An Ethnographic Study Of Cultural Differences Among International Students In University Of Nebraska-Lincoln

Literature Review

An analytical study on how people from other places plan to study in University of Nebraska-Lincoln, focusing on the cultural differences of the people

A systematic study of people and culture in order to explore the cultural background of the people is known as ethnography (Helmreich et al. 2017). In order to understand the cultural background and to compare the culture with another culture, a research has to undertake both qualitative and quantitative research (Helmreich et al. 2017). As a part of collecting the information on the cultural background of the people under consideration of research, it is often required that the researcher has to participate in social experiments and prolonged exposure to the society in order to record the behaviour of the people from different background. Understanding the cultural behaviour of different people from different background has always interested me. The human society is a representation of people from various backgrounds and a better understanding of each other can only bring better harmony and better means of living together.

For this particular study, I have decided to study the behaviour of the people or the students studying in University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) coming from various part of the world with different cultural background (Network, University 2018). The idea of collecting the information about this group of people is to understand the reason why these people planned to study in UNL. What are the reasons that made them to select this University and the way the culture of Nebraska impacts their own culture. A detailed analysis or ethnography of the people study in the University of Nebraska-Lincoln will be carried on in this study.

The research involves collection of both primary and secondary research and both qualitative and quantitative research. For the secondary research the information regarding the culture of the people of Nebraska and those of the people from other parts of the world. In order to understand how the culture of a place actually affects the lifestyle of the people belonging to another place, several theories and concepts have been used (Mackey et al. 2015). As for the collected secondary data from the various sources, positivism research philosophy has been used that has helped to understand the theories and concepts in a logical way and thus, helped in interpreting the outcome properly. Moreover, deductive research approach has been used as with the help of cultural models and theories, it has been able to evaluate the study properly. Again, an analytical research design has been used that helped in understanding the concept in a detailed manner (Mackey et al. 2015). However, for the research strategy, the survey method was preferred in order to reach out the people from different cultural background personally and to understand their point of view in regard to the difference in their culture.

Methodology

The study focused on the difference in the culture of Nebraska and that of the culture of Asia. It has been found that there are many candidates from Asian countries, especially from China, Singapore, Malaysia and India. Thus, the survey has been conducted among few Asian students of Nebraska. For the survey, non-probability sampling technique was selected as the participants have to be the ones who have studied in the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (Flick 2015). Primarily, it was expected that about 10 students will be interviewed in order to understand their cultural perspective. However, at the time of conducting the survey, it happened that only 3 of the participants responded properly. These three participants were from China and they were friends. A set of questions was prepared and these people were asked to participate in the survey and share their experience. After the survey result was collected, a thematic approach was taken and the outcome of the survey has been discussed in the analysis and interpretation section. It has also been found that the outcome result of the survey from the three participants were more or less similar; the reason could be because of them belonging to the same country and same cultural background.

Reading Lewis (2017) it has been found that the culture of Nebraska is basically defined by the music, sports, community and the local cuisine that the people of this region follow. The region can be well related to how early Europeans explored the North America. The place in inhabited by the Native American tribes like the Pawnee, Lakota and the Omaha who are considered as the first settlers of this region. According to Kathuria et al. (2018), Nebraska has always been a travel destination and has attracted people from various parts of the world to visit the place. People have also preferred to stay here for a longer period of time. However, the place is still dominant as a rural state with a little international chic. It was in 1891 when US government placed its foothold and brought a wave of settlers to the place (Lewis 2017). The place is mainly considered as a rural region but it was when the settlers encouraged the growing of the crops and the ploughing of the soil, the state evident a mass migration and a group of settlers placed here.

                         

                                      Fig: Country comparison according to Hofstede’s cultural dimension

Results and Discussion

                                                                   (Source: Hofstede-insights.com)

According to the Hofstede’s cultural dimension, the effect of a society’s culture or the values that the members of a country follow depends of certain factors. These factors are individualism-collectivism, uncertainty avoidance, power distance and the masculinity-femininity. The power-distance facts showed that the individuals in the society are not equal and there is a strong dissimilarity between the attitude and the culture of the people between different countries. As stated by Ovchinnikov and Lyubov (2016), people of China believes that the inequalities in the society is acceptable and at the same time, the individuals of US expresses that all the people in the society are not equal and the culture is definitely affected by the power of the inequalities. Considering individualism, the culture of the people of China is to look after themselves and on the immediate family members. IT is only in some cases, other families or groups can get preference in the treatment (Bravo et al. 2017). Similarly, it has been found that people of US follows a high degree of interdependence to maintain a high degree of interdependence among the close members of the family or the society. Masculinity shows the dimension that a society is run by the means of competition, achievement and the success, and this is only motivates them to grow further in their field. People of China are success oriented and they sacrifice their leisure time in order to prove themselves capable of any work (Zheng et al. 2017). In the US, the behaviour and the success pattern in every field is easily reflected on the fact on how competitive they are and how much value being proving them that they are better than the other.

As per the Uncertainty avoidance, it is believed that the way the society will deal with the facts of the future can never be known. In this factor both China and US scores low. It has been found that the Chinese remain in ambiguity and they always follow the law and regulations that are meant for them to follow. Similarly, the people of US understand that their behaviour will going to impact on the society and thus, they remain cautious towards their part of activities (Bravo et al. 20017). People of both China and US want to maintain a pragmatic relationship with others and thus to maintain a long term orientation with the people in the society. The degree to which the small children are socialised that confronts humanity is terms as the indulgence. It has been found that the Chinese have a low score here and they tend to spend less leisure time with their children in order to socialise more. At the same time, US also show a less control towards the children and the children are more restrained or indulged in regular activities rather than getting strict towards their children (Quanhong and Chang 2017).

Conclusion

On the basis of the various findings from both the secondary and the primary research data, it can be said that both the Asians as well has the people of Nebraska have a unique resemblance towards the culture that resulted in the creation of a unique culture in University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL). This forms the thesis of the study. After conducting the survey among the three participants from China, it has been found that they are more likely to catch up with the people of Nebraska as there is a similarity between their cultural and the culture of Nebraska (Tubadji et al. 2015). As identified from the Hofstede’s cultural dimension that the scores in each parameter are more or less similar and thus, there is a high chance that there will be similarity between the cultures of the two countries (Quanhong and Chang 2017). In fact, when it was asked on how their productivity and the performance is improved as there is a similarity in the culture, it has been found that people can actually share their feelings and can relate themselves well with the people of Nebraska and thus, it do not becomes difficult for them to collaborate or be with each other.

From the primary survey, it has been found that the participants were not at all unaware of the culture of Nebraska and thus, there was indeed a hope that their cultural preferences would match and they can be able to relate each other properly. It is only when there is a strong bonding among the people due to the similarity in their culture that they were able to perform together in groups. On the contrary, it can also be said that if there would not be any kind of similarity between the people, it would become very difficult for them to work or study together.

Conclusion

With the detailed analysis, it can be easily said that the objective to understand why people of different parts of the world come to study in Nebraska and the reason behind their preference is quite clear. As from the collected data from the group of Chinese respondents, it has been clear that they find a good resemblance of their culture with the culture of the people of Nebraska and this is the most appropriate reason behind the success rate of the people studying in Nebraska.  To add, it has to be pointed that in order to be at a same place for a longer duration of time, it is indeed important that there would be similarity in the culture of the people. Studying and analysing about the culture of the people in account, it has helped to widen my knowledge on the cultural anthropology that would definitely help me in future both in personal and professional life.

Reference list

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