Generation Xer\'s: My Why or No Way

¶ … Generation Xer's: My Why or No Way discusses generation Xers. Particularly it discusses perceptions that are commonly held about Generation Xer's. The case suggests that Gen Xer's are more emotionally suited for career realities in today's world and more apt to save money than previous generations. This despite a perception from some that Gen Xer's are simply slackers. Attitudes commonly held by Gen Xer's discussed in the case study include the belief that status is less important than accomplishments that breaking the rules is sometimes acceptable and that networking is critical to success.

If you were asked to measure the attitude of Generation Xers' which type of scale would you use? Why?

If I were to measure the attitude of Generation Xers' I would use a scale that assessed attitude, beliefs, morals, savings habits, career choices and overall success. This would be hard to actually define, however something along the realm of a scale that measured how liberal vs. conservative Gen Xers' are compared to previous generations might suffice. For example, a scale that listed each of the traits (attitudes, beliefs, savings, etc.) and then ranked Gen Xers' on a scale of 1-5, as follows 1- Liberal attitude, 2- Somewhat liberal, 3 -- Neutral, 4- Somewhat conservative, 5- Conservative. The rankings would of course refer to how liberal a Generations Xers' attitudes would be toward each of these subjects. This type of ranking system would allow a limited amount of flexibility and be more useful in comparing attitudes across many different generations.

Gen Xers' don't like to be compared with other generations. With this in mind do you believe that comparative scales would be an effective means of gathering information about Generations Xers.

A comparative scale could be an effective means of gathering information about Generation Xers' if it wasn't too limiting. Meaning, the scale would have to allow for some flexibility of response. A scale such as the one suggested in question 1 would allow the maximum amount of response. If a scale such as this were used, it would have to provide a broad range of topics or items to be measured, that could be applicable to each generation. For example, if Generation Xers' are the only generation with an opinion on a certain topic, this topic should be excluded from the measurement criteria because it would be far too limiting. Topics such as savings habits, attitudes, beliefs etc. are things that are common to all generations, and thus could adequately be measured.

Conclusions