• Korean Journal of Culture and Social Issue
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.101-130
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• 2018

Social class has become a major focus of research in the field of Western psychology due to its critical impact on human life. The Korean scholarship in psychology, however, has paid very little attention to the issue of social class despite the deepening of social stratification in the country; and the concepts and measurement they used were typically borrowed from sociology. In this study, I discussed what social class means and how it should be measured in order to emphasize the importance of the concept and its related issues. To this end, I examined a variety of theoretical backgrounds on the measurement of social class and the concept of socioeconomic status (SES)-a term commonly used as a synonym for social class. This study divided the method of measuring social class into objective social class and subjective social class, and outlined the characteristics of each approach and their main indicators. Finally, I assessed the recent trend in the Korean psychology on social class measurement. Among the 23 studies I have found, 65.2% used the objective social class index; and education was the objective indicator they most frequently employed, followed by income and occupation. Social stratification identity was used in all seven studies that applied subjective social class. And seven different words to describe social class was found. Based on these results, I concluded that there should be a call for more direct research on social class variables. In addition, I suggest that 'social class', instead of socioeconomic status, should be used as a preferred term in the future studies and propose a few notes on how to use the objective indicators and subjective social class measurement.

• Journal of the Economic Geographical Society of Korea
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.1-16
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• 2015

It is widely believed that increasing socio-economic polarization inspired by globalization and economic restructuring worsens residential segregation by class in Korean cities. However, the existing literature falls short in showing the recent changes of the residential segregation, particularly after the 1997 financial crisis, with reliable and systematic segregation measures. Noting that there are the two major dimension in residential segregation - evenness-concentration and exposure-clustering - this study introduced not only global measure (dissimilarity index and isolation/interaction index) but also local measures (location quotient and Local Moran's I) for each dimension. These measures are applied to the case study of Seoul in the 2000s. The class is defined by education attainment and the data is obtain through the MicroData System Service System(MDSS). The result shows that the residential segregation by education attainment persists through 2000s and even get worse in some dimension. More significantly, it turns out that high-class and low-class residence are nearly mirror-images of each other, indicating high segregation.

• Korean Journal of Social Welfare Studies
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• v.40 no.3
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• pp.377-406
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• 2009

This study used laten class growth analysis to identify discrete developmental patterns of delinquent behaviors in adolescence. This present article also examined associations among these trajectories to determine how the development of delinquent behaviors relates to protective and risk factors, which include parental monitoring, attachment with parent, association with deviant peers, self-control, and negative stigma from others. Four-wave panel data from a Korea Youth Panel Study were used for the latent class growth model analysis. The sample consisted of 3,446 adolescents who were assessed at 4 measurement waves with approximately 1-year interval. Four trajectories of delinquent behaviors emerged: delinquency persistence, delinquency increaser, delinquency decreaser, normative group(almost no delinquent behaviors). Association with deviant peers had the most proximal strong influence on the probability of being in the delinquency increaser and delinquency persistence group compared, noed to the normative group. Parental monitoring, self-efficacy and negative stigma also differentiated the four delinquent behavior trajectories from one another after controllig for socio-demographic variables. The study suggested that there is a significant heterogeneity in the timing and change rate of delinquency progression. Adolescent delinquency prevention and intervention programs will need to consider this heterogeneity and enhance attention to protective and risk factors depending on the subpopulation.

• Korean Journal of Culture and Social Issue
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.563-592
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• 2018

In this research, it was examined whether the importance of value of self(i.e., self-referenced values) and the perceived importance of values of average Koreans(i.e., culture-referenced values) differ according to social class. In Study 1, differences in the importance of self-referenced values according to the social class of 1,140 adults aged over 19 years old were examined using Korean data from the World Values Survey. Findings showed that higher social class was associated with higher levels of Hedonism (which belongs to the individualistic value domain) and Benevolence, and lower levels of Tradition (which belongs to the collectivistic value domain) and Universalism. In Study 2, culture-referent questionnaires were added to examine the differences in self-referenced values and culture-referenced values according to social class. Findings showed that higher social class was associated with greater importance attached to individualistic value domain (namely, Power and Achievement), and as a result of Study 1, less importance attached to Benevolence towards the self. On the contrary, for culture-referent ratings, higher social class was associated with lower perceptions of the importance of individualistic value domain (namely, Self-direction and Hedonism) and greater importance attached to Tradition (which belongs to the collectivistic value domain) for average Koreans. These results suggest that the importance of self-referenced values and culture-referenced values differ by social class. The need for social class research taking into account culture and the importance of the culture-referent ratings is highlighted. Future directions for research are discussed.

• Korea journal of population studies
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.89-109
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• 2006

The 'Joongsancheung(JSC)', a unique term for the middle class in Korea, is defined as a stratum sharing common lifestyles and a certain level of life chances. It involves non-economic factors such as life chance, educational attainment, occupational groups as well as economic factor. Such objective measures as the occupational status of the main breadwinner, family income, and the educational level of respondent, and subjective measures of class identification are used for the operational definition of the JSC. Data from a national survey of 1,515 respondents is analyzed to investigate the change of the JSC in size and the major determinants of class identification. The results show that while there is no strong evidence of any significant change of the JSC by the objective measures during the recent decade, there seems to be a slight decrease in the subjective class identification. In addition, binary logistical regression analysis reveals that self-identification of JSC is heavily influenced by house ownership, along with subjective evaluation of one's own income and property ownership. This study demonstrates that the apparent class polarization in Korean society reflects not so much objective conditions but subjective perception of respondent of his or her circumstance. It is suggested that problems of housing and relative derivation people have as regards income and property should be resolved to alleviate such class polarization in Korean society.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.89-104
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• 1986

복잡한 사회문제해결에 유용한 접근방법의 하나인 계층분석과정은 수학자인 사티(Saaty)가 개발한 것으로서 이미 사회과학의 여러 분야에 적용되고 있다. 본 논문의 목적은 이 계층분석과정을 간호교육과 관련된 문제에 적용해 봄으로써 이 방법이 실제 문제해결을 위한 유용한 접근방법이 될 수 있는가를 고찰해 보는데 있다. .현대사회문제들은 다양한 관련요소, 그 요소들간이나 다른 문제들과의 복잡한 상호관계, 다수의 의사결정자의 참여, 무한한 대안, 문제의 결과에 대한 불확실성 등으로 인하여 단순한 모델이나 간단한 논리적 혹은 직관적인 판단에 준하여 일시에 해결하기 어려운 경우가 많다. 이러한 상황 하에서 문제와 관련된 요소들을 찾아내고 그 요소들을 계층적으로 분석하여 단계적으로 문제해결에 접근하는 계층분석과정을 활용함으로써 사회과학분야의 문제해결에 유용한 수단이 될 수 있다. 또한 문제와 관련된 요소를 규명하고 계층적으로 분화하는 과정에서 그 문제에 대한 보다 명확한 이해, 분석 및 현상의 흐름을 더 잘 인해하게 된다. 계층분석과정은 1) 계층구조의 설정 2) 구성요소들의 중요도 측정 3) 중요도에 따른 우선 순위의 산정 4) 우선 순위의 일관성 검토과정으로 요약된다. 본 논문에서는 이러한 과정을 통하여 미국 간호계에서 심각한 문제로 대두되어온 기본교육제도상의 쟁점(Issue of Entry into Practice）에 대한 문제 해결책이 마련되는지를 시도하였다. 즉, 기본교육 제도에 영향을 미칠 수 있는 요인들을 규명하여 계층화하고 계층내에 위치하는 구성요소들의 수평적 관계와 계층간의 수직적 관계를 체계적으로 검토하여 간호교육의 미래를 예측해 보았다. 간호교육제도에 영향을 미칠 수 있는 주요 요인들의 계층화는 거시적 환경차원(factors), 관련 이해자 집단차원(actors), 이해자 집단의 목표차원(objectives), 목표달성을 위한 정책차원(Policies), 그리고 간호교육제도의 미래를 예견한 시나리오(scenario)로 이루어졌다. 각 계층을 따라 단계적으로 중요도를 비교하여 최종적으로 각 시나리오의 우선순위 중요도(priority weight)를 구하였다. 각 시나리오의 우선순위 중요도를 간호교육과 관련된 4가지 차원들(학생, 교수, 교육기관, 직업)을 구성하고 있는 특성들에 가중하여 결과를 해석 하였다. 간호교육의 미래에 정치적(55%)과 경제적(25%) 요인이 가장 강한 영향을 미치고, 관련자중에서는 병원(38%) 의사(33%) 그리고 정부(23%)의 순으로 영향을 미친다고 분석되었다. 의외로 간호원 자신들은 큰 영향력이 없는 것으로 보여졌다. 4개의 시나리오 중에서는 그 우선순위 중요도가 현상유지(33%) 자발적4년제(32%), 강제 4년제(19%), 그리고 2~3년제의 우위(18%) 순으로 나타났다. 최종 시나리오 결과를 요약하면 1) 전체 학생수는 감소하나 양질의 간호학생수는 증가하며 2) 박사학위를 소지한 간호학 교수 및 전체 교수의 수가 증가할 것이다. 3) 전체 간호교육기여의 수는 약간 줄 것이며 그중 4년제 기관이 증가하고 반면에 2~3년제의 기관은 감소할 것이다. 4) 전문간호원이 되기 위한 입학용이도에는 별차이가 없겠으나 간호원들의 보수, 지위 및 자율성이 증가하면서 전반적인 간호의 질이 향상될 것이다. 계층분석과정의 적용으로 미국 간호교육계의 가까운 미래를 위와 같이 예견하여 보았으나 이 과정은 예견 뿐 만 아니라 일반적인 의사결정이나 문제 해결의 도구이외에도 복잡한 사회문제의 본질을 분석, 이해함으로써 보다 정화한 정책문제를 규정하는 데에도 유용할 것이다.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.13 no.5
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• pp.2189-2198
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• 2012

This study was designed to measure the difference in health-related quality of life (HRQOL) among social classes and explore the factors that may explain it. Study subjects were 7,992 Korean adults aged 20-69 from the 4th (2007-2009) Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys data. We described mean value of EQ-5D index as a HRQOL by class and performed hierarchical multiple regression analysis to find the factors. The result was as follows. In the distribution of EQ-5D index level among social classes, new middle class (class II) had the highest score (0.966 in men and 0.955 in women); upper and middle-upper class (class I) 0.965 in men and 0.936 in women; working class (class IV) 0.958 in men and 0.936 in women; old middle class (class III) 0.955 in men and 0.932 in women; low class (class VI) 0.941 in men and 0.908 in women; and rural self-management class (class V) the lowest score (0.918 in men and 0.866 in women). In men, chronic disease, job stress, education and income level were found to make the difference in the health-related quality of life among social classes; in women, those factors and health behavior explained the difference. In conclusion, the lower social class has lower HRQOL. Except for education and income level, chronic disease may be the major factor to explain the difference in the health-related quality of life among social classes.

• Survey Research
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.1-19
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• 2007

This paper explores the extent to which property scale, in particular housing price is useful as the measure of an individual's economic status. Its main object is to compare the distributions of the measure of housing wealth and other objective or subject measures, i,e., reported income and subjective class identification. Additionally, their relations to other variables are examined. An analysis of distributions and cross-tables based upon national survey of 2005 family and the database of apartment price of Kookmin Bank are used. It is shown that the measure of housing wealth differs from other economic status measures in terms of distribution and the relations to other variables, such as attitude variables and consumption-related variables. Its results also suggest that the measure of housing wealth can be applied to various areas as a new measure of an individual's objective economic status, in such a way to improve applicability of social survey.

• Korean Journal of Social Welfare Studies
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• no.37
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• pp.35-62
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• 2008

This study starts form the inequity of the spatial accessibility in social services. This study has purpose to descript and analyze the spatial accessibility of social service agencies. While analysing the spatial accessibility, this paper uses comparative method of distance and space-time measures. The results of research are as follows; It needs (1) to enhance the spatial accessibility of the aged and the disabled. (2) to facilitate the spatial accessibility of marginal area or community like rural community. (3) to recognize utilities of distance and space-time measures in the spatial accessibility.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.435-445
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• 2018

This study was conducted to develop and apply the health conversation program to determine its effectiveness. The study employed a pretest-posttest nonequivalent control group design. There were 25 subjects in one intervention group and 22 subjects in the control group. The program included a 4-week, 12-session education program in health conversation for professionally retired elderly mentors and an 8-week, 24-session program for vulnerable elderly diabetics provided by mentors who were older persons trained in diabetes management. Data were collected from December 2015 to May 2016 and subsequently analyzed by an independent t-test using SPSS 20.0. Biochemical variables and physical variables were assessed by blood test and Inbody 230 (Biospace). Psychosocial variables were assessed by questionnaires. The health conservation program led to significantly decreased FBS (p<0.01), TC (p<0.01), TG (p=0.04), SBP (p=0.03), waist (p<0.01) and symptoms of depression (p=0.01), and significantly increased social support (p=0.02). These results indicated that the health conservation program is effective at increasing social support and decreasing FBS, TC, TG, SBP, waist, and symptoms of depression in community-dwelling vulnerable diabetic elderly; accordingly, health conservation programs should be applied to improve quality of life of vulnerable diabetic elderly.