Socioeconomic groups are divided by income and occupation and can be used for market research and analysis. Different countries and cultures have different characteristics for each group. However, overgeneralizing can lead to bias and oversimplification of complex issues.
Socioeconomic groups are divisions of people by income and occupation. In the study of economics and sociology, a person’s income or occupation has been shown to be related to various social trends and values. The major types of socio-economic groups are generally divided in terms of job responsibilities as they correlate with income levels. Dividing people into socioeconomic groups is usually done to help interpret market forecasts; how a tax cut will affect citizens could be analyzed by dividing the larger population into more manageable groups by income.
Different economic theories may divide socioeconomic groups slightly differently, but general categories include executives, senior-level executives, mid-level executives, skilled workers, semi-skilled workers, and undocumented workers or those out of work. Senior executives and managers tend to have the highest incomes, while semi-skilled and unskilled workers generally have the lowest among those in regular employment. Another way to describe these divisions can be upper middle class, middle class, working and non-working class.
Different socioeconomic groups often have certain factors in common that make them useful for market research and analysis. For example, children from upper-middle-class families are generally more likely to attend college than children of unskilled workers. While this generalization does not mean that children of unskilled workers cannot or universally fail to attend college, this data can be used to help generate student loan and scholarship programs based on financial need in order to help a number greater number of children from low-income families attending college. Socioeconomic groups can be employed for almost any type of market research, from analyzing contraceptive use to the likelihood of cocaine addiction across socioeconomic lines.
The characteristics of each socio-economic group can be different in different countries and cultures. For example, in a country with a long association between wealth and religion, upper-middle-class families may be more likely to participate in religious activities. In general, however, higher income groups will generally have greater access to education, career opportunities and health care. Part of the reason why socio-economic research is important is that it helps determine areas of society where income greatly divides access to basic human needs and can help create possible solutions to these discrepancies.
It is a mistake to assume that socioeconomic groups hold universal truths, such as that all nonworking people are lazy and content to live out of state or that all the rich are political conservatives. Overgeneralizing socioeconomic grouping can easily lead to bias and oversimplification of complex issues. When examining the data broken down into these groups, it is important to remember that there are exceptions to every rule and that no single factor, such as income, can universally determine the characteristics, habits and personalities of all individuals.
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