Introduction
Words can have different themes attached to them, and cultural bias shapes these associations. Cultural bias is the capacity to distinguish different predispositions in our lives. This is the report on the interviews on people’s perceptions and knowledge on the City Colleges of Chicago campus on the culture-specific word “Santeria.” This project is done to evaluate the different perceptions of people about the ethnographic or ethnological word and the most common superstitions about it. It is the initial step to seeing how our psychological cycles work. In science, analysts attempt to recognize research participants’ biases to have the most precise outcomes and information conceivable.
Methodology
The methodology used in this project is the face-to-face interview on whether the responders ever heard the word “Santeria.” Interviews assist a researcher with clarifying, better comprehending and investigating research subjects’ perspectives, conduct, encounters, wonder, and social assessment. Interviews are capable of offering data according to participants’ points of view instead of being approached to squeeze those viewpoints into the restricted reaction choices given by the analyst. Furthermore, on the grounds that subjective meetings are intended to evoke itemized data, they are particularly helpful when a specialist’s point is to concentrate on friendly cycles.
The interviews with three people from the collected 20 were selected as the most relevant representatives of the study. Most of the surveyed people were students of my age, and a couple of professors also participated in the project. The interview took place in comfortable places such as the campus cafeteria and took about 5 to 15 minutes per person. The questions asked in the interview were:
- Have you ever heard the word “Santeria”?
- What kind of associations do you have with this word?
These questions are relevant because they do not hint at the origin or cultural link of the word. I also noted the reactions and changes in voice tone of the responders so I could identify their attitudes towards the topic.
Interview
Interview Subject #1: The White Caucasian Male Student. Professional Scope: Economics
- Me: Have you ever heard the word “Santeria”?
- Him: No.
- Me: Maybe you have some association with this word? Anything familiar?
- Him: It seems like some Latin word, but I have no idea what it can be.
The Tone of The Conversation:
- The student seemed confused by the question. His facial expressions were neutral, and he tried hard to think of the meaning of the word “Santeria.”
Interview Subject #2: The African American Female Student. Professional Scope: Literature and Languages
- Me: Have you ever heard the word “Santeria”?
- Her: I do not think so.
- Me: What kind of associations do you have with this word?
- Her: Well, I can only assume it is a rare ancient word. Maybe it is related to some culture.
- Me: Which culture in particular?
- Her: I would say African.
- Me: Why is that?
- Her: The ending of the word and the sound remind me of those that are spoken in some African regions.
The Tone of The Conversation:
- The participant had a friendly attitude towards the interview and the questions. Her expressions demonstrated her curiosity in the new term.
Interview Subject #3: The Hispanic Male Professor. Professional Scope: Biology
- Me: Have you ever heard the word “Santeria”?
- Him: Let me think… Maybe in my childhood.
- Me: How is it related to your childhood?
- Him: You see… I lived in Florida back then. It reminds me of the term which the Cuban or Mexican religions could have used. I do not know anything other than that, though.
The Tone of The Conversation:
- The professor had a displeased look during the conversation. His tone changed as he started recalling the connection of the term to religious practices.
Discussion
The three chosen interviews are from people of different ethnic origins, age groups, gender, and professional sphere. This variation accurately represents the view and knowledge of people on the word of the study. The report includes the answers from the white Caucasian male student majoring in economics, the African American female student majoring in literature and languages, and a 50-year-old Hispanic professor teaching biology. The professor heard something about the ethnographic word and even proposed it was related to the rare religious practice. This might be explained by the fact that he lived in Florida, where some of the instances of the “Santeria” take place because of many ethnic Cuban representatives.
On the contrary, the younger participants did not seem to know anything about the word. The results were uniform regardless of the race and ethnicity of all interviewed people. However, the African American girl only noted that it sounds like an African word, maybe related to the ancient cultures. As she studied languages and literature, her suggestions might be constructed due to her knowledge of the sphere. In general, most respondents answered that the word sounded musical and might be connected to dance or art. Many of them guessed it was of Hispanic origin judging by the sound.
Conclusion
The report is based on the interview conducted at the college campus in Chicago. The partakers were asked several questions based on the knowledge and superstitions of the word “Santeria.” The focus was on the responses from the three participants of the study, which showed the best diversity among the collected sample. In general, many people did not know anything about the selected word and only had vague assumptions. Some of them were able to identify the relation of the word to a cultural theme or Hispanic origin, relying on the word’s sounding. For this reason, I did not include most of the interviews that shared similar reactions and answers. The chosen white male student illustrates the results received from the majority of participants.