French and American Upper-Middle Class Interviews on Social Worth, 1986-1988

160 college-educated white male professionals from Indianapolis, New York, Paris, and Clermont-Ferrand participated in 2-hour semi-directed interviews between 1986 and 1988. The study, conducted by Michèle Lamont and published by Harvard University Press, compares cultural definitions of a 'worthy person' across French and American upper-middle classes. Data includes 452 digitized audio files and interview transcripts assessing social perceptions, values, and traits.

Use Cases

• Cross-cultural text analysis based on interview transcripts about social worth and values.
• Audio data processing for qualitative sociological research based on 452 digitized interview files.
• Comparative study of social class and cultural capital based on descriptions of admired and disliked traits.
• Analysis of child-rearing values and workplace cultural traits as mentioned in the interview variables.

Strengths

• Includes 452 digitized audio files from the original interviews.
• Data collection involved 160 carefully matched participants by education and occupation.
• Interviews were semi-directed and lasted 2 hours, suggesting depth of qualitative data.

Limitations

• Row count and file formats for the structured data are unknown.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• The sample is limited to college-educated white males from four specific urban areas, which may limit generalizability.

Provenance

Source

Michèle Lamont / Harvard University Press

Collection Method

Random selection from phone directories, followed by brief phone screening and 2-hour semi-directed interviews.

Time Range

1986-1988

Geography

United States (Indianapolis, New York) and France (Paris, Clermont-Ferrand)