Abstract
Results of Howard (1980) on analogue versus category encodings of occupational status comparison judgements are shown to be compatible with an alternative scaling model that makes no assumptions about hierarchical orderings of strategies, but instead uses some local distance properties on a continuum. It is indicated that the univariate case chosen by Howard cannot be unequivocally identified from the data and assumptions given, but that some ancillary postulates and experimental results would be needed. An alternative empirical system without the properties of social status or class ratings could be a better object of study.