The logistics of this model are primarily attributed to William H. Sewell and colleagues including Archibald Haller, Alejandro Portes and Robert M.
Unlike the previous research on this topic by Peter Blau and Otis Dudley Duncan, this model encompasses more than just educational and occupational factors and their effect on social mobility for American males.
Sewell and his counterparts aimed to contribute to the Blau-Duncan model of status attainment by adding predictor variables.
Previous studies only categorized students based on which type institution they planned on attending prior to high school graduation.
Additional work regarding the influence of significant others on occupational aspirations was subsequently done by Haller and is students Joseph Woelfel and Ed L.
[4] The original Sewell, Haller and Portes article Sewell which first reported the broad outlines of the Wisconsin model relied on data from a statewide survey of all Wisconsin high school seniors that included information about whether students perceived their parents, teachers and friends as expecting them to go to college.
In previous studies, statewide test results for high school juniors and seniors are compared with state intelligence norms.
Because this model organizes how status aspirations are formed and the way in which they influence "attainment-oriented behavior" the following conclusions can be drawn from the model: "Status aspirations are complex forms of attitudes whose translation into attainment levels is affected by the context in which individuals attempt to enact them."