sigeto. 1999 . An analysis of sexual division of labor: Current realities and prospects for change. (Ph.D. dissertation) Graduate School of Human Sciences, Osaka University. NCID BA45965943.
• KOSAKA Kenji. 2000. "Social change seen from social stratification in post-war Japan"(PDF). Kwansei Gakuin University School of Sociology journal. 84: 209-219.
  ISSN 0452-9456; NCID AN00047522.
• KOSAKA Kenji. 2000. "The meaning of 'middle' identification in contemporary Japan: Debates on middle class and types of politics" (PDF). Kwansei Gakuin University School of Sociology journal. 86: 145-159.
  ISSN 0452-9456; NCID AN00047522.

Findings from the 1985 and earlier surveys

Basic information

• 1985 SSM Survey (Female)
• 1985 SSM Survey (Male: A)
• 1985 SSM Survey (Male: B)
• 1975 SSM Survey (Male: main)
• 1975 SSM Survey (Male: prestige)
• 1965 SSM Survey
• 1955 SSM Survey

On the Web

In Japanese:

• Tanaka Sigeto. 1996 "Syokugyou isin sukoa syakudo to tingin no soukan bunseki" (unpublished).
• Tanaka Sigeto. 1996 "Higher Education and the Sexual Division of Labor: schooling effect on women's continuous full-time employment" (Unpublished beta version).
• Tanaka Sigeto. 1996 "Occupational Structure and Continuity of Women's Work-Force Participation: a cohort analysis on the tendency to quit on marriage and childbirth" . Soshioroji, 126 (41-1): p. 69-85, 132.
• Tanaka Sigeto. 1996 "The Changing Sexual Division of Labor in Postwar Japan: the double barrier against employment of women" . Japanese Journal of Family Sociology, 8: p. 151-161, 208.
• HASHIMOTO Kenji. 1990. "Kaikyuu syakai to site no Nihon syakai". Gendai Nihon no kaisou kouzou 1: Syakaikaisou no kouzou to katei. University of Tokyo Press.
  ISBN 4-13-055081-0.

Published reports, books, and papers

In English:

• 1998. "Social stratification in contemporary Japan". International journal of sociology. 28(1): 3-108.
  ISSN 0020-7659; NCID AA00228853.
• Editor= Kenji Kosaka. 1994. Social stratification in contemporary Japan. Kegan Paul International.
  ISBN 0710304676; NCID BA22723140.
• Hiroshi Ishida. 1993. Social mobility in contemporary Japan: educational credentials, class and the labour market in a cross-national perspective. Stanford University Press.
  ISBN 0-8047-2523-3; NCID BA21657142.

In Japanese:

• 1992. "Perspectives on social stratification and social mobility". Sociological theory and methods. 7(1): 1-65.
  ISSN 0913-1442; NCID AN10096921.
• 1990. Gendai Nihon no kaisou kouzou (4 volumes). University of Tokyo Press. NCID BN04235453.
• IMADA Takatoshi. 1989. Syakai kaisou to seizi. University of Tokyo Press.
  ISBN 4-13-032097-1; NCID BN04040363.
• Editor= NAOI Atsushi + HARA Junsuke + KOBAYASI Hazime. 1986. Ridhingusu Nihon no syakaigaku 8: Syakai kaisou, syakai idou. University of Tokyo Press.
  ISBN 4-13-055058-6; NCID BN00128247.
• Editor= TOMINAGA Ken'ichi. 1979. Nihon no kaisou kouzou. University of Tokyo Press.
  ISBN 4-13-056017-4; NCID BN00423123.
• YASUDA Saburo. 1971. Syakai idou no kenkyuu. University of Tokyo Press.
  ISBN 4-13-050035-X; NCID BN00486702.
• Editor= ODAKA Kunio. 1958. Syokugyou to kaisou. Mainiti Sinbunsya. NCID BN03636109.

SSM Occupational Categories

This tab-separated text file contains five fields:

• Occupational category number (1995 version: see below)
• Classification into 8 categories (see below)
• Occupational prestige score (1975 version)
• Name of each category (Japanese: MS-Kanji=shift-JIS)
• An old version of SSM occupational category (1985) and its name (Japanese)

The classification into 8 categories is numbered as follows:

1. professional
2. administrator
3. clerical worker
4. sales and service worker
5. skilled manual worker
6. semi-skilled manual worker
7. unskilled manual worker
8. aguliculture, forestry, and fishery

The occupational prestige score is based on a SPSS program written by Murase Yoichi(Rikkyo University): see below the token "__END__" in the perl script (revised 1997.06.02).

The last field, old version of the category, is noted only if it is differ from the new version (that is, if the category is divided or combined).

[Japanese version is here]

Perl Script to Analyze Occupational Histories

ssm95a0.pl

reads raw data (text file with fixed fields), checks the data logically, assigns missing values, and write a binary data file.

reads the binary file and analyzes.

There is a example to calculate inter-firm mobility rate. You can modify the "MAIN: for" loop and the "print" routine, to make use of it for any aim.

The ssm95a0.pl script is incomplete. Data Layout (below __END__) are not included. Only the 1995 SSM Research Group members can get it. (Please mail to Tanaka Sigeto.) [Japanese version is here]

Homepages of 1995 SSM Research Group Members

• Akagawa Manabu (Okayama University)
• Inoue Hirosi (Kyusyu Institute of Technology)
• Imada Takatosi (Tokyo Institute of Technology)
• Endo Kaoru (Gakushuin University)
• Kim MyungSoo (Koka Women's University)
• Kimura Kunihiro (Tohoku University)
• Kosaka Kenji (Kwanse Gakuin University)
• Satoh Yutaka (Toyama University / Faculty of Humanity)
• Takada Hiroshi (Tokyo Metropolitan University)
• Tanaka Sigeto (Tohoku Univerisy)
• Hashimoto Kenji (Musashi Univerisity)
• Mabuchi Ryogo (Kansai University)
• Miyano Masaru (Chuo University)
• Murase Yoichi(Rikkyo University) / On SSM Survey
• Yasuda Yuki (Syakai Netwaku Kenkyuusyo)

Internet Resources on Inequality and Social Research

• The 21st Century Center of Excellence Program "Center for the Study of Social Stratification and Inequality" (Graduate School of Arts and Letters, Tohoku University)
• Research Committee on Social Stratification and Mobility (RC28), International Sociology Association / Tokyo Meeting (University of Tokyo, 1-3 March 2003)
• SocioSite / Inequality | Bibliography on CLASS (Amsterdam Univ.)
• Statistics Bureau
• Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare
• Institute for Research on Household Economics
• Japan Institute of Labour
• The 21st Century Center of Excellence Program "Research Unit for Statistical Analysis in Social Sciences" (Hitotsubashi University)
• The 21st Century Center of Excellence Program "Study of Social Research for the Enhancement of Human Well-being" (Kwansei Gakuin University)
• SSJ Data Archive (University of Tokyo)
• SORD: Social and Opinion Research Database (Sapporo Gakuin Univerisity)
• SRDQ: Social Research Database on Questionnares (Osaka University)
• Japan Sociological Society
• Japanese Association for Mathematical Sociology
• Japan Sciety of Educational Sociology
• Behaviormetric Society of Japan
• Society for the Study of Social Policy
• Sociology in Japan (Links by Department of Sociology, Osaka University)

Caution!