Glaser and Strauss published it in 1967: an American research method in which theory is built up from data rather than tested against it. The researcher is instructed not to begin with a hypothesis. The categories are supposed to emerge.
studies
Unused vacation
American employees leave paid vacation days unused every year, and survey organisations count them annually as a recognised national phenomenon. The days exist, they are granted, and they are not taken.
The rating nobody will give
Across the federal workforce of roughly two million people, about 60 percent are rated outstanding or exceptional, and 0.3 percent are rated below satisfactory.
The Office of Personnel Management’s own commentary notes that most organisations of that scale would expect to see five to ten percent underperformance in any review cycle.
Managers will not write down a judgment about work, because in the American reading it is a judgment about the person — and they will be the one delivering it.
The political talk show
German public broadcasting runs several weekly prime-time debate programmes simultaneously — Markus Lanz, Caren Miosga, Maybrit Illner, hart aber fair, Maischberger.
One study analysed 1,208 episodes across four of them. Another found that around 79 percent of German television viewers watch them.
A country that schedules multiple hours of televised argument every week, in prime time, on the main public channels, and watches them in those numbers, has a settled view about whether disagreement is worth listening to.
The grade that moves the market
Around 80 percent of Germans read Stiftung Warentest reports at least occasionally, and only 17 percent never do.
Two thirds say a negative verdict influences their purchase — 12 percent say definitely, 54 percent say probably. Only seven percent are unmoved by one.
The foundation was created by a decision of the Bundestag in 1964, and around 200 tests are published a year. A single graded verdict, issued by a state-founded body that takes no advertising, moves German sales figures.
No statutory paid leave
The United States is the only advanced economy with no federal law requiring paid annual leave. There is no minimum, no entitlement, and no obligation on an employer to grant any.
Where leave exists it is a benefit offered by the employer, negotiated individually or set by company policy, and it can be changed.
Demographics
According to a report by the Census Bureau, the United States is expected to be a majority-minority nation by 2043. Within the next 50 years, nearly one in three U.S. residents would be Hispanic. Within the same time span, the Asian-American population will double from 15.9 million people to 34.4 million, and the African-American population is projected to increase by 20 million people.
From 2024 to 2060, the non-Hispanic white population will fall by nearly 20 million people, and will make up 43 percent of the nation’s total population by 2060. In 2011, the population of the United States was comprised of the following: White persons not Hispanic (63.4 percent), Black (13.1 percent), American Indian (1.2 percent), Asian-American (5.0 percent), Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander (0.2 percent), Two or more races (2.3 percent), Hispanic or Latino Origin (16.7 percent).
In diverse cultures people approach potentially sensitive topics indirectly.
Citibank survey
A recent survey of Citibank branches in four countries (the United States, Germany, China, and Spain) was conducted to determine the most effective persuasion methods for employees to use in order to convince their colleagues to do a favor for them. All four countries had very different results.
The survey showed that Americans are more likely to be persuaded to help their colleagues if there’s something in it for them, or if they owe their colleagues a favor. They tended to ask questions like “What will I get out of this?” and “What has this person done for me?”
Germans, on the other hand, were more likely to be persuaded to help if the favor stayed within the rules of the organization. They tended to ask questions like “According to the official regulations, am I supposed to help?”
Overqualification
According to a recent study, almost half of all employed Americans with college degrees are overqualified for their jobs. In 2010, 15% of taxi drivers had bachelor’s degrees, compared to 1% in 1970, and 25% of retail sales clerks had bachelor’s degrees, compared to 5% in 1970.
In fact, U.S. overqualification has become such a large problem that in 2013, The Globalist published an article titled “The U.S. Overqualification Crisis: Why the United States is looking to Germany for answers on higher education.”
Now, many degree programs encourage American students to avoid doctorates and/or other certifications because having these will make it harder for the students to find jobs. Engineers are warned not to get certified as Professional Engineers (PEs,) because companies typically hire only a handful of licensed PEs, but hire many more unlicensed engineers.
American employers have several reasons why they avoid hiring people who are overqualified for a position. Some of their biggest reasons include:
Higher salary expectations – someone with more qualifications is likely to expect to be paid more money.
Promotion expectations – someone with more qualifications might accept a job that’s “beneath them” only because they expect to be promoted quickly to a job that’s more deserving of their higher skills.
Upstaging – someone who has more qualifications and/or experience than their boss might have difficulty following orders.
Short term – someone who is overqualified is likely to lose interest in their position, and won’t stay for very long.
Impatience
According to a survey conducted in 2015, even though almost 80% of Americans consider themselves patient, a vast majority of them behave in ways that display incredible impatience. For example, 96% of Americans will consume food/drink that they know is hot enough to burn them rather than wait for it to cool. Additionally, 71% frequently exceed the speed limit and more than 50% won’t wait on hold for more than one minute.