I need material that provides empirical evidence such as survey data
or systematically conducted focus groups, or other solid data source
that provides concrete evidence of differences in attitudes toward
parenting, marriage, divorce, toward employment, and toward preferred
lifestyles (e.g. balance of work/leisure/family) and societal roles
such as community activity, among three generations: Baby Boom, Gen X,
and Gen Y.

I do NOT want material that simply makes assertions about the
generations based on anecdotes.  The materials MUST be based on solid
social science.  Survey data would be best, although various forms of
aggregate data (e.g. Census, corporate studies of employment patterns,
etc.) would also be useful.

---

Request for Question Clarification by jbf777-ga on 22 Jun 2003 14:05 PDT

I started digging into this question and realized you might want to
close it and repost it as 3 separate questions -- one for each age
group.  That is, if you're truly looking for 6 categories worth of
information on 3 different social groups' attitudes.

Hello -

Important note: This answer is not finished until you're satisfied
with it.
if you choose to rate this answer, I ask that you do so *after* asking
for any necessary clarification/information.  Thanks for your
understanding.

In pursuing this answer, I found a source that looks like exactly what
you're looking for, and amazingly, it's free.  The University of
Chicago maintains a web-based general social survey codebook:

"Founded in 1941, the National Opinion Research Center (NORC) is the
oldest national survey research facility that is not-for-profit and
university affiliated. Through its Survey Operations Group, NORC
provides consultation and services on the full range of survey
research tasks -- study design and analysis, sampling, questionnaire
design, data collection, and data processing -- for a wide range of
clients in the research community. NORC maintains a national
probability sample, which is fully revised to accord with 1990 Census
information. Many NORC surveys are archived at the Roper Center for
Public Opinion Research and in NORC's own data archive."

It contains opinionated survey data, categorizable based on age and
other variables, on everything from abortion to the zodiac -- and
dozens of topics in between -- including the ones you're looking for.

This data is not categorized "by generation," it's categorized by age.
 So if you were to limit a search to 18-24 year-olds, for example, you
might have to limit the years you're looking for data on, because the
surveys would have asked the same question to 18-24 year-olds back in
1972.

The site is at this URL:

General Social Survey
1972 - 2002 Cumulative Codebook [it says 2000, but goes to 2002]
http://www.icpsr.umich.edu:8080/GSS/homepage.htm

To get help on how to use the service, you can click on "Site Help";
or to get phone support, you can contact:

For general help: (773) 256-6206
for more specific help, ask for Jennifer Berktold

To give you a quick introduction, you can click on "Subject" on the
left side of the page.  You can then pick a subject you're interested
in seeing data for.  Above the list there's a row of letters from A to
Z you can click on.  If you click on P, and then click on "Parents,"
you'll see a list of "mnemonics" -- categories that are within that
topic.  If you click on the PARHRDR mnemonic, data will appear for
this survey question:

"1020. Please tell me whether you strongly agree, agree, disagree, or
strongly disagree with the following statements regarding parents:

A. The job of parent is more difficult today than it used to be."
 
If you close that window and go back to the original window, you'll
see a button for "Analyze" at the top.  Click on Analyze, then select
"frequencies or crosstabulation," and click "Start."

You can then tailor the data based on age.  Type in AGE as the row,
for instance, and then PARHRDR for the column [or vice versa].  You
can use additional filtering within the Selection Filters field.  For
example, typing AGE(18-30) YEAR(1995-2002) [with a space between them]
would limit the respondents to within the ages of 18-30, and
YEAR(1995-2002) would limit the response year between 1995 and 2002. 
You can experiment with the other options, such as color coding and
percentaging.  Click on the "Run the Table" button to see the output.

You can start the process a different way by seeing a list of all the
mnemonics available.  Simply click on Mnemonic on the left hand side
[above Subject and Sequential.]


Here are some other resources I've found on the net:

The cool diffidence and passionate realism of the Rising Generation
http://www.radicalmiddle.com/x_rising_gen.htm
An exhaustive amount of statistical information on Gen X's
perspectives on issues.  Includes contrasting with Boomers.

Managing Our Future: The Generation X Factor 
http://www.npelra.org/academy/o'bannon-GenX.PDF
The potential impact of the backgrounds of Generation Xers and
Baby-Boomers was
reviewed to determine whether key factors and defining moments in
their histories may explain the communication disconnect in our
nation's workplace. Of special concern, the review sought to analyze
the backgrounds of Generation Xers and Baby-Boomers to find out how
these perspectives influence workplace attitudes and perceptions. It
is contemplated that if these issues can be discussed openly, a more
positive work relationship can be cultivated.

Tracing Baby Boomer Attitudes Then and Now: A Comparative Look at the
Attitudes of Baby Boomers in the 1970s and 2002
http://research.aarp.org/general/bbattitudes_1.html
Two modes of data collection were employed for this study. The first
mode of data collection was through a review of publicly available
data from several 1970s telephone surveys. The second was through a
2002 Internet survey, which replicated the 1970s telephone survey
questions from 30 years ago.  Sample sizes in these surveys range from
611 adults to 3,880 adults. The Internet survey was fielded from June
1, 2002 to July 19, 2002. The survey was completed by a total of 2,246
persons. These individuals represented three separate age groups of
individuals: 20-26, 50-56, and 65 and over.

Marriage makes a comeback
http://www.marriagemovement.org/html/two_perspectives_blog.html
Unlike baby boomers, who saw marriage as part of the  standard life
script for adults, this generation does not take marriage  for
granted. They've grown up in the midst of the divorce revolution,  and
the experience, like the Viet Nam war for boomers, has indelibly 
shaped their outlook. A Gallup survey of twentysomething men and women
 conducted last year for Rutgers National Marriage Project reveals
this  generation's reaction against divorce. Close to nine out of 10
(88  percent) agree that the divorce rate is too high. Slightly more
than  half (52 percent) and an even higher percentage of those in
their late  20s (60 percent) agree that one of their biggest concerns
about getting  married is the possibility it will end in divorce.

NEW JERSEY GENERATIONS:
A Look at Political and Social Differences
http://www.rci.rutgers.edu/~eaglepol/Ledger.dir/Release122.dir/release5.htm
This is a special Star-Ledger/Eagleton Poll report: an in-depth look
at Generations in New Jersey. We want to tell a statistical tale of
three generations of New Jerseyans--how differences in their political
outlook and social values may play out in elections and on public
policy issues in the coming years. We hope you find it interesting
reading. A story based on these data will appear in the June 27
Star-Ledger.

National Survey of Voters
http://www.diversityweb.org/research_and_trends/research_evaluation_impact/campus_community_connections/national_poll.cfm
The main finding of this study is that the vast majority of American
voters support diversity education in general and the numerous
specific programs which fall under that heading. There is majority
support across all demographic groups, though strongest among
Generation Xers (18 to 30 year olds) and self-described liberals, and
somewhat less strong (though still significant) among Senior Citizens
and self-described conservatives.

Generation X's Influence on the Workplace
http://business.fullerton.edu/CBEAssessmentCtr/WAM%20Sessions/Submission%20by%20Sessions/Session%206.1/034POB.doc
Generation X workers are purported to hold different employment
expectations that workers born a generation earlier.  Research on the
differences in work values between the two generations is discussed. 
Data for the study was collected from 55 randomly selected employees
in nine entrepreneurial software technology firms.  The results find
no population mean differences in work values between the generations.
 Both generations considered competency the most important and
relational as the least important work value.  The results indicate
that companies should not change management methods to successfully
manage employees.

A National Survey on Leadership in the New Millenium 
http://www.greenbergresearch.com/publications/reports/r_national_survery_leadership041599.pdf
The American public has complex views of leaders that are not simply
defined by one dominant quality or theme.In many ways, people are
conflicted between the traditional model of superior individuals with
natural ability and another concept based more on the notion of
situations and skills that are learned over a lifetime. A transition
appears to be taking place, driven in large part by huge generational
differences, and much of the public is now looking for a new kind of
leader with somewhat different qualities than were believed to be
critical yardsticks for leaders in the past.

http://www.millennialsrising.com/HSsurvey.shtml
Surveyed: 655 students in randomly selected eleventh-grade classes at
four high public schools in Fairfax Country, Virginia. Survey was
authorized by school officials and administered by class teachers.

What Young Voters Want
http://www.greenbergresearch.com/publications/articles/a_whatyoungvoterswant021102.pdf
Generation Y's thoughts on government.

New survey shows farm work isn’t child’s play
http://www.agriculture.com/sfonline/sf/1997/november/survey/

A Public Perspective on Parenting
http://www.loveandlogic.com/Pages/0504survey.html
A nationwide telephone study was conducted among 1,015 adults, ages 18
and over with listed and unlisted telephone numbers. About half of the
interviews were with women (53 percent) and half were men (47
percent). Interviewing was conducted Feb. 11–13, 200


Search strategy:
"generation X" OR "baby boomers" OR "generation Y" AND "viewpoints" OR
"perspectives" survey OR poll OR analysis OR findings
"survey shows" OR "study shows" OR "findings reveal" "feel that"
parenting OR parental
"survey shows" OR "study shows" OR "findings reveal" feel parenting OR
parental
"survey that" OR "study that" OR "findings that" feel parenting OR
parental
believe
support
"according to" "baby boomers are" parenting

Additional Link:
Gallup Organization
609-924-9600 Maura in Library [might have more survey data]

This looks fine.  I have not had time yet to delve into it much, but I
consider it completed.  Thanks.

Hello Hmc53142,

For a general overview -- which goes into great detail, nevertheless -- please see:

Sociologists Attempt to Understand Human Behavior ...
http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/theses/available/etd-042399-141552/unrestricted/

(Check the files cover.pdf, body.pdf, and so on.)


For a focus on employment changes, see:

The Changing Nature of the Workforce [PDF]
http://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/ocotillo/retreat03/docs/generations_at_work.pdf

(Here, the chapter "Four Generations in the Workforce" should be of interest.)


Hope this helps!


Search terms:
society marriage survey site:edu
survey marriage employment "baby boomer" "generation x" site:edu

Interesting idea, but I want to stay with the one question.  The
reason is that I am after comparisons.  If I have to get comparisons
by examining separate studies of each "generation," then so be it. 
But I would prefer direct comparisons.

The references you have already dug up look interesting, though I have
not done more than scan them quickly.

The central challenge is that much of the Generational literature is
full of assertions about generational behavior.  The assertions are
generally grounded in anecdotes having to do with literature, popular
music and film, and blatent speculation masquerading as wisdom.

I have no doubt that there are major differences in perspective among
the generations, as well as within them.  What is lacking in so much
of the commentary about intergenerational differences is any EMPIRICAL
demonstration that certain cultural characteristics are identifiable
between generations in terms of parenting, in terms of lifestyle
preferences, in terms of important cultural charatceristics like
attitudes toward authority.

There is a 1991 study by William Strauss and Niel Howe called
"Generations," which provides a decent historical interpretation of US
history through they perspective of interactions among
peer-generations.  Both men have done more work since that time on the
subject of peer generations -- i.e. "generations" in the sense not of
family tree, but in the sense of coming of age at the time of certain
major events (e.g. Depression/WWII; the Pill/Vietnam/Watergate, etc)
that were catalysts for forming their peer tases and culture.


What I am looking for, then, is some sort of material that a
Yankelovich or a Gallup, or a Univ of Michigan, or someone credible
may have done that would provide empirical evidence of differenmced
between people born into what are now loosely called the Baby Boomers,
Generation X, and Generation Y, based on only their birth dates, not
on their family relationships (e.g. a family such as my own may have
Gen X and Gen Y children.

This is a serious study can expand beyond one question if we get it
rolling.  I would do the search, but I just do not have the time.

Does this clarify?

hmc53142-

Must the answer specifically have every category you listed, or some
of them?  And must every category have all 3 perspectives?

If so, then I'm afraid the amount of time to do such a question would
acutally not even fall within our pricing framework for a single
question.  That's my take on it, and I've done similar questions.  But
another researcher might have a different take.

The articles can have only one or all of the generations.  I assume
that if there is material out there, it would show up quickly in the
first few items you find, if the search is well constructed.  If the
material simply does not exist, then what will show up will be one or
two generations, say X and Y on a single topic.  That's OK too.

Right, but I'm actually not speaking of the individual articles.  I'm
talking about the answer as a whole -- must the completed answer
specifically have articles for every category you listed, or just some
of them?  And must every category contain information on all 3
perspectives?

Look, I am not going to judge an overall answer on whether it
precisely contains each of three generations. I just want to know what
informationi s out there.  If the eventual answer contains only
material on "Gen X" or "Gen Y" and not on the Boomers, that's OK.  I
would not want material only on the over-studied Baby-Boom, however.

Here is how to go about it.  See if there are articles comparing three
generations.  If they do not show up, then loosen the criteria.

Thank you very much for the rating + tip!  Please let me know if have
any additional questions.

jbf777-ga
GA Researcher