Sociology is a discipline that studies society and analyzes the distinctions between different layers of the society arising due to numerous factors like political, economic, cultural, etc. In society, there are populations with cultures and sub-cultures of their own, which happens to be a distinguishing feature for them. In order to mark these differences out, one needs to spend some quality time observing and recording those observations to come to a valid conclusion. The quantitative means to analyze and verify any observation gives it solid support to be projected as a theory, at least in a social setting, but scientifically. In this brief research report, the objective is to describe the class setting where the observation those American students tend to ask more questions than Asian students and to scientifically interpret the behavioral differences in the two cultural set-ups. Randy Hodson’s homepage on the OSU website has been used as a reference to prepare this report.
Description of the behavior observational setting
The task assigned needed to observe sets of students in various classes at different timings, and closely note down the observations, in order to come to any inference. The observational time span was Monday to Friday in a week and involved spending time in different class sessions of various subjects like sociology, physics, biochemistry, cosmology, and Economics. The class sessions chosen were generally of 2-hour duration with a 10-minute break in between the two sub-sessions. The class strength varied in different subjects with respect to Americans, Asians, and others. For the purpose of this social experiment, the others would include the students of all other races combined other than Americans and Asians.
Summary of the observations made
The experiment ran from Monday to Friday in a week and the following observations were made with respect to the subjects, Americans, Asians, the others and the number of questions asked during the class sessions by each of these categories. In Sociology class (Monday), a total of 65 students attended, out of which Americans, Asians and the others were respectively, 38, 20 and 7. In Physics class (Tuesday), a total of 72 students attended, out of which Americans, Asians and the others were respectively, 36, 26 and 10. In the Biochemistry class (Wednesday), a total of 82 students attended, out of which Americans, Asians and the others were respectively, 44, 28 and 10. In Cosmology class (Thursday), a total of 60 students attended, out of which Americans, Asians and the others were respectively, 33, 21 and 6. In Economics class (Friday), a total of 70 students attended, out of which Americans, Asians and the others were respectively, 37, 25 and 8.
The table above depicts subjects, races and the no. of questions asked in each category. The figures in the bracket depict the percent of questions asked by students of a race. Note that in the table, the data (not in brackets) mean that a single student belonging to a race may ask many questions. For example, 17/38= 0.45, 6/20= 0.30, etc.
Data analysis and Interpretation
There are two ways to look at data. One with respect to races and the number of questions asked. This is quite clear from the table that American students have asked the bulk of the questions, but we do need to look at the percentage of students of different races asking the questions in the class. This can be obtained by combining the data sets. This analysis will differentiate the cultural differences as to why Americans tend to be more questioning. It’s all about how society evolves, and which all factors influence the process. The American society is an open society that encourages questioning, while the Asian society does not. This is reflected in the students’ behavior in the classes. While American students may go to the extent of discussing and debating things, Asians prefer to be low and perhaps they would have asked questions if it was in writing than verbal. The American society has allowed the intermingling process from the beginning, but the Asian societies have been more behaviorally isolated and this reflects too in their actions. The American society encourages aggressiveness in the thought process, and the seniors value those ideas. But on the other hand, Asian societies have been found to be timider as the elder family members and even teachers never prompted to encourage the thought process to flow uninhibitedly, and in fact, sometimes it goes totally opposed, and at other times completely ignored. American students are more vocal about what they believe.
To conclude, one can say that there are cultural differences between Americans and Asians, and this is reflected in their questioning behavioral pattern, discussions and debates in a classroom setting and this may not be the case in the majority of Asian students.
Works Cited
Hodson, Randy. “Welcome to the Homepage of Randy Hodson!” sociology.osu.edu.