2025 Theses Doctoral

Operationalizing Symbolic Boundaries in a Multidimensional World: Estimands, Designs, and Applications of Conjoint Experiments

Ganter, Flavien

The empirical operationalization of symbolic boundaries—the conceptual lines people draw to classify and hierarchize individuals—has long posed a challenge for sociologists, particularly those seeking to capture the multidimensionality of the social world. The recent rise of conjoint experiments in the social sciences has opened new possibilities for cultural sociologists, as this experimental design enables them to measure symbolic boundaries across a wide range of dimensions and to identify the relative importance of each. However, two limitations constrain the use of conjoint experiments for studying symbolic boundaries: first, the quantity of interest most commonly estimated is ill-suited to accurately capture patterns of symbolic boundaries; second, standard conjoint designs can only measure perceived social distance between oneself and others, not those between others.

This dissertation addresses both limitations and develops a methodological framework for operationalizing multidimensional symbolic boundaries using conjoint experiments. It introduces a novel conjoint experimental design to capture perceived boundaries between others, defines appropriate estimands for measuring perceived social distance, and proposes a new method to uncover heterogeneous configurations of symbolic boundaries. The empirical part of the dissertation applies these methodological innovations to the study of the landscape of symbolic boundaries in the United States. It investigates how Americans perceive the structure of their society and the cleavages that divide it.

The findings show that perceived divisions span all dimensions, although their salience varies. Age, socioeconomic status, and sexual orientation emerge as the most salient overall, while immigration status (with the exception of the undocumented category), gender, family status, and locality of residence appear less important. Particularly salient boundaries are perceived between Jewish and Muslim individuals, straight and gay or bisexual individuals, those in upper- and lower-class occupations, and Republicans and Democrats.

The analysis identifies four ideal-typical configurations of symbolic boundaries in the population, which are most strongly predicted by religiosity, nativity, and educational attainment. Despite this heterogeneity, however, the results suggest a broad consensus on the dominant logics of classification in the U.S. Together, these findings offer a comprehensive map of the symbolic structure of American society and demonstrate the utility of conjoint experiments for advancing research on cultural classification, perception of social distance, and symbolic boundary formation.