Monday, March 12, 2012
Home ownership — for years a much-sought sign of success — isn’t as important to most Americans anymore, according to a Xavier University study.Owning a home once was a sure bet, an investment that would never lose value, said Michael Ford, founding director of Xavier’s Center for the Study of the American Dream. Owning a home once signaled that you “made it.”...
Thursday, March 1, 2012
Several years ago, three Xavier University professors set about creating a numerical value to measure the American Dream.
But first Amit Sen, Greg Smith and Chris Manolis needed to determine what, exactly, the American Dream is.They found 35 dimensions that make up most views of the American Dream. They then created a “statistically valid” quantitative monthly survey to measure how people felt about the American Dream, from personal health to wealth, social status or trust in government...
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Michael Ford, who directs the Center for the Study of the American Dream at Xavier University, found that middle income Americans overwhelmingly believe “the future is being created elsewhere” and that the middle class has lost faith in every major institution in America except the military. A pessimistic populism focused mainly on fairness, income inequality, and anti-corporatism does not speak to, much less answer, these profound anxieties...
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
The candidates' focus on the American Dream is in itself a sign of the times, said Michael Ford, founding director of the Center for the Study of the American Dream at Xavier University. The phrase was coined during the Great Depression and since then has tended to become a central theme during economic downturns, Ford said...
Saturday, February 18, 2012
But, recently I have become fascinated with the American Dream Composite Index as perhaps being the best measure of the authenticity of Brand America’s promise. In the consumer package goods world, doing research among ‘heavy users’ was a classic way to better understand the strengths of your brand. Nobody knows your brand better than the consumers who use it the most. If they see an opportunity for improvement, then you better act fast before it is a full-blown three-alarm crisis...
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
How’s the American Dream? Well, it’s at 63.96. That’s the American Dream Composite Index for January as compiled by the Xavier University Center for the Study of the American Dream. That’s up a tick from December. The center describes that number as “a monthly quantitative index that measures how we, as a nation, are doing in terms of our American Dream.”...
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Interestingly enough a 2011 survey by Xavier University’s Center for the Study of the American Dream found that the top five most important elements of the American Dream are as follows: “a good life for my family”, “financial security”, “freedom”, “opportunity”, and “the pursuit of happiness”. On the surface these five elements do not seem to challenge the version of the American Dream as Obama depicted it in his State of the Union address...
Sunday, January 29, 2012
“In desperate times we are less welcoming,” laments Michael F. Ford, founding director of the Center for the Study of the American Dream, at Ohio’s Xavier University. “That has been true since the founding of the republic.” These are desperate times indeed. A recent survey by the centre found that nearly two of every three Americans believes America is a country in decline...
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
When President Barack Obama declared the American dream was in danger during his State of the Union Address, it struck a chord with Katherine Ryder. She coordinates the Center for the Study of the American Dream at Xavier University, an ongoing project that's gaining national attention several years after its establishment...
Monday, January 23, 2012
This weekend, the Wall Street Journal published an article titled “The New American Divide”. As I read it, I thought it was a great follow-up to my post on the American Dream. Recall, in that post I shared an overview of a very interesting market research study conducted by the Center For the Study of the American Dream at Xavier University in Cincinnati, Ohio. That study suggests the authenticity of Brand America’s Promise is under pressure...
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
A second national annual survey assessing American's views of the state of the country, America's world status, trust in institutions, and the generational legacy of the Dream itself has revealed that percentages are steadily declining. The one factor that has remained unchanged is respondents' belief and confidence in reaching the Dream...
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
I highlighted this work previously in my Odds and Ends post. This is some fascinating research being conducted by the Center for the Study of the American Dream at Xavier University in Cincinnati, Ohio. The Center’s focus is to study the history of the American Dream, identify emerging trends and predict meaningful shifts on how the definition is changing. The second annual State of the American Dream Survey was conducted by Fairbank, Maslin, Maullin, Metz and Associates (FM3)...
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Few ideas are as central to American self-identity as the "American dream." Politicians invoke it, immigrants pursue it, and despite unremittingly negative economic news, citizens embrace it. But what is the American dream? We began regular study of how people define and perceive the dream three years ago, and have discovered many misunderstandings worth a second look...
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
As for homeownership, registering just 7 percent in the Xavier study, I would say that in indicating “freedom,” “opportunity,” and “pursuit of happiness” as part of their American dream, many people are probably incorporating homeownership into it. If I had answered the survey, I don’t think I would check-mark the “homeownership” category if “freedom” was also on the list, for the latter would allow me to pursue both homeownership as well as premium barbeque...
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
Michael F. Ford, the founding director of the Xavier University’s Center for the Study of the American Dream, wrote an article published in the Washington Post about the Center’s second annual “State of the American Dream” survey. The study revealed five myths about the American dream...
Monday, January 9, 2012
Michael Ford, Founding Director of the Center for the Study of the American Dream, says the rhetoric of politicians does little to influence what people think about the country’s future: “When politicians speak about the American Dream, they are quickly dismissed by the people they represent. We are approaching a tipping point of some kind and we will continue to watch it. However, at hand are questions greater than who will win an election...
Monday, January 9, 2012
Turning to the Washington Post scholar and advocate Michael F. Ford debunks five myths about the American Dream:
1.The American dream is about getting rich.
2.Homeownership is the American dream.
3.The American dream is American.
4.China threatens the American dream.
5.Economic decline and political gridlock are killing the American dream.
Saturday, January 7, 2012
One of the key discussions in this US Presidential Election year 2012 is about the so-called, “American Dream.” There are VERY different spins on what the “American Dream” REALLY is! The “Five Myths” feature deals with this issue. The Washington Post promoted the column with the question, “American Dream – is it dead or has it just changed?” What do YOU think? I hope YOU will read the "Five Myths" column by Dr. Michael F. Ford, the founding director of the Xavier University’s...
Friday, January 6, 2012
Few ideas are as central to American self-identity as the “American dream.” Politicians invoke it, immigrants pursue it, and despite unremittingly negative economic news, citizens embrace it. But what is the American dream? We began regular study of how people define and perceive the dream three years ago, and have discovered many misunderstandings worth a second look...
Friday, January 6, 2012
On the heels of the Iowa Caucuses, Xavier University's Center for the Study of the American Dream debunks 5 Myths about the American Dream in the Sunday Washington Post. Michael Ford, the Center's Founding Director, cites its current research revealing a deep schism between the Presidential campaign's relevance to the American Dream, Americans' distrust in government and elected officials...
Monday, December 12, 2011
Are young people better off than their parents? At least when it comes to income, the answer depends on gender. Today's young women make $1.17 for every $1 their moms earned back in 1980. Young men, however, are earning 10 cents per dollar less than their fathers did 30 years ago, new research shows...
Thursday, November 10, 2011
Xavier University’s Williams College of Business recently launched the American Dream Composite Index™ (ADCI), the only statistically validated measure of the American Dream and a predictor of future consumer behavior. On Monday, November 28, at 3:00 pm EST, the creators of the ADCI will provide a 30-minute webinar tutorial on how to use the tool along with some interesting findings. The webinar is free for all participants...
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
"The American Dream” is code. It is the simplification, or oversimplification, of more complex ideas contained in the Declaration of Independence...A research center at Xavier University annually conducts a State of the American Dream survey “to gauge what [the Dream] is and to whom, to measure America’s confidence in itself and its future, and to understand the aspirations and values likely to directly impact current and future economic, political and cultural decisions"...
Friday, October 28, 2011
Can you measure the American Dream? Three Xavier University business professors say they have figured out a way through the newly created American Dream Composite Index. The goal, hatched three years ago by Xavier’s business dean and the head of its center that studies the American Dream, was to find a way to place a numerical value on the dream...
Friday, October 14, 2011
Protests make people uncomfortable. That's why protests are organized. Waking a dormant public or a lazy political infrastructure with an uncomfortably forced focus is their purpose.
The Tea Party did a magnificent job and now the Occupy Wall Street protests are percolating equally important activity. Both are non-violent and fueled by social media. Both make their targets uncomfortable. Both animate each other with their polar enthusiasms...
