possible paper topic

i have been thinking alot about how the measure of success changes from decade to decade. i would like to research what was considered being successful in the past and whether or not it is the same in the present. for example, in the 50s having a family and career was what made people successful; today, i think basically the same thing is true but there is a much higher standard because there is so much more-- more appliances to be bought, more technology to be learned about...or is there? for my paper, i am interested in interviewing several people from different generations to see if there is a difference between success in the past and success in the present, if there is any difference at all. as far as the "book" research, i would like to find magazines and newspapers from different decades to see what peoples' values were. i am not quite sure how successful (no pun intended) my attempt at this subject will be, but i think it will be enlightening to discover whether our ideas of success have changed over the years and why that is.