Social Stratification of (r) in New York City Department Stores
WILLIAM LABOV
William Labov
Is known for,..
o Attention to dialects
o "Logic" of African American English
o Reduce reading gap for African American Children
Tape recorded interviews
Speech is formal
Alternatives
o Natural social context o No explicit observation
Social Stratification
"The product of social differentiation and social
evaluation"—Bernard Barber
Labov's Classic Study of New York City Department Stores
Speech corresponding to that of their social class
Speech Continuum o "Standard" American English o Predictable, Quantifiable, and Explainable
Preliminary studies led to (r)
(1962)
Hypothesis
Differential use of (r) directly corresponds to ranking in social stratification
Fine social differences as well as gross ones
Three Large Department Stores
Differential ranking
o Location o Advertising
o Price of goods and emphasis on price o Physical plant
Saks Fifth Avenue (Highest) Macy's (Middle) S. Klein (Lowest)
Stratification of Employees
Prestige of store Working Conditions Not wages
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The Method
Interviewer is customer "Fourth Floor" Ask to repeat
Data entry
o (r-i)
o (r-o)
Variables
Independent
o The store
Floor within the store o Sex o Age
Occupation
Race
o Foreign or regional accent
Dependent Casual: fourth floor Emphatic: fourth floor
Overall Stratification of (r)
Three Categories
All (r-i) o Some (r-i) o No (r-i)
Results
o 62% Saks o 51% Macy's 20% Kleins
Emphatic Results •(r-i) is most appropriate for emphatic speech •Linguistic security
The Effect of Other Independent Variables
African Americans
o Kleins
o Lower use of (r-i)
c General pattern of social stratification
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• Floorwalkers
• Sales people
• Cashiers stockboys
• Elevator operators
Differentiation By Age of the Informants
Estimated within 5 year intervals Expect a rise in (r-i) in younger sales people Compared with Lower East Side Data The explanation
Which generation are you?
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Experiment Limitations
More systematic sampling
Data not tape recorded
Method used to elicit emphatic speech
Sources of error offset by
o Three subsections o Size of sample Availability for rechecking
Future of Rapid and Anonymous Studies
Control the interactive effect of the observer
Nonreactive experimentation
Most important experimental method
OBSERVATION POINT
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