French and American Upper-Middle Class Interviews on Social Worth, 1986-1988
by Michèle Lamont / Harvard University Press
Available on 1 platform
Sign in to view source links and access this dataset
Description
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)
License information is unknown and should be verified before use.