Gen Z is soft, millennials are embarrassing, boomers are evil, and no one has thought about Gen X in years.
But late this spring, Pew announced it would no longer use generational labels such as millennial and Gen Z in its research.
By and large, Cohen shares Duffy's view that generational labels make it tough for both experts and laypeople to distinguish between generational traits and universal, or multifactorial, occurrences.
To its credit, Pew has been transparent in acknowledging how the use of generational labels may have tilted its analyses.
Pew "does believe generational research can be a useful tool in the right context," Parker told me.
Persons:
Gen X, Pew, Kim Parker, Parker, Obama, Millennials, boomers, Gen Zers, Xers, —, Karl Mannheim, Louis Menand, Menand, Andrew M, Lindner, Sophia Stelboum, Azizul Hakim, William Strauss, Neil Howe, Strauss, Howe's, Baby Boomer, Portia, Zers, Gen Xers, Philip N, Cohen, it's, Bobby Duffy, Duffy, Stelboum, Hakim, Michael Dimock, Kelli María Korducki
Organizations:
Pew Research Center, Pew, Skidmore College, University of Maryland, College, Washington, King's College London
Locations:
Mannheim, New York City