Language and Social Class Theories

William Labov - 'Department Store' Study (1962)

What?
Labov studied the pronunciation of the /r/ in the middle and end of words like guard, beer and bare. Use of this was looked highly upon in New York.

How?
He approached sales assistants in three Manhattan shops, drawn from the top (Saks), middle (Macy's) and bottom (Klein's) of the price and fashion scale, and asked them a question that had to be replied to with the phrase 'the forth floor'. He then pretended not to hear the response and asked them to repeat.

His results
Sales assistants from Saks would pronounce the final 'r' more often than those at Macy's and Klein's, and Klein's would pronounce it the least. The sales assistants at Macy's would pronounce it clearer when asked to repeat.
Pronouncing words with an /r/ in a rhotic manner seemed to be linked to social class. The upper-class would pronounce the /r/ more prominently than people in the middle/lower-class. Those in the lower classes, however, seemed to attempt to use the rhotic /r/ sound more often when they were being cautious with their speech, like when the people at Macy's were asked to repeat. Perhaps this was to make them seem less lower-class.