Doctoral Dissertation Research: The Meaning of Economic Stratification in the Post-Recession

alford Young, Jr. Jessica WiederspanUniversity of michigan在美国，学者们长期以来一直认为，个人集体解释经济分层过程的主要方式是通过美国梦的意识形态，即相信所有人都有合理的机会通过自己的辛勤工作和努力获得经济上的成功。然而，研究表明，父母处于收入分配的底部或顶部的人长大后可能仍处于这些地位，这让人严重质疑是否所有美国人都有合理的机会获得经济上的成功。尽管存在这种矛盾，但个人如何将有关精英政治的更广泛的文化信息与他们自己的经历和观察相协调，以构建一种与美国梦意识形态大体一致或相反的世界观，目前尚不清楚。通过对中西部两个城市的80个人进行深入访谈，研究人员将生成一个定性的数据集，能够独特地解决关于经济机会的世界观是如何形成的问题。我的具体研究问题如下：1。个人如何解释美国经济分层的过程？在什么情况下，个人的世界观倾向于复制占主导地位的个人主义意识形态，在什么情况下，他们倾向于挑战它？3.在个人对经济分层的世界观的发展中，某些文化模式或个人经历和观察似乎比其他文化模式或个人经历和观察更突出，这其中是否存在趋势？在这些观点的形成过程中，哪些机制和过程似乎最为突出？研究一个社会中人们集体解释经济分层过程的主导方式，可以帮助我们理解特定的社会安排是如何再生产的，以及为什么再生产，特别是如果这些安排似乎对许多个人不利的话。这项研究还可以洞察社会转型存在的潜力，并帮助我们理解个人。作为经济和公民行为主体的行为。更广泛的影响个人对经济分层的看法一直是全国性调查（如皮尤研究中心经济流动性项目在2009年和2011年进行的一系列调查）和国家公共广播电台等媒体报道的主题。然而，由于没有令人信服的理由说明人们为什么相信他们所做的事情，以及导致人们拒绝或复制这种主导意识形态的机制，这个项目有能力填补公众对这个问题的认识空白，并在学术界之外广泛吸引。此外，访谈涉及的一个城市的经济发展主任对这项研究表示了兴趣，因为它有可能提供对该地区家庭面临的经济挑战类型的见解。结果也将提供给第二城市的官员。

SES-1409092Alford Young, Jr. Jessica WiederspanUniversity of MichiganIn the United States, scholars have long argued that the primary way in which individuals collectively explain the process of economic stratification is through the ideology of the American Dream, or the belief that all people have a reasonable chance to achieve economic success based on their own hard work and effort. Yet research suggests that individuals born to parents in the bottom or the top of the income distribution are likely to remain in those positions as adults, placing into serious question whether all Americans have a reasonable chance to achieve economic success. Despite this contradiction, it is unclear how individuals reconcile broader cultural messages about meritocracy with their own experiences and observations in order to construct a worldview that is generally consistent with, or in opposition to, the ideology of the American Dream. Through in-depth interviews with 80 individuals in two Midwestern cities, the investigators will generate a qualitative dataset uniquely capable of addressing the question of how worldviews about economic opportunity are formed. My specific research questions are as follows:1.How do individuals explain the process of economic stratification in the United States?2.Under what circumstances do individuals' worldviews tend to reproduce the dominant ideology of individualism, and under what conditions do they tend to challenge it? 3.Are there trends in why certain cultural schemas or personal experiences and observations seem to be more salient than others in the development of individuals' worldviews on economic stratification? What mechanisms and processes seem most prominent in the development of these views? Studying the dominant way in which the people in a society collectively explain the process of economic stratification can help us understand how and why particular social arrangements are reproduced, especially if those arrangements appear to disadvantage many individuals. This research can also provide insight into the potential that exists for social transformation and help us to make sense of individuals? behavior as economic and civic actors. Broader ImpactsThe issue of what individuals think about economic stratification has been the subject of national surveys (such as a series conducted by the Pew Research Center's Economic Mobility Project in 2009 and 2011) and stories by media outlets such as National Public Radio. Yet because there is no compelling account of why people believe what they do, as well as the mechanisms that lead people to reject or reproduce this dominant ideology, this project has the ability to fill a gap in the public knowledge on this issue and appeal widely outside of academic circles. In addition, the Director of Economic Development for one of the cities in which interviews will be concerned has expressed interest in this research, as it has the potential to provide insight into the types of economic challenges faced by families in the area. The results will also be offered to officials in the second city.