THE HARRIS
POLL
Firefighters
and Doctors Viewed As Most Prestigious Occupations
THE
WALL STREET JOURNAL ONLINE
July 26, 2006
Americans view firefighters and doctors as having the
most prestigious professions, according to a recent Harris Interactive
poll. When read a list of different occupations, 63% of respondents
to the telephone poll said they feel firefighters have "very great" prestige,
while 58% said doctors do. Other professions that were seen as having very
great prestige included: nurses (55%), scientists (54%), teachers (52%)
and military officers (51%). The occupations seen by the fewest people
as having very great prestige were: real-estate brokers (6%), stockbrokers
(11%), business executives (11%), actors (12%), union leaders (12%) and
journalists (12%). Actors were seen by the largest percentage of
people (37%) as having "hardly any prestige at all," followed by real-estate
brokers at 32%. Harris Interactive has been asking about the prestige
of different professions and occupations since 1977. Over the course of
that time, teaching is the only occupation that has seen an increase in
prestige, rising 23 percentage points to 52% since 1977. Lawyers
have seen the greatest decrease in very great prestige, down 15 percentage
points to 21%. Scientists have slipped 12 percentage points to 54%, and
business executives have fallen seven percentage points to 11%. Here
are the results of the latest poll:
"I am going to read off a number of different occupations. For each, would
you tell me if you feel it is an occupation of very great prestige, considerable
prestige, some prestige or hardly any prestige at all?"
Base: All Adults
| |
Very Great Prestige |
Considerable Prestige |
Some Prestige |
Hardly Any Prestige At All |
Not Sure/Refused |
| Firefighter |
63% |
23% |
11% |
3% |
- |
| Doctor |
58 |
30 |
10 |
1 |
1 |
| Nurse |
55 |
24 |
17 |
4 |
- |
| Scientist |
54 |
26 |
15 |
4 |
* |
| Teacher |
52 |
22 |
20 |
6 |
* |
| Military officer |
51 |
30 |
16 |
3 |
1 |
| Police officer |
43 |
26 |
26 |
4 |
1 |
| Priest/Minister/Clergyman |
40 |
28 |
24 |
7 |
1 |
| Farmer |
36 |
21 |
26 |
15 |
1 |
| Engineer |
34 |
35 |
26 |
4 |
1 |
| Member of Congress |
28 |
23 |
31 |
17 |
1 |
| Architect |
27 |
24 |
33 |
19 |
1 |
| Athlete |
23 |
24 |
33 |
19 |
1 |
| Lawyer |
21 |
23 |
36 |
20 |
* |
| Entertainer |
18 |
23 |
37 |
22 |
* |
| Accountant |
17 |
30 |
40 |
11 |
1 |
| Banker |
17 |
29 |
43 |
11 |
1 |
| Journalist |
16 |
27 |
41 |
16 |
* |
| Union Leader |
12 |
21 |
38 |
25 |
3 |
| Actor |
12 |
13 |
37 |
37 |
1 |
| Business executive |
11 |
30 |
43 |
15 |
1 |
| Stockbroker |
11 |
25 |
42 |
22 |
1 |
| Real estate agent/broker |
6 |
17 |
44 |
32 |
1 |
* * *
"I am going to read off a number of different occupations. For each, would
you tell me if you feel it is an occupation of very great prestige, considerable
prestige, some prestige or hardly any prestige at all?"
Base: All Adults
| |
1977 |
1982 |
1992 |
1997 |
1998 |
2000 |
2001 |
2002 |
2003 |
2004 |
2005 |
2006 |
Changes since
1977 |
| Firefighter*** |
NA |
NA |
NA |
NA |
NA |
NA |
NA |
NA |
55% |
48% |
56% |
63% |
NA |
| Doctor |
61 |
55 |
50 |
52 |
61 |
61 |
61 |
50 |
52 |
52 |
54 |
58 |
-3 |
| Nurse |
NA |
NA |
NA |
NA |
NA |
NA |
NA |
NA |
47 |
44 |
50 |
55 |
NA |
| Scientist |
66 |
59 |
57 |
51 |
55 |
56 |
53 |
51 |
57 |
52 |
56 |
54 |
-12 |
| Teacher |
29 |
28 |
41 |
49 |
53 |
53 |
54 |
47 |
49 |
48 |
47 |
52 |
+23 |
| Military officer |
NA |
22 |
32 |
29 |
34 |
42 |
40 |
47 |
46 |
47 |
49 |
51 |
NA |
| Police Officer ** |
NA |
NA |
34 |
36 |
41 |
38 |
37 |
40 |
42 |
40 |
40 |
43 |
NA |
| Priest/Minister/ Clergyman |
41 |
42 |
38 |
45 |
46 |
45 |
43 |
36 |
38 |
32 |
36 |
40 |
-1 |
| Farmer |
NA |
NA |
NA |
NA |
NA |
NA |
NA |
NA |
NA |
NA |
NA |
36 |
NA |
| Engineer |
34 |
30 |
37 |
32 |
34 |
32 |
36 |
34 |
28 |
29 |
34 |
34 |
0 |
| Member of Congress |
NA |
NA |
24 |
23 |
25 |
33 |
24 |
27 |
30 |
31 |
26 |
28 |
NA |
| Architect |
NA |
NA |
NA |
NA |
26 |
26 |
28 |
27 |
24 |
20 |
27 |
27 |
NA |
| Athlete |
26 |
20 |
18 |
21 |
20 |
21 |
22 |
21 |
17 |
21 |
23 |
23 |
-3 |
| Lawyer |
36 |
30 |
25 |
19 |
23 |
21 |
18 |
15 |
17 |
17 |
18 |
21 |
-15 |
| Entertainer |
18 |
16 |
17 |
18 |
19 |
21 |
20 |
19 |
17 |
16 |
18 |
18 |
0 |
| Accountant |
NA |
13 |
14 |
18 |
17 |
14 |
15 |
13 |
15 |
10 |
13 |
17 |
NA |
| Banker |
17 |
17 |
17 |
15 |
18 |
15 |
16 |
15 |
14 |
15 |
15 |
17 |
0 |
| Journalist |
17 |
16 |
15 |
15 |
15 |
16 |
18 |
19 |
15 |
14 |
14 |
16 |
-1 |
| Union leader |
NA |
NA |
12 |
14 |
16 |
16 |
17 |
14 |
15 |
16 |
15 |
12 |
NA |
| Actor |
NA |
NA |
NA |
NA |
NA |
NA |
NA |
NA |
13 |
16 |
16 |
12 |
NA |
| Business executive** |
18 |
16 |
19 |
16 |
18 |
15 |
12 |
18 |
18 |
19 |
15 |
11 |
-7 |
| Stockbroker |
NA |
NA |
NA |
NA |
NA |
NA |
NA |
NA |
8 |
10 |
8 |
11 |
NA |
| Real estate broker/agent |
NA |
NA |
NA |
NA |
NA |
NA |
NA |
NA |
6 |
5 |
9 |
6 |
NA |
* No trend; NA not asked
** In surveys prior to 2001 we used the words "policeman"
(now changed to "police officer") and businessman (now changed to "business
executive") which may account for the changes from 2001 to 2002.
***In surveys prior to 2006, we used the word "fireman"
(now changed to firefighter) which may account for some of the changes
from 2005 to 2006.
Methodology: This survey was conducted by telephone
in the U.S., July 5-11, 2006 among a nationwide cross sections of 1,020
adults. Figures for age, sex, race, education, and region were weighted
where necessary to align them with their actual proportions in the population.
In theory, with probability samples of these sizes, one could say with
95% certainty that the results have a statistical precision of +/-3 percentage
points of what they would be if the entire U.S. population had been polled
with complete accuracy.
