toptermpaper.com

Qualitative research can be defined as, ‘A multi-method in focus, involving an interpretive, naturalistic approach to its subject matter. This means that qualitative researchers study things in their natural settings, attempting to make sense of or interpret phenomena in terms of the meanings people bring to them. Qualitative research involves the studied use and collection of a variety of empirical materials case study, personal experience, introspective, life story interview, observational, historical, interactional, and visual texts-that describe routine and problematic moments and meaning in individuals’ lives’ (Denzin and Lincoln, 1994). Qualitative research emphasizes qualities of entities – the processes and meanings that occur naturally (Denzin & Lincoln, 2000).

Qualitative research methods have for many years made a significant contribution to management research. In this essay, I critically evaluate Gephart’s paper on qualitative research, where he writes pertaining to traditional research methods such as positivism and post positivism, interpretive research and critical postmodernism. In the second part of the essay, I evaluate David Silverman’s “On Finding and Manufacturing Qualitative Data” from the book “A Very Short, Fairly Interesting and Reasonably Cheap Book about Qualitative Research” where his methodology merges with the two methods highlighted in Gephart’s paper.

Gephart in his paper brings to light three main research traditions used in management research. They are positivism and postpositivism, interpretive research and critical post modernism, which have evolved from the behaviourist and cognitive perspectives of qualitative research. In this part of the essay I shall give an overview about the three research traditions and the distinctions between them.

Positivist and post positivist research traditions arise from the behaviourist perspective of qualitative research which is based on the knowledge of consistent relationships. The term “positivism” was first introduced by Auguste Comte, “Our doctrine is one which renders hypocrisy and oppression alike impossible. And it now stands forward as the result of all the efforts of the past, for the regeneration of order, which, whether considered individually or socially, is so deeply compromised by the anarchy of the present time. It establishes a fundamental principle by which true philosophy and sound polity are brought into correlation; a principle which can be felt as well as proved, and which is at once the keystone of a system and a basis of government.” (Auguste Comte, 1798-1857).

A major tenet of logical positivism is its “thesis of the unity of science” (Hempel, 1969 & Kolakowski, 1968). In its broadest sense, positivism is a position that holds the goal of knowledge. In a positivist view of the world, science is seen as the way to get at truth, to understand the world well enough to predict and control it. In other words, Positivism assumes an a priori (truth) which is discoverable through methodical, rigorous, careful observation that can be proven through testable and repeatable methodologies.

A post-positivist might begin by recognizing that the way scientists think and work and the way people think in their everyday life are not distinctly different. It can be defined as, non-foundational approach to human knowledge that rejects the view that knowledge is erected on absolutely secure foundation” for there are not such things; Post-positivists accept fallibilism (the philosophical doctrine that absolute knowledge is impossible) as an unavoidable fact of life (Phillips & Burbules, 2000). It is characterized by a more nuanced belief in an ontologically realist “out there” reality that can only be known within some level of probability (Groat & Wang, 2002). Additionally, Post-positivists concede that the “experimental methodologies employed in the natural sciences are often inappropriate for research involving people” (Groat & Wang, 2002). Within Post-positivist methodologies, the researcher is autonomous from the subject of inquiry, objectivity is important, and the inquirer manipulates and observes in a dispassionate, objective manner. This perspective assumes modified experimental, manipulative methodologies that can include both qualitative and quantitative practices (Denzin & Lincoln, 2003). Positivism and post-positivism are almost similar, the only difference is, Post-positivism takes into account the criticisms against and weakness of the rigidity of positivism, and now informs much contemporary social science research, including reality-oriented qualitative inquiry (Patton, 1990).

Interpretive research tradition arises from the cognitive perspective of qualitative research which is based on shared understanding and awareness of multiple social and organisational realities. The foundation assumption for interpretive research is that knowledge is gained or at least filtered, through social constructions such as language, consciousness, and shared meanings (Klein & Myers, 1999). In addition to the emphasis on the socially constructed nature of reality, interpretive research acknowledges the intimate relationship between the researcher and what is being explored, and the situational constraints shaping this process. Interpretive research traditions take the position that humans are social animals that live in societies and as such investigate and interpret lived experience and their inter subjective realities (Bruce H. Rowlands, 2005). Interpretive researchers thus attempt to understand phenomena through accessing the meanings participants assign to them (Orlikowski & Baroudi, 1991). Unlike atoms, molecules and electrons, people create and attach their own meanings to the world around them and to the behaviour that they manifest in that world (Schutz, 1973). Interpretive studies assume that people create and associate their own subjective and inter-subjective meanings as they interact with the world around them.

Positivism and Interpretive research can be distinguished as objective versus subjective (Burrell & Morgan, 1979), nomothetic versus idiographic (Luthans & Davis, 1982), quantitative versus qualitative (Van Maanen, 1979), outsider versus insider (Evered & Louis, 1981), and etic versus emic (Morey & Luthans, 1984).

Critical postmodernism transcends mere description or reconstructs reality and derives meaning from situations through its critical approach. Critical postmodern theory is about the play of differences of micro political movements and impulses of ecology, feminism, multiculturalism, and spirituality without any unifying demand for theoretical integration or methodological consistency (Boje, Fitzgibbons & Steingard, 1996). Critical postmodern is definable as the nexus of critical theory, post colonialism, critical pedagogy and postmodern theory (Boje, 2001). Critical postmodern theory is a way to get a clearer understanding of the relation between modern and postmodern, and take a Deleuzian journey into the middle of the hybridity of pre-modern, modern, and postmodern (Boje, 1995). Critical postmodern spatial theory privileges the lived spatialities of left-margined communities as sites of socio-spatial critique. A postmodern identity politics enacts critical postmodern spatial theory by nurturing the development of, and solidarity between, ‘counter publics’, which are subaltern community spaces where private spatialities of alienation are brought to public discourse (Allen, 1999).This tradition is focused on how meanings and reality are shaped over time and seeks to uncover and understand the historical evolution of these meanings, practices, contradictions and expose hidden inequalities in societies.

The five distinguishing characteristics of the three research traditions (i) positivism and post positivism (ii) interpretive research and (iii) critical postmodernism, are as follows.

First is in terms of the underlying assumptions about reality. Positivism and postpositivism adheres to realism and rely on the assumption of an objective world external to the mind that is mirrored by scientific data and theories; interpretive approach proceeds through the advocacy of relativism with investigation proceeding with data derived from interlinking contextual realities so that data holds both objective and subjective characters; while critical postmodernism adheres to historical realism or the assumption that material or symbolic reality comprised by multidimensional values that crystallizes over time so that the investigation involves the collection of objective and subjective data.

Second is in terms of the goal of the investigation. Positivism and post-positivism proceeds with the goal of discovering truths, interpretive research is in line with the goal of describing and understanding of meanings, and critical postmodernism is guided by the goal to uncover hidden interests and contradictions in order to arrive at criticisms that in turn facilitate change.

Third is in terms of the tasks involved in the investigation. Positivism and postpositivism involves the identification, explanation and control of variables directed towards the verification of hypothesis or non-falsified hypotheses, interpretive research applies through producing descriptions of members’ meaning and definitions of situation in order to have a clear understanding of the manner that reality is constructed, while critical postmodernism involves the task of determining insights from the structures of relationships and historical changes that reveal contradictions.

Fourth is in relation to the unit of analysis of the research traditions. Positivism and postpositivism utilises variables as the core unit of analysis, interpretive research focuses on verbal and non verbal actions, while critical postmodernism centres on contradictions, criticism, signs and symbolism as key elements of the research. Variables become the core unit of analyses because of their objective reality. Verbal and non verbal are the units of analyses in interpretive research because of their subjective nature. Conflict, criticism and symbolism are the core unit of analyses of postmodernism because these elements appropriately capture historical realism.

Fifth is with regard to the focus of the methods. Positivism and postpositivism involves the discovery of facts and the comparison of these facts with predefined hypothesis or propositions, ‘interpretive research does not predefine dependent or independent variables, does not set out to test hypotheses, but aims to produce an understanding of the social context of the phenomenon and the process whereby the phenomenon influences and is influenced by the social context’ (Walsham, 1995), while critical postmodernism involves the derivation and understanding of historical evolution of meanings, conflicts and inequities evolving through time as the method of data gathering and analyses.

Since positivism and post positivism involve objective reality, the methods that apply in these research are those useful in gathering facts while methods able to derive meaning appropriately applies to interpretive research and critical postmodernism because these should be able to capture subjective realities in order to derive meaning.

Over the last generation there has been a shift in qualitative methods, from a scientist-oriented research, toward a more dynamic representational strategy .Beginning in the late 19th century, Antipositivism was perhaps the first movement to challenge the rigid nature of dominant Positivism. Early Antipositivists like Wilhelm Dilthey (1833-1911), Heinrich Rickert (1863-1936) and later, Max Weber (1864-1920), addresses the Positivist failure to “appreciate the fundamental experience of life, and instead favour physical and mental regularities, neglecting the meaningful experience that was really the defining characteristic of human phenomena”. Adorno, 1969 (cited in Fuchs. C & Sandoval. M., ‘Positivism, Postmodernism, or Critical Theory? : A Case Study of Communications Students’ Understanding of Criticism) stresses that positivism is only oriented on appearance, whereas critical theory stresses the difference between essence and appearance. Above all, critical theory, poststructuralism, and postmodernism are effective as critiques of positivism, interrogating taken-for-granted assumptions about the ways in which people write and read science (Stockman, 1984). Such opinions against positivism lead to a breakthrough from positivism to other research traditions such as interpretive research and critical postmodernism which meet the needs of current researchers.

In contradiction to Gephart, Silverman takes a rather interpretive and critical postmodernist stance when writing his piece about manufactured data and found data. Silverman in his paper uses Sack’s insights to support the positive things that can be learnt through observations (found data) and the critique view on the use of interview data (manufactured data). He also states that researchers prefer to manufacture data using artificial research settings such as interviews and focus group which use pre-determined research questions. Manufacture of data to answer a specified research problem is precisely the method which quantitative or positivist researchers prefer as explained by Gephart. Alternatively, naturally occurring (found) data arises from being aware that the research situation is not straight forward as eliciting data from interviews. Indeed collecting data through reading, looking, listening, facial expressions, sights, sounds, smells etc are taken into account. It provides a broader perspective of the research problem in hand when compared to manufactured data.

Data manufactured through interview talk is approached with very different expectations, this can be explained by, The meaning of an answer is not a straightforward matter of external or internal reference, but also depends on the local and broader discursive system in which the utterance is embedded (Wetherell & Potter, 1988). Positivist might interpret interviews in a different manner when compared to interpretive and critical postmodernist.

Positivist researchers believe that their research methods and data mirror reality. The positivist researcher might strive to discover objectively the truth hidden in the subject’s mind, ‘Rather than an interviewee providing prepared/manufactured responses to standard questions designed to be unbiased and neutral, we strive to engage in social construction of a narrative with our participants. In this way we hope to activate the respondent’s ‘stock of knowledge”. (Richie and Rigano, 2001: 744, cited in ‘Post-Positivist Approaches To Research : Anne B Ryan). ‘We regard ourselves as people who conduct research among other people, learning with them, rather than conducting research on them (Wolcott, 1990). ‘Researchers don’t ask themselves ‘is this the truth?’ Rather, we talk about the issues raised during the interviews, the participants’ reactions, and our interpretations of these interwoven ideas. In this context, it seems right to open up the interpretive discussions [to our respondents], not for them to confirm or disconfirm them, but to share our thinking and how the ideas might be used.’ (Richie and Rigano, 2001: 752, cited in ‘Post-Positivist Approaches To Research : Anne B Ryan)

Use of manufactured data in qualitative research might make the respondent bias his result, as stated by Crotty (1998) Leading to the epistemological idea that the very act of observation causes a particle to behave differently. Sacks states that, we can treat what people say as an account which positions itself in a particular context. Here the researcher is viewing what people say as an activity awaiting analysis, thus the researcher’s interpretations play a key role in manufacturing data. Bringing “such subjectivity to the fore, backed with quality arguments rather than statistical exactness” (Garcia & Quek, 1997).

Many researchers have criticized the use of manufactured data in qualitative research, which is the positivist view as stated by Gephart and the greater use of naturally occurring data or found data which is the interpretivistic approach. The Dead Social Scientist Test describes manufactured data as, ‘The test is whether the interaction would have taken place in the form that it did had the researcher not been born or if the researcher had got run over on the way to the university that morning'(Potter, 1996). In all research, the choice of data depends on the research problem. “Equally, there is no question that all polarities should be investigated – particularly where, as here, they involve an appeal to ‘nature” (Speer 2002). As Kuhn (1964) stated in his publication ‘The structure of Scientific Knowledge’, scientists work withinaa‚¬”and are constrained byaa‚¬”prevailing “paradigms” while questioning the “alleged objectivity and value-free neutrality of scientific discovery”.

Interpretive approach is synonymous with ethnography. “Doing ethnography” is doing an interpretation of the behaviour of human subjects in their local settings. Interpretivistic do not reject the concept of a “real world” out there but presented the “reality” which mattered most and they try to understand the respondents response in their own terms. Researchers are the measuring instruments and their understanding will derive from personal experience rather than manipulation of variables, as Hirschman(1986) puts it, personally experienced knowledge serves as scientific data. Reality has to be constructed through the researcher’s interpretation and ability to communicate the respondent’s reality; hence the researcher has to be a part of the research to conduct a successful research. Qualitative researchers can access naturally occurring data by finding everyday features in extraordinary settings, this is an interpretive approach.

Naturally occurring data can serve as a wonderful basis for theorizing about things that the researcher would never imagine. What ordinarily happens in the world around us means ‘we can start with things that are not currently imaginable, by showing that they happened’ (Sacks, 1992). Sanday (1979) states that, empathy and identification with the observed people are needed to go about the understanding held by the human subjects. Geertz says that, the trick is not to get yourself into some inner correspondence with your informants. The researcher uses ethnography and manages to interpret an individual behaviour in such a way that it no longer appears to be absurd but appears rational. A successful interpretation is one which makes clear the meaning originally present in a confused, fragmented, cloudy form.. what is initially strange, mystifying, puzzling, contradictory (for the researcher) is no longer so, is accounted for (Taylor, 1979).

As stated by Potter (2002), naturally occurring data opens up a wide variety of novel issues that are outside the prior expectations embedded in interview questions. In addition to the interpretive approach through the critical approach, the researcher is able to delve into the determination of differential characteristics, nature of conflict, aspects underlying differences and conflicts, and consequences of differences and conflict which help to address the issues that arise in naturally occurring data. With these types of information derived through the application of critical postmodernist tradition, the investigative approach is able to assess data and explain reasons for these differences and conflicts that in turn catalyses the determination of solutions that leads to eventual change.

It can be supported as with the following evidence. Critical postmodern theory is a way to get a clearer understanding of the relation between modern and postmodern, and take a Deleuzian journey into the middle of the hybridity of pre-modern, modern, and postmodern (Boje, 1995). A critical postmodern project can move us beyond exploitation, racism, sexism, and abuse by reframing and restoring organization theory away from its patriarchal lingo in order to reaffirm social justice, equality, democracy, and the wonders of multiplicity (Boje, 1995: 1004). In a critical postmodern theory, such as Tamara, we can explore the ‘micro-practices’ of organizational life, as well as contextualize the stories of the marginal Other, within the workings of a post-industrial supply and distribution chain addicted to sweatshops, and the cover-stories produced and distributed by the postmodern storytelling organizations that turn out consumer identities and spectacles for mass consumption (Boje, 1995: 998-2). On the plus side, there is always resistance to the forces of global and individual domination and exploitation that stem from the strange hybridity of premodern, modern, and postmodern organizing amalgams. Ultimately, the criticism provides insights into historical events to catalyse change that should be for the betterment of relationships and systems.

It can be summarised that good qualitative research is difficult and challenging to undertake. Data manufactured through artificial research settings such as interviews and focus groups restricts the information available to the researcher and it also leads to biased results since the respondent is aware of the researcher’s need. The positivist researcher might strive to manufacture data by discovering objectively the truth hidden in the subject’s mind; while interpretivist tries to collect naturally occurring data by understanding the respondent’s response in their own terms. Reality has to be constructed through the researcher’s interpretation and ability to communicate the respondent’s reality; hence as Silverman states the researcher has to be a part of the research to conduct a successful research.

Thus naturally occurring data (interpretivist) is more suitable for qualitative research than manufactured data (positivist) because,

Naturally occurring data does not flood the research setting with the researcher’s own categories (embedded in questions, probes, stimuli, vignette and so on)
It does not put people on the position of disinterested experts on their own and others’ practices and thoughts.
It does not leave the researcher does not leave the researcher to make a range of more or else problematic inferences from the data collection arena to topic as the topic itself is directly studied.
It opens a wide variety of novel issues that are outside the prior expectations embedded in, say, interview questions.
It is a rich record of peoples living their lives, pursuing goals, managing institutional tasks and so on. (Potter,2002)

Ultimately the type of data used in qualitative research depends on the research topic hence researchers prefer to combine and test their observations by asking questions from the research sample.

REFERENCES
Journal Articles:
Agger.B., 1991. Critical Theory, Poststructuralism, Postmodernism: Their Sociological Relevance. Annual Review Social, 17, pp.105-31.
Allen S. Lee.,1991. Integrating Positivist and Interpretive Approaches to Organizational Research, Organization Science, 2(4), pp.342-365.
Boje, D. M., 1995. Stories of the Storytelling Organization:A postmodern analysis of Disney as “Tamara-Land.” Academy of Management Journal, 38(4), pp.997-1035.
Boje, D. M., Fitzgibbons, D. E., & Steingard, D. S., 1996. Storytelling at Administrative Science Quarterly: Warding off the postmodern barbarians. pp. 60-92.
Boje, D. M., 2001c. Tamara Manifesto. Tamara: Journal of Critical Postmodern Organization Science (Online). 1, pp.15-24. Available online at: http://www.zianet.com/boje /tamara
Boje . D. M., 2001. Carnivalesque Resistance To Global Spectacle: A Critical Postmodern Theory Of Public Administration. Administrative Theory & Praxis, 23(3), pp.431-458.
Evered, Roger. & Meryl R. Louis., 1981. Alternative Perspectives in the Organizational Sciences: ‘Inquiry from the Inside’ and ‘Inquiry from the Outside’. Academy of Management Review, 6(3), pp.385-395.
Fischer. F., 1998. Beyond Empiricism: Policy Inquiry In Postpositivist Perspective. Studies Journal, 26(1), pp.129-146.
Fuchs.C. & Sandoval. M., Positivism, Postmodernism, or Critical Theory? A Case Study of Communications Students’ Understandings of Criticism. Journal for Critical Education Policy Studies, 6(2).
Gephart R., 2004. Qualitative Research and the Academy of Management Journal. Academy of Management Journal, 47(4), pp.454-462.
Hirschman, E., 1986. Humanistic inquiry in marketing research: philosophy, method, and criteria. Journal of Marketing Research, 23, pp.236-49.
Johnson.P et al., 2006. Evaluating qualitative management research: Towards a contingent criteriology. International Journal of Management Review, 8(3), pp.131-156.
Klein, H. & Myers, M., 1999. A Set of Principals for Conducting and Evaluating Interpretive Field Studies in Information Systems. MIS Quarterly, 23(1), pp.67-94.
Luthans, Fred. & Tim R. V. Davis., 1982. An Idiographic Approach to Organizational Behaviour Research: The Use of Single Case Experimental Designs and Direct Measure. Academy of Management Review, 7(3), pp.380-391.
Morey, Nancy C. & Fred Luthans., 1984. An Idiographic Approach to Organizational Research. Academy of Management Review, 9(1), pp.27-36.
Orlikowski, W.J. & Baroudi, J.J., Studying Information Technology in Organizations: Research Approaches and Assumptions. Information Systems Research, 2, pp.1-28
Potter, J., 2002. Two kinds of natural. Discourse Studies, 4 (4), pp.539-42.
Rowlands. B., 2005. Grounded in Practice: Using Interpretive Research to Build Theory. The Electronic Journal of Business Research Methodology, 3(1), pp.81-92. Available online at, www.ejbrm.com.
Sanday, Peggy R., 1979. The Ethnographic Paradigm(s). Administrative Science Quarterly, 24(2), pp.527-538.
Sanna Talja., 1999. Analyzing Qualitative Interview Data: The Discourse Analytic Method University of Tamper, Library Information Science Research,21(4), pp.459-477.
Schutz, Alfred. 1973. Concept and Theory Formation in the Social Sciences. Maurice Natanson (Ed.), Collected papers, 1, The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, pp48-66.
Speer, S., 2002 ‘Natural’ and ‘contrived’ data: a sustainable distinction?. Discourse Studies, 4 (4), pp.511-25.
Szmigin, I. & Foxall,. G., 2000. Interpretive Consumer Research: how far have we come?, Qualitative Market Research: An International Journal, 3(4), pp.187-197.
Van Maanen, John., 1979. Reclaiming Qualitative Methods for Organizational Research : A Preface. Administrative Science Quarterly, 24(4), pp.520-526.
Walsham, G., 1995. Interpretive Case Studies in IS Research: Nature and Method. European Journal of Information Systems, 4(2), pp.74-81.
BOOKS:
Burrell, Gibson. & Gareth, Morgan., 1979. Sociological Paradigms and Organisational Analysis. London: Heinemann
Crotty, M., 1998. The Foundations of Social Research: Meaning and Perspective in the Research Process. London: Sage Publications.
Denzin, N. & Lincoln, Y. S., 1994. Introduction : Entering the field of qualitative research. In N. K. Denzin & Y. W. Lincoln (Eds.), Handbook of qualitative research: 1-17. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Denzin. N. K. & Lincoln, Y. S., 2000. Introduction: The discipline and practice of qualitative research. In N. K. Denzin & Y. S. Lincoln (Eds), Handbook of qualitative research. 2nd ed.: 1-28. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Denzin, Norman., & Guba Lincoln., 2003. “Paradigmatic Controversies, Contradictions and Emerging Influences” in The Landscape of Qualitative Research: Theories and Issues. London: Sage Publications.
Geertz, Clifford., 1983. ‘From the Native’s point of View’ : On the Nature of Anthropological Understanding. In C. Geertz (Eds.), The Legacy of Logical Positivism, Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins Press, pp.57-84.
Garcia, L. & Quek, F., 1997. Qualitative research in information systems: time to be subjective?, in A.S. Lee, J. Liebenau and J.I. DeGross, eds. Information systems and qualitative research. London: Chapman and Hall, pp .459.
Groat, Linda., & David Wang., 2002. Architectural Research Methods. New York, NY: Wiley.
Hempel, Carl G., 1969. Logical Positivism and the Social Sciences. In P. Achinstein & S. Barker (Eds.), The Legacy of Logical Positivism, Baltimre, MD: John Hopkins Press, 57-84
Kolakowski, L., 1968. The Alienation of Reason: A History of Positivist Though. Garden City, NY: Doubleday.
Little John. D.,2007. Theoretical perspectives in Pedagogical Practice: Applying Post-positivism and Activity Theory in Today’s Technologically Mediated design Education.
Patton, Michael, Q., 2002. Qualitative Research & Evaluation Methods. Newbury Park: Sage Publications, 3rd Edition.
Phillips, D. & Burbules, N., 2000. Post-positivism and Educational Research. Lanham, MA: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Potter, J., 1996. Discourse analysis and constructionist approaches: theoretical background. In J.Richardson (ed.) Handbook of Qualitative Research Methods for Psychology and the Social Sciences. Leicester, BPS Books, pp.125-140.
Sacks, H., 1992. Lectures on Conversation, edited by Gail Jefferson with an Introduction by Emmanuel Schegloff, Blackwell, Oxford, 2.
Silverman, D., 2007. A Very Short, Fairly Interesting and Reasonably Cheap Book about Qualitative Research. London: Sage. Pp.37-60.
Stockman, N., 1984. Antipositivist Theories of the Sciences. Dordrecht: D. Reidel Turner, B. S . , ed. 1990. Theories o/Modernity and Postmodernity . Newbury Park, Calif: Sage
Taylor, Charles., 1979. Interpretation and the Sciences of Man., R. Rabinow & W. Sullivan (Eds.), Interpretive Social Science, Berkeley and Los Angeles, CA: University of California Press, pp.25-71.
Wetherell, M. & Potter, J., 1988. Discourse analysis and the identification of interpretive repertoires. In: Antaki, Charles Editor. 1988. Analysing everyday experience: A casebook of methods Sage, London, England, pp. 168-183.
Wolcott,H.F., 1990. Writing up qualitative research. Sage publications, 20.
ONLINE ARTICLES:
Anne. B .R., Post- Positivist Approaches To Research. http://eprints.nuim.ie/874/1/post-positivist_approaches_to_research.pdf
Boje.D., 2001. What is Critical Postmodern Theory? http://business.nmsu.edu/~dboje/pages/what_is_critical_postmodern.htm
Trochim. W., Positivism & Post-Positivism www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/positvsm.php

‘Marx believed that our society was in a state of continual conflict between the working class and upper class, evaluate the Marxist theory of social class using Functionalism, Weberian, and postmodern theories of class’.

Social Stratification is the way society puts people into certain categories based upon a system of hierarchy. This system has continued over generations, those who are born into a more wealthy family are believed to have more of a chance of receiving better health and education, having a head start, over society, that remains in the lower part of wealth. Inequality follows generation to generation.

Class system allocates a person by sex, colour, or by social background. Stratification is a form of meritocracy, how well one does relates to how one is rewarded. Do we necessarily need this form of division into day’s society, as today’s society provides equal opportunities? Some sociologist insists even in today’s society we need this division.

According to Marx believe that all of our history has always been a history of class struggle, this struggle they say came about at the end of the hunting and gathering society as industry began to evolve. Marxist theory is that that class struggle has shown through ancient stavey Feudalism and capitlism. Class is the product of the mode of production of a society. The mode of production is made up from the relationship between the means of production and that of social production. The means of production is that of landowners and machinery, [bourgeoisie] and that raw materials and labour belong to the poor the [proletariats].

The social relationship of Marxism refers to this as that of economics between rich and poor. This theory is based purely upon economics of wealth. The driving force in nearly all of society is the conflict between the rich and the poor. [Marx &Angles 1970]

Marx has been accused of being a determinist and a reductionist. Many things are not related purely on economics, his perception of the class system neglects to include the petty – bourgeoisie, those who own small businesses and only employ themselves. He did not foresee the improvements of living standards for all of society or the impact of the middle class. He did not include countries such as Russia and China who might revolt and denounce communism. He did not foresee the fact that our society is a democratic one and that all have the right to equality and farness. Nor did he predict nor could he have done that western society would become a very wealthy one.

Marx’s perception on Marxism was not what he wanted; he suggests that capitalism is the newest type of class and that it will also be the last. Eventually he says it will be replaced by a communist society in which the means of production will be communally owned. As the bourgeoisie use the superstructure of advertising and along with politics and education to suppress. The proletariats by creating false class consciousness the transmission to communism will not evolve until class consciousness develops.

Weberianisms [Weber 1947] Max Weber’s theory on class status sees this as separate but related source of power which in turn has separate but related affects on people’s life chances. He defines class in terms of market positions, in their positions and of their skills and qualifications he also recognises that the working class have a range of chances to better themselves. Webber’s theory indicates that a person’s inequality comes from class inequality.

This theory is based upon a person’s occupation and how high they are, in general a higher occupation gains a higher social standing. He also recognises that it is possible to achieve a higher status via other routes such as, race, gender, religion or through politics. He also indicates that some status was linked to consumption style in as much as designer clothes posh cars bigger houses. Unlike Marx, Webber recognises a three tier class structure

[1] class-economic relationship

[2] status-perceived status

[3] party-third dimension political power.

Webber defined social class into four clusters of occupation.

[1] privileged [property & education]

[2] Petty bourgeoisies [self-employed & managers]

[3] White collar workers &technicians [lwc]

[4] Manual workers [wc]

Webber did influence the way in which class is operationalised [Goldthorpe scale and the NS-SEC scale] He states that the differences in status prevents the different classes banding together for a revolution as they have no common identity. In Webbers theory he puts status above class.

Marx’s theory on the inevitability of class conflict determinant of inequality has some input into Weber’s theory as he states that class are economic categories organised around things such as homes and businesses. He does indicate that it should recognise occupations skills as there is a chance to make life chances among the working and middle classes. Weber however did influence the way in which class is operationalised in as much as the Goldthorpe scales and the NS.SEC scales, he states that the differences in status prevent different classes banding together for a revolution as they have no common identity. Weber puts status of groups above that of class status.

This is a census theory based upon each part is interrelated learning, leading to equilibrium. Individuals can fulfil their rightful occupations according to their education and skills. Functionalism believes that we live in a shared culture. Functionalism believes that this is a fair and just way. Their theory argues that stratification and inequality equal a positive function for society, and that stratification is a big contributor to our social order. All of society needs to ensure that the most senior positions are filled by those who have the education and skills knowledge and efficiency to perform these rolls

Davis & Moore: some principles of stratification [1945]

This theory started with observations that stratification exists in all human societies; therefore it is a universal picture of human society, just as much as religion and of crime. This they infer it must be functional.

“A device in which society ensures that the most important positions are conscientiously filled by the most qualified persons”

Functionalist’s theory is based on meritocracy and that its function is:

[1] Income based.

[2] Occupation.

[3] High and low achievements.

[4] Education.

Functionalist says that we all have the opportunity to climb the ladder, based upon our achievements. As this theory is based on rewards higher jobs equal higher rewards, but it has been shown that not all jobs are based upon knowledge and labour intensive and the rewards are not just. Some would argue that gaining the extra education to fulfil many job criteria is an achievement and reward in its self. Employment can be inherited or bought, education and skill is not questioned.

Functionalists seemed to have misplaced those who gain a higher position without necessarily having the qualifications or skills need to perform efficiently, as they have either inherited the position from a family member, or they have bought into that position. There are dysfunctions of stratification that have been overlooked; these includes the elderly, the poor [unemployed] and those who have disability and health problems. All of whom have a right to be recognised and included in society. This theory seems to be in line with that of Marx’s and Weber’s theory and it benefits those who are already on the top of the ladder and puts obstacles in the way of others.

Post – Modernists sociologists take the view that with the decline of our manufacturing and engineering building it is the media and culture that is now our main economic consideration. As the media’s coverage is worldwide so they shape our relationship with society. [Baudrillard 1993] states that for him the world is incapable of truth, unable to see reality from fiction.

Towler [1996] identifies two issues that can be associated with postmodernism. He states that it’s a society that follows after modern societies, which he says is now information rich globally and we now have many sub=groups and cultures. His second issue is that it’s a way of knowing the world which questions the Nature of truth.

Strinatr [1992] Postmodernism works to come to terms with a media -saturated society

Kaplan [1987] identifies pop and rock videos as examples of post-modernist culture as they have no notion of narrative structure.

Paluski & Walters [1996] have argued that the class structure no longer exist as social change has evolved, such as globalisation. This they say means that class divisions have now become status divisions.

Post-modernist theory believes in a social order in which the importance and the strength of media and of culture govern and shape forms of social relationships. They suggest that media plays such an important role in our society that we are controlled by what we see and hear; we clothe ourselves accordingly and buy homes suggested by media interpretation.

This theory bases its ideas on the principle that society can no long be truthful, and that are unable to tell the difference of reality from fiction. We as societies are now conditioned to the point of doing what the media say are the norm. They say that capitalist or industrial societies have reached a new stage in our development that we have moved from being a modernist society to a post-modernist society. [Featherstone1991]. As this is a reasonably new theory there is not much information to really come to a formed conclusion.

This theory is relatively unfair and bias towards the rich, but because of false class consciousness taught at an early age and the media it is not looked upon as unfair. The lower end of society is taught that capitalism is a fair and natural cause to follow. This theory is based on a two tier system and capitalist so it’s know as a conflict theory, as it causes conflicts between master and slave relationship. This theory produces unequal social relations and that makes it also an exploited motion. This theory does not differentiate between gender, ethnicity, sexuality and age. The one good thing that did come from Marx was his theory was the communist revolution of countries like Russia and China, it’s been said that Carl Marx had a bigger impact on people than that of Christ or Mohammed.

Was Marx’s theory of per petulant conflict between the proletariats and of the bourgeoisies realistic? Was he as accused, a determinist and a reductionist? Is class stratification worked out purely by economics? This Assignment has looked at four different opinions of class stratification and their theories. Studies have shown that not all class is based upon wealth, and yes conflict does occur but not to the extent of Marx’s theory. Whether he was a reductionist or a determinist is not really this writers place to comment. However feels that Marx was only looking through tunnelled vision, as he did not recognise that even the poor have rights, have a place in society. The poor’s input into society is little agreed but they have to be considered as they need to live, need to eat, need to be cared for.

Max Weber does not include the unemployed or the elderly; he did however help considerably towards the new scales of class allowing for the working class to better themselves. Weber believes that as lower class has no identity with the middle class they will not come together for revolt, he was blinded to the fact that society is human and our first instinct is to survive, and if that means a coming together of different classes for a common cause, they would.

Functionalism recognises that the working class are as valuable as the middle class allowing for furthering and developing their skills. Their theory omits the people who inherit or buy or use politics to gain wealthy jobs, and again the old and infirm are missed out.

Post-modernist view is that we are mere machines and act dress and consume what the media determines is right for this society. That we have become so overwhelmed by music, TV and media that we are unable to think for ourselves. Have we really become so besotted with artificial items we can no longer tell what is truth or lies? Can we no longer tell the difference between make believe and reality. There is no solid evidence to show that all households have a television computer or radio.

Into days society where we have humanity and respect for others does class stratification come into it. Yes we need a tiered structure to enforce peace and law otherwise the world would polarise and collapse. Does economic wealth make you better person? Are the elderly and infirm the dregs of society?

However Post modernist might just be right in today’s society of no class stratification, as people tend to place wealth on branded items, the poorest of society could perceive to be wealthier that their class standing by wearing a pair of branded trainers. Marx maybe right in saying society needs to be a capitalist one. Functionalists seem bias towards the wealth along with Marx and Weber.Whoever may be right or wrong, to be able to improve on life chances in general it is necessary to have a class structure.

Sharon Finch Sociology 22nd10 2010
REFERENCESS:
[Anon](2010)Wikipedia [online].Available from: http://en.wikipedia.org/Religious_stratification[Accessed:23rdjanuary2010]
[Anon](2010)moodle[online]from:http://moodle.northamptoncollege.ac.uk/mod/resource/view.php?id=16685
Allen, C. (2010) lecturers notes post modernist [Accessed on 21october 2010]
Allen, C. (2010) lecturers notes Weberian [Accessed on 13th October 2010]
Allen, C. (2010) lecturers notes Marxism: structural conflict theory [Accessed on 13th October 2010]
Allen, C. (2010) lecturers notes Functionalism [Accessed on 19th October 2010]
Moore, S. Et, al.2002sociology for A2. London: Harper Collins.

The principles of the Rukun Negara formulated by National Consultative Council with together headed by our second prime minister, Tun Abdul Razak at 31 August 1970. The purpose of formation of this national principles are to created unity of various race in Malaysia after the riots of different races at May 13th 1969 in Malaysia. That riots happened had proven the Malaysian racial issues and stability had fragile.

The formation of “Rukun Negara” are one of the method to overcome the racial issues between different races in Malaysia after the May 13th incidents has happened which involved hundreds of people are death in that particular incident. It happened when after election at year 1969 where Parti Tindakan Rakyat (DAP) dan Gerakan get a very good respond from the result of the election. Procession was held by them purpose for incident of one youth Chinese was killed in battle with policemen before the election was held. UMNO was felt be challenged of the result of the election although them still win the majority seats in parliament.

Datuk Harun Idris led the riots happened. Purpose of this provocative procession happened was to set fire to the spirit of nationalism of every races in Malaysia. This riots happened until the police force was unable to control the situation. Army force had to be called to help police force to control the situations.

This incidents has made all the leaders in Malaysia has realized of importance of unity issues of various races in the country. In the official report, there are totals of 493 people was injured and 196 people are reported death of that incidents. Emergency in the country was declared by our Yang Dipertua Agong, with advices from our first prime minister, Tunku Abdul Rahman based on article 150 in constitution of federal Malaysia.

The Rukun Negara can be related with several place that we visit in the trips. The first principle can related with Batu Caves and National Palaces. Batu Caves are rich with Hinduism cultural. The cultural still preserved until today that let us to enable to study and get to know the elements and everything cultural about Hinduism. National Palaces are rich with Islam religions and cultural. Inside the palaces, lot of architectures are follow Islam and mixed with Hinduism elements to build with it. Switch of the light and fans are made of gold plated, which represent the wealthy and higher class people in society.

National Museum represent the place to let all the people to access the past cultural and present cultural in Malaysia. In museum, we can access different races occupations, cultural, rituals and behavior being practice in past and until current today in Malaysia. It also show us how the life, ritual and cultural of Orang Asli in Malaysia.

Examine carefully the importance of Rukun Negara for our country; how it cultivate social structure and social organization in society.

We are admitting that Rukun Negara was important to our country in Malaysia. Rukun Negara was created to meet it’s purpose of unity of various race in Malaysia, and prevent the riots of races happened again within the country. Analysis of each elements of national principles

BELIEF IN GOD

Nation and the State was created based on a strong belief in God. It would make the sovereign country or nation thru these religions belief. The Federal Constitution declared that Islam is the official religion, but other religion and beliefs can be practiced in freedom and tranquility. Any actions discrimination against any citizen on grounds based on religion are prohibited. Pillars of the drafters of the committee recognize the importance of belief in God and religion in human life. This principle has been selected as the first principle of the Rukun Negara to recognize the importance of community members holding robustness against their teaching of religious

LOYALTY TO KING AND COUNTRY

Malaysia practices a system of constitutional monarchy and parliamentary democracy with head of state, His Majesty the King. This element means that every citizen should be devoted faithful, honest and sincere to His Majesty the Yang di-Pertuan Agong. At the state level, the citizens are required to devote loyalty to the king who ruled the land where they reside without reducing allegiance to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong.

THE SUPREMACY OF THE CONSTITUTION

This principle pressing need for people to accept, obey and defend the Constitution of the country or glory. Constitution is the highest legal source. Its function is to provide protection to every citizen of this country because of their privileges and rights as citizens in this country. The Malaysian citizens are required to respect, appreciate, and understand the history, contents and definitions of the Constitution. Constitution was drafted based on consensus of all parties and races within the country. Thus the social contract that people cannot be questioned about it and threatened by any individual or any party. Constitution of Malaysia made for determine the pattern of socio-economic and political position of the citizens in this country.

THE RULE OF LAW

Justice based on the rule of law where all citizens equal before the law in the country legally. State law based on the Constitution. Thus the need to be accepted and defended its sovereignty. Without the law, social and state life is not peaceful and stable. By the laws of the country are guaranteed by an independent judiciary and competent. Every country needs laws to regulate and create peaceful, prosperity and stability in society. The existence of the law will guarantee a life member of the community can move with freedom and orderly, without any disturbance which not threated the safety of other citizens in the country. All citizens has right to practice freely as long as no violation of the law as well as things as guaranteed by the Constitution. The freedoms right declared in the Constitution does not means citizens have the right to overthrow the current government.

COURTESY AND MORALITY

These five principles to emphasize the development of one’s personality and behavior of the people. The aim is to form citizens’ courtesy and manners in line with the campaign Courtesy and Noble Values aˆ‹aˆ‹conducted now. Individual nature of courtesy and manners are the most important and meaningful in the elements of relationships with other various races within the country. Attitude of courtesy and manners should be taught and practiced to develop the individual as well as high discipline and morality that will help create harmonious in the society. Conduct hate and condemn this behavior or act arrogant or offend any person or class. Polite behavior within the person are contains of high degree of morality in his / her life.

Importance of Rukun Negara are create unity among the different races, Chinese, Malay and Indians in Malaysia. In the national principles, it has avoid any racial issues happened between among the three main racial in the country. It was law binding for those go against with it will be arrested.

National Principles also create function as a guidance in the formation of one nation in the country regardless of religion and race. It has become important guidelines for government in Malaysia ruled the country. (Utusan Online, 2004)

National principles also creates the way of democracy life in the Malaysia nation. In the federal constitution, it was stated practice of democracy must in element for governing in nations of Malaysia. The constitution are almost same like United States. National principles also to serve purpose of the wealth in the nation shall be equitably shared among the nation. It also to ensure the liberal approach of diversity and rich of different cultural traditions within Malaysian nations. (Utusan Online, 2004)

In first elements of national principles, not one were racial, each citizens of Malaysia was respect each other cultural, traditions and religions been practice by different races. In today, we can see the effects created by the national principle in our country, Malaysia. Every races still manage to get mixed well by each other. (Utusan Online, 2004)

Different races mix well together

Second element in national principles are made the citizens in Malaysia have love and loyalty to their country and Kings. Not only that, they are expected to be love their leaders as well. In Today, although we can see Sultan are functionless in our country, but Malaysians are not going to oppose the Sultan but to love the Sultan more and respect them as there are one of the leaders in Malaysia. We can saw Malaysia are developing far behind than Singapore. But, we still love our country as we can see the specialty of Malaysia are united three races in one nation one country, which this reasons are attracted the foreign tourists come and visit to Malaysia. (Utusan Online, 2004)

Third elements in national principles enable the citizens in Malaysia live in democracy way in their country. There is freedom to practices their own rituals, cultural and also religious for each races. Every citizens have their right and own voice to protest the wrong doing in the society. Very good example are referring to “Bersih Campaign”. It is one of the democracy way for Malaysian citizens to voice out their dissatisfied with the wrong doing in past elections. (Utusan Online, 2004)

Bersih Campaign

The Law Binding were cultivate the society become more alert when they commit any illegal activity. One of the example, any drug trafficking was arrested and had been judged by court, it will received penalty as dead sentences in final.

The last principle has enabled all the citizens to build up better or superior personality which consist good moral and behavior. The superior of personality are the important elements of the development of the country. It also able to avoid any riots happened within the country among the different race. In opposite, it able to create harmony among the race for helping each other, complement each other which gave a fast lane for a country to become developed country. Crime rate also can be reduced at the same time. Hence, the Ultimate goal of Rukun Negara also can be achieved at the same time.

Different races of Bersih Activists help to save out the victim which hit by policemen car in Bersih Campaign. They eventually help policemen get out of the car after they save the victim of accident.

In my opinion, national principles have it’s importance and it have affect the Malaysian society to get united even better compared with time at post- independent. In today, we can see everyone can have different races of friend in their life. The freedom of Malaysian citizen to practice their cultural and rituals without anyone restrictions are amazing, it has attracted the different country tourists just to come and visit the Malaysia for experiencing this multiracial cultural in Malaysia. In today, we able to see even we from different races but they really help each other when we have difficulty in some situations. My personal experience, when there are a accidents occurs, i can see the Malays and Indians come and help out each other.

But, we still can see some group of people which have power in political and position which seen Rukun Negara as nothing. Here, i not wish to refer anyone in Malaysia, but we commonly know what is actually happened in our country. Death of Teoh Beng Hock was still became mystery until today, although court had given final judgment as he commit suicide. We still can see many corruptions happened around the country, which the Malaysia Anti-Corruption Commission cannot do anything on it because the excessive power involve which can overwrite everything and manage run away from judgments including legislative.

In conclusion, Rukun Negara are play very important roles in Malaysia. It gave peace among our country. It also born good personality of the citizens, which love their everything in their home country. Unity among the races are become the specialty of Malaysia toward other countries in all around the world.

Others discussion questions

Examine Malaysian crime rate and analysis the statistics based on Roberts Merton ‘s Typology of Deviance.

In Robert Merton theory of Deviance typology, there are five elements. There are conformity, innovation, ritualism, retreatism and rebellion. Basically, he explain about deviants behavior becomes crime when the crime too disruptive and uncontrollable through informal sanctions. All forms of deviance are related with crime. (Tepperman & Curtis, J., 2006)

Conformity are refer to achieved of societal goals by social ‘s means which both of them are accepted by society. Innovation is the attaining goals by using unacceptable way by the society. Innovators always think and take of creative ways to achieve their goals, which the creative ways are not accept by society at most of the times. Meanwhile, Ritualism is the means accepted by society but the loss of the goals. Although they has rejected the goals, but they still continue the means. Retreatism is the rejection of both the goals and means. They often find a way to escape from goals and means. Rebellion are same meaning with retreatism but they are with new goals and new means. Merton defined innovation and ritualism are the pure cases, it is because both cases there is a discontinue to implied and pursue between goals and means. (Tepperman & Curtis, J., 2006)

Based on Malaysia statistics related with crime and law, there are fourteen type of crimes. In concern of increase number of crimes are violent crimes, property crimes, commercial and serial commercial code crimes. Violent crimes are included case of murder, rape, fire armed gang robbery, gang robbery without firearms. Property crimes covered stealing of truck/van, car, snatch thefts and burglary. Commercial crimes covered those trick in business deal, criminal breach of trust, the fraudulent misuse of property and others related. (Statistical of Goverment Malaysia)

Relation between Malaysia crime rate and Robert Merton theory, He try to stated that deviances. There is an adaptation by the people to dominant the culture in the society. As the grows between the means and goals, the people will experienced the most internal conflict. Good example, a poor people desired middle class people goal, such as a new LCD television in the home. They find difficulty of means to achieve their goals, in result they felt stress. He argued that they use illegitimate way to accomplish a legitimate goal. Very good example, stealing are one of related element of crimes rate and Robert theory. Thief choose to use stealing ways to achieve their goal of acquire money to survive in this society. This term called as innovations, and the thief called as innovators.

Ritualism has some similarity problems with innovators’ experience. But, they choose to refuse for attaining the goal, and continue with their means (ways to achieve the goal). Example, some people know the way of they achieve the goal are not going to work, but they still practice the ways.

Best way to describe retreatism are referring to drug addicts. They did not choose the way to achieve the goal, they also refuse to achieve to goal. They choose to escape from everything.

Rebellion are referring group of people or individual who reject the norms, goals, and values of society, which they choose go for another new norms, goals, and values which do not exist in that particular society.

Sometime, it is a society itself led the crime happened. Examples, everyone was addicted with the New IPhone which cost very expensive in price. But, because of the society’s demand pressure, everyone essential has one by themselves. Some of them might be not afford, they choose perform deviance ways to achieve the cost which enables they to buy the phone, including steal, rob and involved in prostitutions.

Father and mother should play a very important role in teaching their children which are ethical ways to perform a decision. It same go with teachers and lecturers in study institutions. Morality values should focus by the teachers in school for their student. Father and mother should become of role to be teach their children should not fall into the trick of deviance typology.

In conclusion, everyone has the responsibility for judge whether the ethical decision has been made for majority benefit and agreement in the society.

Evaluate the status of women in terms of career and education in Malaysia compare with United States, Kuwait and Nigeria.

Status of women in different country has different answer of it. Example, women in Malaysia are far better than women in Middle East countries, which they are more pity, less educated and only play important role in family for caring the children in the home. There are heavy discrimination of women in Middle East countries. Generally, women in Malaysia are consider lucky. They able to receive education and handle certain higher position in several multi-national company. Although, there are small number of discriminations toward to the women, but the situation still consider small matter if compared with Nigeria and other Middle East countries. Malaysia government gave lot of supports for concert their rights to make decisions and advance, aspect of health, education, women in social welfare, and removal of legal obstacles. Formation of the Women’s Affairs Ministry in Malaysia at year 2001 to recognize the contributions and the roles of Malaysian women. Based on data of the world bank at year 2011, 47 % of labor force in Malaysia are women. In any study institutions, we able to see majority of students are consisted of female. (The World Bank Group, 2013)

Today, women in Kuwait generally consider most emancipated. They have right to drive, travel, and work without their fathers’ or husbands’ consent. They even hold senior positions in government department. They basically can work freely and can achieve positions of power and influence. (Women’s Voting Rights in Kuwait, n.d.)They also gain right to vote at last at election at year 2005. (BBC News, 2005) In year 2009, they able to get their own passport without his consent of his husband and father too. The change of the ruler in the country in result of election has change the destiny of women in that particular country. There even has women work in police force, special force and army force. Basically, women in Kuwait get equal opportunity of occupational. But, Women in Kuwait get some social discrimination. In Islamic law, Sunni Islamic women inherit only a portion of property from family. Women in Kuwait are receive enough education compared than women in Nigeria.

Women in Nigeria are pitiful. They did not enjoy their equal rights as like women in other country. Because of polygamy practice of male in Nigeria, women cannot expect faithful from their husbands. Women are expected to bear humiliation and suffer in silence. Women taken suffer from any venereal diseases, including HIV/AIDS without any words spoken from their mouth. Nigeria women get lower status in the family even had married with her husband. They often get violence from their husband. The economy pressure (higher poverty) led they work as prostitution in their home country. This also one of the reason they get inflection of STD and HIV virus. Nevertheless, majority of them are less educated. Most of the time, women in Nigeria are spend lot of time in house to do their household stuffs. They never have chance work in outside work as like men in Nigeria. (Women in Nigeria: Religion, Culture, and AIDS, 2003)

In today, women in United States are gain most freedom in all around the world. According to OECD report, 71% of men are in paid work, compared with 62% of women. In education aspect, This is truer of women than men, as 88% of men have successfully completed high-school compared with 90% of women. ( OECD, n.d.)

Across the economy, women now earn 81 cents for every dollar earned by men. According to Forbes (2013), Women are get best paying of wages in place number four of job of health care sectors. (Forbes, 2013) According to the David Alexander and Phil Stewart (2013), US remove lift ban of women involved in role of front line combat. It has release thousands of job opportunity to women in Unite States. (Alexander & Phil Stewart, 2013) Education status of women in unite state are far better than any women in Kuwait, Malaysia and Nigeria. According to the United States Census Bureau, there more women attained bachelor degree than men in education. It has shown women get more freedom and opportunity of education in United States. (United States Census Bureau, 2011)

In conclusion, my opinion about women toward career and education term should be equal same as male. Women should have the equal right same like male, because they also same like male. We should exploit and limited them to involve with the things as they like to be.

Introduction

In this assignment, we will first discuss about the differences between ethnicity and race, as well as between stereotype and prejudice. It will be followed by the general applications of sociological perspectives in ethnic relations and overview of ethnic groups in Malaysia. “Social forces that brought about ethnic stereotype and prejudice in Malaysia” will be the most important section for this assignment. Lastly, we will talk about the efforts made in improving ethnic relations in Malaysia.

1.1 Ethnicity and Race

Ethnicity refers to cultural factors which differentiate people by nationality, culture, ancestry, language and beliefs (Diffen LLC, 2012). The people in the same ethnic group share the same cultural practices and values that would distinct them from other ethnic groups. Cultural heritages are not inherited, but learned through the shared group history (CliffNotes.com, n.d.).

On the other hand, races are supposed to be related to physical characteristics such as eye color, hair color, skin color, average height, bone structure etc. However, studies show that the scientific basis of racial genetic differences is weak except in skin color, and skin color is considered as socially significant (Diffen LLC, 2012; CliffNotes.com, n.d.).

1.2 Stereotype and Prejudice

Stereotype means a preconceived perception (Ismail, Abdullah, & Ahmad, 2009). It is a neutral and oversimplified view to an object without an accurate understanding (Thio, 2009). When it is applied to ethnic groups, it is a mental image that everyone who belongs to the ethnic group will have the same characteristics and behaviors (Kreidler). In contrast, prejudice is a negative judgment against a group due to misunderstanding (Ferguson, 2004).

Ethnic Relations under Sociological Perspectives

2.1 Functionalist – Cohesive Relation

Under functionalist theory, the social functions of ethnicity can be divided into three main categories named assimilation, amalgamation and multiculturalism (Thio, 2009). Assimilation is “the process by which an outsider, immigrant or subordinate group becomes indistinguishably integrated into the dominant host society” (Marshall & Barthel, 1994). For instance, ‘Mamak’, or Indian Muslim in Malaysia adapted to Malay culture and religion. They lost their own culture after getting used to the culture of Malays (Merican, 2011). Conversely, amalgamation describes the situation when all minority ethnic groups blend their subcultures to form a new culture which is different to their original cultures (Thio, 2009). For example, Baba Nyonya is the fusion of Malay and Chinese cultures (Destination To Malaysia, n.d.). On the other hand, multiculturalism, which is also known as cultural pluralism, describes that “several different cultures can coexist peacefully and equitably in a single country” (The Free Dictionary, 2012; Thio, 2009). Malaysia will be the best example for this paradigm. All major and minority ethnic groups are practicing their own culture while living harmoniously in such a big family.

2.2 Conflict – Abusive Relation

According to Thio (2009), ethnic conflicts can be divided into segregation, expulsion and extermination. Segregation is the separation of dominant and minority groups in an area or a country. There are two types of segregation – de jure segregation which is allowed by law, and de facto segregation caused by traditions and customs. De jure is no longer practiced in most of the countries, while de facto can still be found, for example, in the housing cases for African Americans. Next, expulsion exists when the dominant group expels minority groups from certain areas or countries. Uganda expelling Asians and Vietnam forcing Chinese to leave the country are some of the examples. The third conflict, which is the most radical one, is extermination. The dominant group abuses the minority groups by killing all of them, like The Holocaust which was the massacre of Jews during World War II (United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, 2012).

2.3 Symbolic Interactionist – Perception and Interaction

If the dominant ethnic group sees minority groups as inferior and prefers to interact with people in the same group, the interaction between people from the dominant group and the minority groups will likely be superficial. Symbolic interactions can result in a positive or a negative way. The interaction could be cooperative when everyone is willing to work together to change negative perceptions to positive ones, but it could be negative as well if people do not make efforts to correct the stereotype and prejudice against each other (Thio, 2009).

General Overview of Ethnic Groups in Malaysia

According to Table 1 and Figure 1, Malay Bumiputera is the major ethnic groups in Malaysia, which makes up almost 50% of the total population in Malaysia. The next biggest ethnic group is Chinese, which accounts for 23% of the total population. It is followed by other Bumiputera in Sabah and Sarawak (12%), Indians (7%), and other minority ethnic groups (1%). Non-Malaysians takes up 8% of the total population in Malaysia (Department of Statistics Malaysia, 2012).

4.0 Social Forces / Socialization Agents That Brought about Ethnic Stereotype and Prejudice in Malaysia

4.1 Family

Family acts as the primary socialization agent because it has the most essential influence in the socialization process of an individual (Bourne, 2006). According to most of the sociologists, the term “family” is referring to the persons who have blood connection, marriage, or adoption and share a common residence (Family, n.d.).

Family plays a crucial role in nurturing children. Children will first learn what is good or bad, as well as what is black or white, followed by norms, moral values and ideas of a society, from their families. Expectations, attitudes, values, beliefs and habits are instilled into children’s mind since they are young. Senior members of the family will pass the family culture to the younger generation and this cycle is repeating from time to time (Family, n.d.). “Human personality is a unique and relatively stable patterns of behavior, thoughts, and emotions that are influenced by the family and the environment” (Baron, Byrne, & Branscombe, 2006). From here, we can conclude that the ways that parents socialize their children are vital because different ways of nurturing the children will produce different types of children.

Senior members play a big role in influencing the mindsets and behavior of the younger ones. If some negative stereotype and prejudice are passed down from the elderly to other family members especially children, the children tend to perceive that the certain stereotype and prejudice are true, and the beliefs will be difficult to be corrected in future. This is usually the main factor that causes ethnic segregation and the lack of amalgamation in Malaysia. For example, interethnic marriages, for instance, marriages between Chinese and Malays, rarely happen in Malaysia (Tyson, 2011), and are not well-accepted by most people in the society, especially the elderly.

4.2 Peer Group

Peer group is another important socialization agent that would influence ones throughout their lives, especially during childhood and adolescence, as those are times that will form their very own personalities (Encyclopedia of Mental Disorders, 2012). A peer group is a group of people who have the same age, education or social class. While they usually share a mutual interest and background, they may also be very different in their races, cultures and economic backgrounds (IIT Roorkee, 2011).

Peer pressure is the main aspect of peer group influence. Peer pressure encourages one to change her or his behavior to conform the group norms. A peer group may have positive or negative influences. Academic motivation and social skill developments are the positive influences while drinking, drug addiction and vandalism are some negative cases. Conflicts will usually occur between parents and peer groups due to different values to practice in routine. The peer group influence would be more critical if the family relationship is not supportive (Encyclopedia of Mental Disorders, 2012; IIT Roorkee, 2011; Thio, 2009).

Certainly, peer groups have a great contribution on the stereotype and prejudice against other ethnic groups. While a family is the one that implemented a certain stereotype or prejudice, peer groups will strengthen the belief as if it is factual when the peer groups have an identical thought. Stereotype and prejudice affect people and it leads to ethnic polarization, which is so common in Malaysia especially among university students (Tyson, 2011). Language barrier could be another reason that contributes to ethnic polarization, as a language is the most common communication medium, especially among people from different ethnic groups.

4.3 Mass Media

Mass media is defined as the channel of communication that transmits information to a large number of people (Sociology Central). The way and form of the information transmitted vary based on the media used. Mass media is easily accessible with the current technologies. Such availability has made mass media an agent in transmitting information that contains stereotypic and prejudiced elements embedded within it.

Due to the restriction enforced in Malaysian mass media, prejudice elements are usually filtered or removed while stereotypical elements are still acceptable in public through mass media especially in the film production. A very clear cut example would be Namewee, a notorious figure in Malaysia for his ethnic stereotyping or his prejudice over the mass media. His first film production “Nasi Lemak 2.0” and recent production “Hantu Gangster” had slotted in few scenes that contain stereotypical elements. For instance, he stereotyped that Indians usually hide behind the trees or flowers and they like to drink alcohol. Fortunately, such trivial stereotypes do not actually affect ethnic relations.

However, there are critical cases that put forth ethnic relations to a test. The prejudiced statement towards two ethnic groups – Chinese and Indians, which will be further mentioned in the politics session, had brought about serious aftermath upon revealed to the public. Upon influenced by the statement through mass media, the principal of Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra in Kulai, Siti Inshah Mansor stated:

“Pelajar-pelajar Cina tidak diperlukan dan boleh balik ke China ataupun Sekolah Foon Yew. Bagi pelajar India, tali sembahyang yang diikat di pergelangan tangan dan leher pelajar nampak seakan anjing dan hanya anjing akan mengikat seperti itu.” (MalaysiaToday, 2010).

From the statement, it shows negative connotations towards the two ethnic groups mentioned. Conflict arises when Namewee showed his dissatisfaction through his song “Nah” that badmouthed another ethnic group, causing ethnic tension in 2009 over that issue (Hookway, 2011). Hence, we notice that how mass media can be an influential tool in spreading ethnic stereotypical and prejudiced elements in our social life. Conflict and symbolic interactionist are both applicable on the ethnic relations in Malaysia due to the influence of mass media in disclosing ethnic stereotype and prejudice publicly.

4.4 Politics

According to John R. Bowen, ethnic relations vary among states and territories depending on the history of interethnic tension, geographical distribution of ethnic groups, degree of differences and intra-ethnic group cohesion, and how the government is committed to resolve the conflict through appropriate policies. Moreover, the same policies may result in different outcomes depending on varying context and further affect the ethnic harmony (Haque, 2003).

During Malacca Sultanate era, the ethnic groups in Tanah Melayu mostly consisted of Malays, Chinese, Indians and Arabs. Most of them were maintaining contact with each other for the trading purpose. Subsequently this had indirectly resulted in a certain level of assimilation and amalgamation. When foreign traders came here for business, some of them got married and adapted to the local culture. Existence of Baba Nyonya community in Malacca is an example of amalgamation at that time. During the Portuguese Colonization, there were no related policies that brought effects on the ethnic relations. Most of the ethnic groups were free to practice their own culture and functionalist perspectives were analyzed (Ismail, Abdullah, & Ahmad, 2009). However, drastic changes had happened when British arrived in Tanah Melayu. First and foremost, British Labor Policy had brought in Chinese and Indian labors from their original countries and this had led to an increase in the number of people from these ethnic groups. Stimulated by the “divide and rule” policy, occupational segregation within ethnic groups had started due to the inequality in economic backgrounds. Such segregation had prevented solidarity among the ethnic groups and eventually led to a mindset that categorized them through their occupations. In addition, this had brought about ethnic stereotypes that Malays are lazy, Chinese are bold and Indians are docile (Brown, 1994). This marked a significant impact in Malaysian history as the policies implemented had brought about ethnic stereotype and prejudice during that era (Zainal, Abu, & Mohammad, 2009).

Stated clearly on the Malaysian Constitution Article 153, Malays are bestowed with special privileges in terms of education, economy and public welfare. However, these constitutionally guaranteed privileges became the major source of discontent among all ethnic groups (Haque, 2003). Malays are still dissatisfied especially in terms of economy that was controlled by other ethnic groups mainly Chinese and Europeans while non-Malays perceived it as discriminatory measures in terms of national language and Malays’ status as the rulers (Ketuanan Melayu). Even though 1969 Riots was considered as a sensitive issue that is hardly being disclosed to the public and media, but it was an important event that provided explicit reasoning on how it turned into an event that posts inevitable effects on ethnic relations. Both opposing perceptions had led to negative feelings towards each other among different ethnic groups and subsequently transformed into prejudice.

Secondly, the implementation of National Culture Policy in 1971 tried to assimilate other ethnic groups under cultural hegemony of Malay culture (Ahmad, 2011). Cultural hegemony defines the domination of ruling class in manipulating the cultures of other ethnic groups in terms of beliefs, values, perceptions and norms (Merriam-Webster). In other words, the national culture, which was the privileged Malay culture, had three principles applied on it. According to Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport in 1971, the first principle was the national culture must be based on the origin of the culture of Malaysia. Secondly, suitable and acceptable elements from other cultures can be accepted as part of the national culture and the third principle stated that Islam is crucial in molding national culture (Ahmad, 2011). From these principles, the policy seemed to be questionable. In fact, “suitable elements” deemed to be a contradicting statement with what had happened in the past. For instance, Lion Dance was not taken into consideration to be the component of national culture at first and Ghazali Shafie, the Home Affair Minister during that time considered it as “foreign”. He suggested changing it to Tiger Dance with the playing of Malay music (Guan, 2000). From the example, we must now understand the rational on how an ethnic group’s culture was being challenged. Taking the general overview of this event had concerned the ethnic groups and such cultural conflict would have led to dissatisfaction, accompanied by prejudice towards other ethnic groups.

Besides government policies in the past, politicians are also important personnel in a society as they are the representatives of every ethnic group. Unfortunately, politicians can be the root in spreading ethnic stereotype and prejudice through their verbal and non-verbal messages. On 23 August 2008, Datuk Ahmad Ismail had voiced out that Chinese and Indians are “immigrant” or “squatter” (Dzulkifly, 2010). This issue had instilled a mentality on ethnic groups and ethnic prejudice bombardments like “Balik Cina” and “Balik India” were lurking in the society. This issue had its sequel when Zulkifli Nordin disclosed another similar statement that was reinforced by the word “haram”. On 2 February 2010, Nasir Safar, the prime minister’s former assistant stated that “Indians came to Malaysia as beggars and Chinese especially the women came to sell their bodies” (Dzulkifly, 2010). These argumentative and controversial statements have challenged the existing ethnic relations, making ethnic stereotype and prejudice more viable among the ethnic groups. As long as these kinds of mindsets prevail, segregation of ethnic relations might be irreversible.

4.5 Economy

Other than politics, economy is said to be another most important influence on ethnic relations in Malaysia (Zainala, Abua, & Mohamada, 2010). Chronologically, there was an economic policy which was implemented even before the independence of Malaya by the British government that time – “divide and rule” policy. Under the policy, the economic development in Tanah Melayu was based on ethnic groups, where the Chinese were mostly involved in business field, Malays were doing farming activities and Indians were mostly the workers in the rubber and palm oil states (Ismail, Abdullah, & Ahmad, 2009). That was the social order when people did not oppose the policy. However, this policy had left a very crucial effect on Malaysian society, because it formed a multiethnic society in Malaysia, but a segregated one. This policy indirectly contributed to the current occupational segregation. For example, currently, the participation rate of non-Malays in public sector is still low. Out of 1.12 million new public sector job applications, almost 80% were by Malays, 3.3% were by Indians and Chinese only made up about 2% of the applications (The Malaysian Insider, 2012). It is also commonly said that Chinese are still actively participating in business sectors, while a lot of clinic doctors and surgeons are Indians.

Furthermore, New Economic Policy (NEP) was introduced by ‘The Alliance’, which is Barisan Nasional nowadays, in 1970, with the objective of distributing country’s wealth among people equally. However, while NEP was said to be developed to eliminate the identification of ethnic groups with occupations, apparently it was just established to increase the economic shares of Malays, especially in certain more attractive jobs, which further led to discontentment among ethnic groups, and the dissatisfaction grew into a strong prejudice against the each other (Ahmad, 2011).

4.6 Education

This is another institution that plays an important role in determining ethnic relations in Malaysia. First and foremost, vernacular schools are thought to be the major contribution on ethnic conflicts in Malaysia. We have two types of vernacular schools, which are also known as national-type schools – national-type school (Chinese) or SJK(C) and national-type school (Tamil) or SJK(T). Vernacular schools are only available for primary education. Vernacular schools enable teaching and learning in one’s own mother tongue (Ministry of Education Malaysia, 2012a; Ministry of Education Malaysia, 2012b).

The existence of vernacular schools often sparks debate among people. Interestingly, Tun Dr. Mahathir once said this: “if we recognize Chinese education and their certificates, we will have three different people, each talking in a different language. I think we will not be able to even live together if we don’t understand each other” (Kamal, 2010). However, statistics show that Malays make up 13% of 600,000 SJK(C) students nowadays. In some urban schools, non-Chinese can even make up a third of the student population in SJK(C). In contrast, according to most parents, majority of teaching professions in national schools are from a single ethnic group and it does not reflect a multiethnic composition of Malaysia (Nair, 2012). While people who want vernacular schools to be abolished accused that vernacular schools emphasize a single ethnicity, the fact is vernacular schools are getting more and more multiethnic these days, while national schools failed to achieve multiethnic interactions. It is too arbitrary to conclude that only Chinese study in SJK(C) and only Indians study in SJK(T). Furthermore, regardless of the types of schools, every Malaysian is required to learn Malay language as well as English (Ministry of Education Malaysia, 2012c).

Secondly, ethnic quota system in higher education is certainly another main reason that caused ethnic conflicts in Malaysia. Ethnic quota system was implemented in 1973 by the Malaysian government and in effect, 55% of the university places were reserved for Malays, while the remaining 45% are for other ethnic groups. After displeasing non-Malays for years, this quota system was officially announced to be abolished, and replaced by meritocracy system, which the matriculation system was also introduced (Aihara, 2009). However, in reality, the discrimination toward minority ethnic groups is still there. Generally, most Chinese study STPM to prepare for tertiary education, as the matriculation system has still implemented another ethnic quota system. Other than negative impacts such as brain drain, ethnic quota system definitely intensified the ethnic relation tension (Aihara, 2009; Lyen, 2009).

Now, we have come to this crucial factor under education – medium of education. We will concentrate on the History textbooks used by secondary schools. History textbooks are so heavily influenced by politics, and most of the contents focused primarily on one ethnic group, Malays. Contradicting with the educational objective – to shape national unity, contents in History textbooks are so biased that Chinese and Indian’s major events such as immigrations are not even sufficiently mentioned. Indian’s involvement in the rubber industry was only cited in a three-sentence acknowledgement. Furthermore, there are major events which are omitted by the History textbooks, and among these, the most important event is 1969 Riots. This does not make sense to omit such an important incident in Malaysian history from a History textbook. Doubtlessly, 1969 Riots is the black dot in Malaysian history, but it does not mean it should be omitted from History textbook like it has never happened. Another common criticism is about the omission of Kapitan Yap Ah Loy’s contribution as the Kuala Lumpur founder. Interestingly, even our first prime minister, Tunku Abdul Rahman was dissatisfied and he criticized that the textbooks used in schools are “obviously an attempt to put party politics above the historical facts” (Lim, 2011; Ong, 2012).

To conclude the influences of various social forces on ethnic relations in Malaysia, we will talk about the general effects caused by stereotype and prejudice shaped by the social forces mentioned. First off, “racism” is such a popular word in Malaysia, especially when certain events brought about tension among ethnic groups. Racism, in Malaysian context, is defined as the overprotective behavior of one’s own ethnic group until certain negative attitudes or behavior could be developed towards other ethnic groups when there is a conflict happened. On the other hand, ethnocentrism is the superior feeling of one’s own culture over another. The sense of superiority could make someone perceive other cultures, especially those which totally oppose their own culture, to be bad, wrong, negative or even dangerous (Ismail, Abdullah, & Ahmad, 2009). Racism and ethnocentrism will further result in unity contradiction. In other words, stereotype and prejudice might strengthen intra-ethnic relations as they share the same belief, however, it will seriously worsen interethnic relations, for example, ethnic polarization, which was discussed in peer group section.

5.0 Efforts and Conclusion

5.1 1Malaysia & Media Power

1Malaysia concept is an approach to strengthen ethnic relations in Malaysia and further achieve an identity of “Malaysian People” by challenging Malaysians from all different ethnic backgrounds to rise above the differences among each other and unite under one nation and flag. In order to achieve such an ideal vision and multiculturalism in Malaysia, efforts have been done. Our prime minister is not hesitated to set up 1Malaysia network. This main website has uploaded info about 1Malaysia concept. Furthermore, our prime minister’s “blogspot” allows permitted freedom of speech in commenting on government policies and initiatives. Those comments are monitored and there will be replies or answers to satisfy the needs of Malaysians (1Malaysia, 2012). Moreover, acceptance is one of the core values that emphasizes on how we should embrace the differences between ethnic groups and not merely tolerate with them. Hence, government usually promotes togetherness of multicultural ethnicity during the festive seasons through open house party to learn about an ethnic group’s culture and accept it as part of society (1Malaysia, 2009).

In order to improve ethnic relations in Malaysia, mass media is put to good use. Besides the social network, there are some movies and short films made to promote ethnic relations. In collaboration with the National Day, we can usually see such short films are aired publicly. For instance, 1Malaysia advertisement by Proton in 2010 showed a clear cut message that Malaysia is multiethnic and we should embrace the differences of each other. In those series of advertisements, the director was trying to correct the stereotype phenomena in Malaysia (YouTube, 2010). When it comes to film production, we definitely cannot forget the remarkable contribution of Yasmin Ahmad in incorporating ethnic unity elements into her movies. Moreover, she was daring to challenge the ethnic stereotypes in Malaysia by portraying the weaknesses of such stereotypes (Bergan, 2009). Last but not least, ethnic relations would be implemented to replace Malaysian Studies at the university level. All the efforts show how hard the government is trying to ensure multiculturalism in Malaysia.

5.2 National Service

National Service is definitely another effort made by the government to enhance social and ethnic integration. “To encourage national integration and ethnic unity” is one of the main objectives of National Service program (National Service Training Department, 2012). National Service is a type of resocialization, as it attempts to alter the values and roles of Malaysians in maintaining harmonious ethnic relations, as well as to correct negative perceptions or prejudices by allowing people from various ethnic groups to interact with each other. It is considered as a cooperative interaction under symbolic interactionist (Thio, 2009), and it fits into 1Malaysia concept.

5.3 Conclusion

“Many Malaysians still do not necessarily feel like Malaysians” (Chong, 2009). Even though our harmonious relationship among ethnic groups is always one of the featured characteristics that Malaysia is proud of, but in reality, according to a research, Malaysia at its best, is only able to achieve accommodative level (Ismail, Abdullah, & Ahmad, 2009), which is still not at the ideal stage – multiculturalism. Like other countries in the U.S. and Soviet Union which also have a lot of ethnic groups in the countries, we are lacking in true cultural pluralism (CliffNotes.com, n.d.; Thio, 2009). Anyways, we believe that all Malaysians who have the firsthand experiences of ethnic stereotype and prejudice sincerely hope that someday, Malaysia will be able to achieve the ideal and true cultural pluralism, which is not only about tolerance, but also acceptance of each other’s existence and culture.

3. Why, despite Race Discrimination, legislation do ethnic inequalities in the workplace persist?

There are a large number of problems including discrimination, human capital and social isolation that mean that ethnic inequalities in the workplace continue. Pakistanis, Bangladeshis and Black Caribbean’s suffer the most discrimination, have the least human capital and are most prone to social isolation. This can be seen in that these ethnic groups have the greatest unemployment rates and lowest incomes. Meanwhile the Chinese and Indians do better for themselves in comparison, however are still not on the same levels at Whites in Britain. Since the 1970’s Black Caribbean’s, Bangladeshis’ and Pakistanis have continued to have double the unemployed rates that whites do. This is shown in the fact that on average Black Caribbean’s earn around 15% less than whites (Hall & Carter, 2006). Meanwhile increasingly Indians and Chinese have managed to gain more or less the same levels of works at whites in Britain. Further more Indians, Chinese and Pakistanis have continued to have higher rates of self employment than whites or Black Caribbean’s since the 1960’s, meaning Black Caribbean’s do the worst in employment (Clark & Drinkwater, 1998). However there is some evidence to suggest the situation is improving in the workplace that will be explored nearer the end of the essay.

Discrimination, whether it be conscious or subconscious, is seen as a major factor in ethnic inequalities in the workplace in Britain. The general definition of discrimination is that it is prejudice treatment of a person based on their membership of a group. Often this discrimination is against a religious group or race, even simply due to skin color. A vast amount of research suggests that discrimination against ethnic minorities continues to be a problem when it comes to employers hiring. (Deitch, Barsky, Butz, Chan, Brief & Bradley, 2003). Further studies also suggest that prejudice against ethnic minorities has remained at a constant level over the past 40 years (Li & Heath, 2008). It is defiantly a valid point that different ethnic minorities experience different levels of discrimination by whites within Britain. Research shows that the British population overall believe there to be similar levels of prejudice against Blacks and as there are with Pakistanis (Verkuyten & Brug, 2002). There is a common underlying prejudice view with some employers that these ethnics groups are most prone to ‘laziness’ and crime. The view that racial discrimination is greater in manual labour such as building than it is in the non-manual labour such as office work is certainly a valid one, as it can be argued there are more social boundaries with an office environment than on a building site (Fraser, 2009). The higher an individual goes in the workplace hierarchy, the greater the rules and regulations set in place that prevents discrimination within that environment. Hence this means discrimination is likely to be greatest at the lower end of the manual labour hierarchy. It is fair to say Black Caribbean’s and Pakistanis are more likely to be discriminated against than Indians and Chinese as there is a clear education gap between them. Unfortunately due to the similarity in looks between Pakistanis and Indian they may well suffer equal discrimination. Black Caribbean’s in particular will feel obliged to apply for lower pay jobs (Verkuyten & Brug, 2002). It is hence easy to see how once you are bracketed into a certain ethnic group, depending on which group that is, an individual is either in a cycle of advantage or disadvantage. Whites would on average be considered to be in a cycle of advantage with regards to ethnicity and work in Britain.

The idea of human capital adds to the problem of ethnic inequality in the workplace. An employer will seek to asses how strong or weak an applicant’s human capital is (their value as worker). For example if you are a graduate from university experience you are far more likely to be employed than someone who dropped out of school at the age of 16. Ethnic discrimination in human capital can be seen clearly in that if a white individual has the same qualification as an individual from an ethnic minority, the white individual is more likely to get the job. This is a sad but true fact, although one would like to think it is becoming less common in this current age. However, ethnic groups are not discriminated against to the same degree as one another, with Indians and Chinese often coming close or surpassing whites in their human capitol. This is due to ethnic groups differing levels of human capital, subsequently created by differing education levels. On average Indians and Chinese have higher educational levels than Black Caribbean’s, Pakistanis and Bangladeshis (Ratcliffe, 2004). This would help explain the pay gaps between the ethnic groups, with Indians and Chinese on average earning more than other ethnic minorities (through better jobs due to their better standard of education). Language is another vital part of human capital. In the first generation of migrants, Pakistanis and Bangladeshis in particular lacked the English language one needs to work. This is less of an issue now, but unfortunately these prejudices carry on into the second generation. Education levels and language skills are therefore crucial to judging an individuals human capital. Unfortunately due to conscious or subconscious discrimination of an employer being white is often an addition to an individual’s human capital while often being a member of an ethnic group is seen as a subtraction to human capital.

Another reason for ethnic inequality within the workplace is social isolation. This is relevant in particular among Pakistanis and Bangladeshis, as they are the most socially isolated of all the ethnic groups within Britain (Ratcliffe, 2004). Compared to other ethnic groups, in particular whites, Pakistanis and Bangladeshis lack the bridging social skills that are needed to gain work contacts within a predominantly white British society, which is almost essential to finding the jobs. Their social isolation may continue with their lack of good education and English language, which is again essential to networking for jobs. Further more ethnic minorities are often highly concentrated in certain urban areas, with Bangladeshis and Pakistanis having the highest level of geographical segregation from the white population (Solomon, 2003). Due to this they are less likely to mix with the white population of Britain, and therefore less likely to network for jobs. As a result there are very few examples of Pakistanis or Bangladeshis marrying into white families. Again, location is essential as to rates of pay or qualities of jobs. The first generation of migrants arrived in Britain with little knowledge and little money, hence they moved into lower class and lower income areas of cities. This is where cycles of advantage and disadvantage are relevant once more. Ethnic groups who live in areas of deprivation are in cycles of disadvantage. Classic examples include areas of Slough, East London and Bradford. Areas of deprivation will entail a poor quality education and poor job opportunities and therefore will in turn create individuals of poor human capital that are likely to be discriminated against due to their geographical location and prejudice opinions that come with living in that area. On top of this, if an individual is of an ethnic minority there is even more discrimination likely to be consciously or subconsciously directed their way. Due to this, an area may become less desirable, and therefore only attract more migrants or unemployed due to the cheap standard of living, adding further to the problems of the area.

While there is overwhelming evidence to suggest ethnic inequalities within the workplace persist, there is some evidence of the situation improving. Overall racial discrimination is becoming less common due to new rules and regulations, as well as it being frowned upon to the highest degree. In particular, Black Caribbean individuals are marrying white individuals hence bridging the gap between ethnic groups and creating more networking for employment (Hall & Carter, 2006). The second generation of migrants are generally doing better with jobs than the first generation due to their greater integration into the education system and greater use of the English language. In particular Indians and Chinese are acceleration in the economy, gaining high earning jobs in law or medicine.

In conclusion, there are a large number of problems including discrimination, human capital and social isolation that mean that ethnic inequalities in the workplace persist. Pakistanis, Bangladeshis and Black Caribbean’s suffer the most inequality in the workplace, while the Chinese and Indians do better for themselves in comparison, however are still not on the same levels at whites in Britain On average the whites in Britain do better overall in the workplace than the other ethnic groups due to the above problems. Having said this, the second generation of migrants have done better in the workplace than the first generation of migrants.

Each and every one of us on his way from childhood through adolescence to adulthood has to go through some major physical, emotional and social changes. Ideally step-by-step and through elaborate self-exploration we learn to understand ourselves better and accept ourselves just the way we are. comes to better understanding and accepting himself. as an individual as well as a member of a group. Identity is a very complex aspect of the personality development and has several dimensions, one of which is ethnic identity. Ethnic identity can be defined as a sense of belonging to an ethnic group. Many psychologists like Phinney, Nesdale and Mak note that “ethnic identity reflects not only membership in an ethnic group, but also attitudes and feelings including ethnic pride, the importance of one’s ethnicity relative to other parts of the self, and involvement in one’s ethnic heritage” (qtd. Marks et al. 501). For children of immigrants, the formation process of ethnic identity can be complicated by experiences of intense racial and cultural conflict (Rumbaut 752). Studies of American immigrant families conducted by Phinney et al. suggest that while these young people were raised by parents who are likely to retain the language, values, and customs from their country of origin, they are “educated in the American school system, which emphasizes English proficiency and American customs” (136). Hence, the exploration of the ethnic identity among these children is highly affected by their family ethnic practices as well as peer contacts from different ethnic groups. “The immigrant context provides family and community social environments that heighten” the importance of ethnic identity among children of immigrants (Marks et al. 502).

There is a complex psychological mechanism that underlies the formation of ethnic identity. Children growing up tend to compare themselves to different social groups looking for similarities or differences in such traits as race, nationality, religion, class, language and accent (Rumbaut 760). The more differences they find between them and other ethnic groups the higher level of their self-awareness. Moreover, Cross proposed a framework for ethnic identity development in which “individuals remain largely unaware of their racial identities until they encounter racism, which triggers active identity exploration” (Marks et al. 502). The young adolescents try to cope with the psychological pressure and seek to reduce the social conflict by assimilating (literally, becoming similar) within the certain social group. Whereas, “an alternative reaction may leadaˆ¦ to the rise and reaffirmation of ethnic solidarity and pride” (Rumbaut 767). Hence, there are multiply ways of ethnic identity resolution among second-generation immigrants. Psychologists, who devoted years of study to the problem of ethnic identification among American immigrants have agreed on the three major types of ethnic identity among their children:

This classification is based on the three main reaction to the dilemma of remaining within the sphere of nationality and the culture of the country of origin or breaking out of it altogether into the culture of the host country, described by Child: the “in-group” reaction of those who retain their ethnicity; the “marginal’ reaction of those who combine the traits of both worlds; and the “rebel’, who fully assimilate into American culture (qtd. Rumbaut 787). For some children, mostly of white European immigrants, the acculturation process is so successful, that it puts them at risk of estranging from their family.

Talking about family role in the ethnic identity formation, parents’ attitudes regarding cultural maintenance are one of the most significant influences on the process of adaptation among their children. The results of research with European American immigrants conducted by Alba in 1990 showed that parents who believed that ethnicity is important were more likely to pass these attitudes to their children and promote ethnic identity in them (qtd. Phinney et al. 138). The economic and social status of parents also has a great impact on their children ethnic identity. According to Rumbaut, immigrant parents who are higher-status professionals are more likely to influence their children’s selection of a national origin identity. “In such upper middle-class immigrant families the child may have more reason to associate social honor with and to feel pride in the national identity of the parents” (790). Parents’ involvement in their child social live, help with a school work, support to their interest contribute to his sense of ethnic pride. In comparison, children who reported feeling embarrassed by their parents are much more likely to identify themselves as Americans. A good example is a response of a Philippino immigrant girl to the Olsen’s survey: “Our parents don’t come [to school functions] because they don’t know any English. I don’t even tell them when they are supposed to come. They dress so different and I don’t want our parents to come because the others will laugh at them and tease us. We are ashamed” (qtd. Rumbaunt 753). Overall positive parent-child relationship allow a child to incorporate the culture of his origin to his identity and experience positive well-being, while the conflictual parent-child relationships are associated with difficulties in adaptation process and lower self-esteem among children.

Another highly influential factor in the ethnic identity formation process is language proficiency. Those children who choose to speak English over the language of their ethnic group are much more likely to identify themselves as Americans, and less likely to self-define by national origin. “Conversely, youths who do not prefer English and who report greater fluency in their parents’ native languages are most apt to identify by national origin” (Rumbaut 790). The knowledge of mother tongue may help to maintain the ethnic participation, which reinforces ethnic identity (Phinney et al. 138). So to speak, native language can be a tool of indirect parents’ influence on ethnic identity promotion among their children. Whereas, language spoken outside of family circle is equally important in self-defying process. Proficiency in English helps an immigrant child to assimilate into American society through the peer interaction, school achievements and exposure to American culture through media.

Another influential factor in the self-defying process which is also closely related to the two mentioned above is peer interaction. Although, findings on this matter are somewhat controversial. The amount of time spent with peers from the same ethnic group evidently has a positive effect on the ethnic identity. However the studies of Bakalian on Armenian families in America showed that even when the second generation immigrants broaden their social circle and limit friendship contacts inside their ethnic circle they still retain their already formed ethnic identity (Phinney et al. 139). So the peer interaction is only as important as it provides the means for exploration and expression of the ethnic identity. It also can indirectly reinforce it if the native language is used.

The role of discrimination in the process of ethnic identity formation among immigrant children also shouldn’t be underestimated. Quite predictably the Rumbaut’s research results showed that the respondents who have experienced discrimination in the United States are not likely to self-define as Americans. Even just the expectation of discrimination or rejection based on the race or ethnicity negatively affects the process of assimilation among immigrant children. “Respondents who expect that people will discriminate against them no matter the level of education they may achieve are aˆ¦ more likely to maintain a national-origin identity” (Rumbaut 787). On the other hand in the same survey the refugee groups who have been receiving public assistance from the government highly agreed with the statement that “There is no better country to live in than the United States.” Correlatively they scored highest on the American preferences scale.

Finally, obtaining the United States citizenship status can shift the already formed pattern of ethnic identity (for those children who weren’t born in the US, but who arrive with their parents). It was proven that the citizenship is superior to nativity. It is perceived by an immigrant as a sign of complete acceptance by American society and promotes the preference towards self-defying as American (Rumbaut 789).

Obviously, psychological well-being of immigrant children is highly wired to the process of assimilation and adaptation to the new culture. These children have to go through experience of “living in two worlds and not fully belonging to either” (Greenman and Xie 114). The feeling of alienation to either culture is unavoidable. As we tend to attribute certain values to the groups we belong to the sense of belonging and acceptance by this group are crucial to our self-esteem and self-acceptance. Therefore a healthy sense of ethnic identity is extremely important to the social development and well-being among the children of immigrants. Indeed, these children have tough decisions to make from which language to speak to customs of which culture to follow. While the already hard process of self-exploration can be even more complicated for the children thrown new culture it can also boost their self-awareness giving them better understanding of who they are, what their roots are and where they belong in the future.

Traditionally war has been viewed as an irrational act, brought about by misunderstanding and coordination failure. It has also been seen as something that occurs between nations. Today most armed conflicts occur between groups within the same nation state. And as a consequence, many of the conflicts or mass violence of recent decades have been characterised by the adjective “ethnic”. This means that the leading players were groups opposing one another on the basis of (or so it is assumed) identitarian, religious, linguistic or more generally cultural assertions. Since most armed conflicts occur between groups within the same nation state, once the interests of belligerents are taken into account, conflict may be the product of rational decisions (Boudon, 2003). For individuals, viewing from the outside, the costs of violence often appear to outweigh the benefits; and for society as a whole, violence, though costly, merely redistributes rather than creates resources (Bates, 1997). Violence / conflict is therefore destructive, and ethnic violence particularly so. For these and other reasons, ethnic conflict poses fundamental challenges to any theory based on the premise of rationality (Boudon, 2003). Thus, the recent reassertion of ethnic claims stands as a challenge to the recent rise of rational choice theory in the comparative study of politics.

What are conflicts? Conflicts are disputes about political, economic, social, cultural or territorial issues and they can occur at all levels of social interaction: between/within structures (alliances, states) or between/within agents (groups, individuals) (Avruch, 2004.) Ethnic conflicts are one particular kind of such disputes about political, economic, social, cultural or territorial issues between two or more actors in which at least one of them is an ethnic group that defines causes, consequences and potential solutions of the conflict along an actual or perceived discriminating or otherwise distinctive ethnic divide. Furthermore, ethnic conflicts are situations in which organised ethnic groups take recourse to the systematic use of violence for strategic purposes. There are many ways of classifying theories of ethnic conflict. One such classification entails the rational choice theory, which allows the costs of action to enter into the reckoning and further suggests that ethnic conflict is a product of rational insecurity, -opportunity, or -greed based on rational choice.

The term ethnicity is a relatively recent acquisition in the English language. The origins of the term ethnicity go back to the Greek word for nation-ethnos. In ancient Greek, the term was used to describe a community of common descent. In more contemporary times, according to Glazer and Moynihan, its first sociological use dates back to David Riesman’s work in 1953. Ethnic cognition can be explained and will be examined through the instrumentalist model, which is that individuals shift their identity-consciousness according to the situation. The shift involves employing differing aspects of their particular race/homeland territory; religious beliefs et cetera relevant to their situation. Contrary to instrumentalism is the primordial’s view which entails ethnocentric ways (the favouring of those who appear of similar religion, language, race or lifestyle).

Perceiving the world through an ethnic lens creates reality for many people. This reality is not a false reality; it is the reality on which people base their actions, thus creating patterns of understanding and corresponding institutions (Gil-White, 2008). The question that arises than, is ethnic conflict (in context) which follows from a particular ethnic identity based on an understanding of rational choice or is the concept of relational choice a fallacy in terms of the perceived ethnic identity and ethnic conflict? In other words, are ethnic groups’ rational associations of self-interested actors, or are they irrational ‘primordial’ groupings governed by emotional attachments? (Gil-White, 2008). If ethnic actors are instrumentalists, then new ethnic groups should follow shifting interests, arising and disappearing as suddenly as do purely political or territorial alliances; people should spontaneously switch ethnic identity when it becomes convenient; and it should be more common for new ethnicities to spring forth around changing material interests and concerns, than for ethnicities to persist in spite of costs to their members’ interests.

In order to answer this question it would be momentous to first establish exactly what ethnicity truly encompasses. The concept of identity has been employed to analyze non-instrumental, expressive modes of action that assumedly aid us in understanding participation in social movements (Melucci, 1994). Theorists have been aware for some time of the difficulty of coordinating individual incentives with group incentives. Scholars previously believed ethnic groups or ‘cultures’ to be ‘peoples’ in a unitary sense along various dimensions: ‘ascriptive’ (labelling) ‘moral’ (normative) and ‘cultural’ (linguistic and arti-factual) (Gil-White, 2008). An ethnic group therefore understood itself as such; it was defined by its boundaries (Avruch, 2004). And was labelled by ‘others’ in like fashion, had a particular and distinctive culture (including a dialect), and whose members preferred each other to non-members, in other words; endogamy, discrimination, in-group solidarity, et cetera (Gil-White, 2008). This over simplifies but still captures the more common ‘culture area’ view of ethnic groups.

Reactions against this view of over simplification began with Edmund Leach’s Political Systems of Highland Burma (1954), trailed later by Moerman’s work among the Lue in Thailand (Moerman 1965, 1968) and Fredick Barth’s 1969 introduction to Ethnic Groups and Boundaries (Gil-White, 2008). These studies counter argued that ethnic identities did not map neatly to the distribution of cultural material, and proposed a shift from ‘objective’ indicators of togetherness (group), such as measurable discontinuities in the distribution of arti-factual or ideational culture, towards a more ‘subjective’ focus that relied heavily on the labelling processes of ethnic actors themselves (Gil-White, 2008). The argument entails; in order to have a social identity one must meet ‘the conditions for being referred to by the linguistic expression [the label] that names the identity’ (Goodenough 1965, in Gil-White, 2008). That is to say, the labelling processes are determined by the actors themselves and the [cultural] features that are taken into account are not the sum of “objective” differences, but only those which the actors themselves regard as significant’ (Barth 1969, in Gil-White, 2008). In order to provide evidence for this statement; it was reported that people in the Burma Kachin Hills sometimes switched ethnic identity, this illustrates that the view of ‘a society’ as a ‘thing’ (that is, a bounded whole) was wrong (Gil-White, 2008). Similarly was noted by Barth (1969) in Swat, Pakistan. Some individuals born into the Pathan ethnic group were, later in life, labelling themselves ‘Baluch’ as circumstances made this advantageous. Correspondingly, some Fur in Darfur, Sudan, were taking up nomadism and calling themselves ‘Baggara'(Gil-White, 2008).The evidence suggests that ethnic identity is self imposed and are coordinated with others ‘of a kind’ for reciprocal positive gain. Thus, if I am an A, but it is better for me to interface and network with B’s, I shall acquire a B identity together with B ways of being so as to tap into the B network (Gil-White, 2008).

The Rational Choice methodology consists of systematic evaluation of options through an analysis of the various consequences of the judgments made such as validity, rationality, value assessment and risk aversion (Masri, 2003). Rational Choice Theory provides a methodology for assessing decision-making by using empirical evidence to understand revision and choice, and thus rationalize the inferences and conclusions made (Masri, 2003). In other words, for a choice to be made, an individual must face a set of possible options (her feasible set). It is assumed that given her feasible set, the individual will choose the option that leads to – or she believes leads to- the best outcome. If she has full information about the outcome of her decisions, she will find herself in a situation of certainty and be able to maximize her utility (Masri, 2003). On the other hand, if the information is incomplete, however, she will only be able to maximize the expected utility in a context of risk and uncertainty. In this situation she will attribute an objective or subjective probability to the outcome of her action. This probability is the belief she has about the results of her action (Aguiar, 2002). In other words, If a person chooses X instead of Y it is because she believes that X best satisfies her desires. These internal beliefs and desires, which are subjective, prompt her action. As Boudon formulates it: “any action is caused by reasons in the mind of individuals (rationality)” (Boudon, 2003, emphasis added).Relaying the concept of Rational Choice Theory to ethnic identify or even ethnic conflict, Rational Choice amounts to saying that people who do not really believe themselves to share common descent will nevertheless participate in collective self-delusion because pretending to share such descent is conducive to their common mobilization, which is desirable as it serves common, objective interests, rationally identified. In other words, the rational choice theory perceives ethnic conflict as the result of individuals’ rational pursuit of universal interests such as wealth, power, and security (Mirzayev, 2007). Overall, Rational Choice considers identity as a key concept in explaining social action (Aguiar, 2002).

The basic distinctions between different schools of thought on ethnicity is brought forth by the primordialist school and the instrumentalist view. The primordialist school holds that ethnicity is so deeply ingrained in human history and experience that it cannot be denied that it exists, objectively and subjectively, and that it should therefore be considered a fact of life in the relations between individuals and groups who all have an ethnic identity. In other words, the primordialist view sees Ethnicity and race as deep-seated and relatively fixed. In contrast to this view, the instrumentalist school argues that ethnicity is by no means an undisputable historical fact. Rather, they suggest that ethnicity is influence by rational choice and is first and foremost a resource in the hands of leaders to mobilise and organise followers in the pursuit of other interests, such as physical security, economic gain or political power. In other words, Ethnicity is seen as a resource to be used in times of competition.

In conclusion, the debate between primordialists and instrumentalists are one of stale-mate, so to speak. Both provide truths to some degree. Since ethnicity can be viewed as a group’s culture, traditions, and historic experiences. However, the instrumentalist view validates the concept of rational theory that ethnicities is also dependent upon contemporary opportunities which can be a useful instrument for social, political or economic purposes that may or may not be related directly to their ethnic origins. Individuals identify with a group for many reasons (as was noted above), but one overarching key factor is that the members of a group are by definition participating in a positive-sum game (Basuchoudhary, 2007). Cooperation yields benefits in excess of costs which are shared according to some rule. In interacting with other groups, however, the game frequently is zero-sum – one group’s gains are secured at another groups’ expense. (Basuchoudhary,2007). Participation in positive-sum game is not accidental but a rational choice. Ethnies are collections of individuals sharing a common self-ascription, that common self-aspiration is by choice. Furthermore, Hardin (1995) makes the case that it is possible to align an individual’s interest with a group’s interest, but that such alignment usually is detrimental to the interests of the members of other groups. In other words, successful alignment of self-interest and group interest weakens incentives to cooperate with other groups, which may come to be seen as adversaries. Hardin’s view is consistent with that of a long line of rational choice theorists who have looked at the issue of group identity. Ethnicity follows from rational choice it is only partly based on culture, myths of descent, historical memories, religion, customs, traditions, language, a specific homeland or institutions, it is just as much based on what people believe, or are made to believe, or yearn to have in order to create a sense of solidarity among those who are members of a particular ethnic group, excluding, and at times directed against, those who are not.

In todays world we have one common phenomenon which can be found in everywhere because of some political and sociological situations that our world has. The phenomenon is called as an ethnicity or racism, and normally the problem that we have can be called as ethnic conflict. As we know that conflict refers to some form of friction, discord arising, or disagreement within one specific group or between two different sides. Normally in order to have a conflict, there has to be some relationships, and all kinds of relationships can create one or more conflict in a given society as a group. According to Ross ; “Conflict occurs in virtually all communities, but there are important cross-cultural differences in its levels and forms” (Marc Howard Ross 304). As how Ross pointed out the importance of cross-cultural differences related with conflict, we have to know more detail information about one specific conflict to understand how it started and what kinds of effects does it has. As we know that ethnic conflict also shows a lot of differences from culture to culture. Therefore, firstly we have to define what ethnic or race conflict is. According to Ross ; “The term race refers to groups of people who have differences and similarities in biological traits deemed by society to be socially significant, meaning that people treat other people differently because of them” (Ross 308). Defining one phenomenon is one of the most challenging things, because all experts explain ethnicity or race in different ways owing to their different perspectives and knowledge background. The ethnic conflict mostly can be found in America and Africa continent. According to Payne ; “While it is common to associate racial and ethnic discrimination with blacks in United States, it must be pointed out that there are other groups which have experienced some things as blacks. Such as Native, Mexican, Puerto Rican Americans” (Charles Payne 1). Most specifically I focus on the conflict that America has between blacks and whites as an ethnic conflict, because the historical background of ethnic conflict is very ancient in America. Owing to the conflict that American society had in the past, we can see some irrefutable and irrepressible effects on people who live in America, most importantly on black people. As we know that the problem did not solve since the time period of American Civil War. This is because as I mentioned that the socio-cultural differences and the relationships between blacks and whites have different variables. Since the time of problematic period which can be called as inequality between black and white people or seeing black people as secondary American citizens, nobody can find reliable solutions for this case. Because of this unsolved problem, black American citizens who are also called as African Americans have been suffering both morally, politically, educationally and economically. In this research, my main concern is education related with how African American students are affected by ethnicity and racism in schools. Briefly, black students can be humiliated because of some ethnic problems that they face in their schools and I believe that the successes of African American students are affected by ethnic conflict because of three reasons which are historical background of ethnicity in America, social identity problems that African American students have and the problem of educational utility which is related with how African American students are educated and does the education effective. With these three reasons, mostly I focus on the effects of ethnic conflict in America between black and whites and related with all these information I will try to find most reliable and successful solution way in education to protect African Americans.

First of all, as we know that the historical background of ethnicity in America includes a lot of variables, and related with these factors I believe in the African American can be humiliated. This is because tribes about black people in America which play crucial role in decision making processes which are done by mostly white American people. In America we have general tendency to see African American people as a weak owing to the historical knowledge, A±f we look the side of racist white American people. Firstly, we have to point out that some things have changed and some things have not related with ethnic conflict case in America. According to Jim Wallis ; “What has not changed is the systematic and pervasive character of racism in the United States and the condition of life for the majority of African Americans. In fact, those conditions have gotten worse” (Wallis 198). Basically we can understand that the situations of African American people are still bad and can be worse than how it is now. As I mentioned that the tribes which cause worse conditions of African American people come from the past which is the time period of 1400 and 1500, and the ethnicity / racism started with slavery in American continent. Wallis explains the historical background of slavery very clearly with these sentences; “In the United States, the original purpose of black racism was to justify slavery and its enormous economic benefit. The particular form of racism, inherited from the English to justify their own slave trade, was especially venal, for it defined the slave not merely as an unfortunate victim of bad circumstances, war, or social dislocation but rather as less than human, as a thing, an animal, a piece of property to be bought and sold, used and abused” (Wallis 198). The thing is clear without any doubt, as we can see from Wallis’s thoughts that the slaves in the past were seen as an animal, and they did not have any civil right as human beings. As I mentioned that some things have changed by the time, according to Wallis what has change is described in this way ; “The personal racial attitudes of many white Americans and the opportunities for some African Americans to enter the middle levels of society. The word “middle” is key here, in so far as African Americans have yet to be allowed into most of the upper echelons and decision-making positions of business, the professions, the media, or even the fields of sports and entertainment where black “progress” has so often been celebrated” (Willis 199 ). As how Willis asserts that we have some recoveries, however despite the improvement of black American’s conditions in society, we have one problematic area which is not solved yet. This is also again related with the historical background of ethnic conflict in America. This area is called as education. In brief, historical background of slavery and the tribes that American society has related with racism are two important key feature of racist conflict which can be found in education.

Secondly, as I mentioned that ethnic conflict can be found in education, most specifically ethnic conflict force student to select their sides as an identity and it creates identity problems related with African American students, and also this problem affects African American youths’ academic performance. According to writers; “Although African American youths’ academic performance has received a great deal of attention from both popular media and research scholars much of this attention has focused on how African Americans compare academically to other racial groups” (Ciara Smalls, Rhonda White, Tabbye Chavous and Robert Sellers 299). We always compare the successes of different ethnic groups, owing to this tendency we have little concern about the causes of academic success or failure related with African American students. Rather than compering how Afro-Americans are more successful than other groups or not, we have to focus on the primary causes of academic success which can also be called as academic engagement. According to researches about this case; “Academic engagement encompasses linking one’s personal identity to the roles of student and learner , showing sustained curiosity and interest in class, and displaying intense efforts in learning tasks” ( Sellers et al. 300). However the ethnicity problem sets indestructible borders in front of African American students, because of their beliefs about race and ethnicity. It is explained by writer in this way; “it is likely that African American adolescents’ levels of academic engagement are influenced, in part, by their beliefs about the meaning of race and their experiences with racial discrimination” ( Sellers et al. 300).

Thirdly, educational utility is also main problematic issue which is related to how African American students are educated and does the education effective on Afro-American students despite the ethnic problems that most schools have. According to Rowley; “Educational utility is defined as the value that student places on doing well in school and on getting a good education” (Rowley 4). However in most part of United States, African American students show tendency to lower academic success, and all experts and sociologists like Rowley have been trying to find main causes of this unsuccessfulness. Basically Rowley evolved Cluster Analysis to easily understand the relationship educational utility, African American’s performance and the ethnic conflict’s effects on these students’ academic performances. According to Rowley; “Utility as having two dimensions that are relevant to African American students. The first dimension, idealistic educational utility, is based on the Protestant work ethic-hard work in school is directly related to success and the second dimension of educational utility values, is context-specific educational utility, and reflects the idea that education does not always result in occupational success-that because of discrimination, education is less useful for African Americans than it is for members of other racial or ethnic groups” (Rowley 5). Normally we can understand that we have two different dimensions for African American students. Firstly, hard working in schools like schools which have protestant work ethic can bring success to Afro-American students. Therefore according to Rowley’s analysis, African American students can only be successful in this type of schools. However this analysis also gives counter argument by saying that the context-specific educational utility cannot always be the way of successful education for African American students, this is because of contextual factors such as race, gender, and socioeconomic status constrain the value of education. Basically, we can say that the context-specific educational utility is not suitable as much as others, because the context-specific educational utility component also refers specifically to race and education.

If I take all these point into consideration, I can say that without any doubt ethnic conflict is one of the greatest problem in American society. They have been trying to solve it by using different ways. For example, African American students’ families try to protect their children by providing some new ways against the racial things that occur in American education system by using homeschooling. However educational problems related with ethnic conflict unfortunately is not solved yet. African American students suffer so much. For instance, they cannot take adequate education as much as how White American students are educated. Huge conflicts can be found in America, most specifically in education because of the historical background of ethnic conflict, identity problems that African American students have and the education utility related with how African American students take education and how does education affect their social condition. To solve these conflicts between ethnic groups in America most specifically between blacks and whites in education, we have to know historical background of ethnicity and effects of its on American society very well to find most reliable solution ways.

Ethics in research has been around since World War II and is still to this day a growing concern among researchers. The main aim of the researcher is to

“ensure that their studies are directed toward worthwhile goals and that the welfare of their subjects and their research colleagues is protected.” Alan Kimmel, 1988

There are several reasons why it is important for an investigator to adhere to ethical standards in research. First, some of these norms promote the aims of research, such as knowledge, truth, and avoidance of error. For example, prohibitions against fabricating, forging, or misrepresenting research data to promote the truth and avoid error. Second, since research often involves a great deal of cooperation and coordination among many different people in different disciplines and institutions, many of these ethical standards promote the values that are essential to collaborative work, such as trust, accountability, mutual respect, and fairness. For instance, one particular ethical norm, confidentiality, is designed to protect intellectual interests while encouraging collaboration among the participants. Third, ethical norms in research also help to build public support for research. People are more likely to fund research project if they can trust the quality and integrity of research (this particular example is relevant to the scenario being assessed.) Finally, many of the standards of research promote a variety of other important moral and social values, such as social responsibility, human rights, and compliance with the law

So although all these codes, policies and principles are very important and useful but like any set of rules they do not cover every situation that arises in research, they are often conflicting and require considerable interpretation. It is therefore important for the researcher to learn how to interpret, assess and apply various research rules and how to make decisions about how to act in various circumstances. The vast majority of decision making in the conduct of research involves the straightforward application of ethical policies.

Ethical issues that are encountered in applied social research are both subtle and complex, raising difficult moral dilemmas that, from the outside, appear unresolvable. With these dilemmas the researcher is required to strike a delicate balance between the scientific or social requirement of methodology and the human rights and values potentially threatened by the research.

Privacy and confidentiality are two ethical issues that are crucial to social researchers who request individuals to share with them their thoughts attitudes and experiences. The ethical social researcher is one who is aware of ways in which privacy and confidentiality may be jeopardised and safeguarded and is knowledgeable about the effects of privacy and confidentiality on consent.

“The nature of privacy concerns has changed over time as social scientists have become more involved in identifying social problems and testing possible solutions through field research (Boruch & Cecil, 1979)”

Organisational research focus is directed toward personnel – relating issues, including the testing and appraisal of employees for personnel decisions. In conducting these investigations, researchers and consultants may seek to improve on organisations capacities to achieve various goals (e.g. profit for a business, its employees quality of work life or the impact of the organisation on communities in isolate rural areas.

Evaluation research is a major type of applied research, typically undertaken by social scientists to determine if ongoing social programs are working as they should. Evaluations tend to focus on programs that are beneficial in nature, such as remedial education, health care and job training programs.

The results of an evaluation study, in revealing whether a social program is accomplishing what was intended can have immediate impact on social policy and political decisions regarding the program’s fate – whether it should be continued or stopped, its budget and personnel increased or cut backs made.

There are a number of vested interests in the design and implementation of evaluation studies and because their results are likely to affect people’s jobs, education and health. Like research conducted in organisations, evaluation research raises some unique ethical questions about whose interests are served an whose point of view should be represented during the research process (Kidder & Judd, 1986)

With this particular scenario there are two different situations where ethical issues will arise. Firstly, you begin to suspect that food is being stolen from the kitchen and the viability of the project may be at risk. From a researchers point of view suspicions would need to be backed up with hard evidence. If you were to say to you manager, you run the risk of them discharging you and not allowing you to carry out anymore research – how could you possibly imagine that of any of their staff? Although on the other hand if your manager was to take you suspicions on board and further investigate the matter over a closely surveyed period of time, they may benefit and appreciate your integrity that you hold with the company. In a case like this it is often difficult for the evaluator to separate their research role from their role as a work experience placement student. You have been promised the confidentiality of the staff and if you were to say anything about the stolen food it could affect your research and you rapport with the staff. The staff may turn against you and refuse to cooperate after you telling the boss on one of their colleagues.

Throughout the research you must remember what the objective is and if you remain silent with your suspicions, will your results in anyway end up being bias? This will reflect an untrue outcome and the company could face further scrutiny from the funding body.

There is also the legality aspect for the researcher to consider and stealing is against the law, could you live with yourself if you thought that you were covering up for a criminal, no matter how small the offence was? In failing to voice your suspicions Kimmel, (1988) stated you “legally could face prosecution as an “accessory after the fact” for failure to report a crime.”

If I were to be placed in this situation I personally would confront the manager of the company and explain my situation with regards to my research. I believe that stealing is wrong and should not take place no matter how big or small the offence is. Although I can understand why somebody may not say and not only put their research at rick but their social responsibility.

The second scenario where the researcher will be confronted by ethical dilemmas is in carrying out the interviews with some of the senior citizens that are receiving these ‘Meals on Wheels.’ To carry out interviews you will need the consent of the person involved, some elderly clients may not like the prospect of being intimated with questions. The elderly are of the vulnerable sector in our population and should be informed of why the interview is taking place and the effects that their answers could have on the survival and funding of the business while always remembering the objectivity of the research and expressing it in clarity to the senior citizens. The interview will involve asking how they feel about receiving their ‘Meals on Wheels,’ how they approve of the service and how would they feel if this service was to be taken away from them? This could cause distress and emotional shock among the elderly, especially if they thought that their opinion meant the deciding factor of whether the company received funding to continue its business. Many of the elderly could largely depend on this service and there must be no deception in making them fully aware why the interviews are taken place.

The senior citizens should be made aware that the researcher will be evaluating and publishing their results to the company and will have to give an open and honest account of what has been said in the interviews. The researcher is under the obligation from the code of ethics so as not to fabricate the data in anyway. The researcher, if a member of the local community, may feel tempted to fabricate the interview responses so as the company will receive their funding to finance this project as they realise how vital this scheme is for the elderly in this isolated rural area but as Kimmel noted personnel values may play a significant role in social research, therefore researchers must be careful enough to protect the integrity of their inquiries through careful data collection and analysis and accurate and objective reporting of their research findings.

If I were the researcher in carrying out the interviews I would make the elderly entirely aware of the project and encourage them to see how they are beneficiaries of it. This in return will boost their confidence of the company and help portray a better interview for the research. After all if you were a senior citizen who lived in an isolated area and the only person you may see everyday is the delivery driver of ‘Meals on Wheels’, wouldn’t you appreciate the service? Not only are they providing a food service but they also help to bring a warm and friendly atmosphere into the home.

In conclusion ethical decision making is neither a perfectly rational nor entirely timeless enterprise, and even after a considered judgement about the issues involved in a given situation has been made, doubts about whether or not one’s subsequent behaviour was ethical may remain.

As we continue to proceed with social research in applied settings, we can expect a growing wealth of documentation on the conditions under which certain interventions are successful in reducing certain social problems and on what side effects might be anticipated as a result of their implementation.

To proceed ethically it is important for social researchers to bear in mind that their first obligation is to those persons who cooperate with and participate in the research process, and that it is their interests that first must be considered during the preparatory stages of program development.

References
Kimmel, A (1988) Ethics and Values in Applied Social Research Sage Publications London

The Chinese ideal of a family follows the Confucian belief that the family should be big and complex. The father is to have as many sons as possible so that the son can fulfill his obligations to the father and their lineage [1] .

The family is very important for the Chinese that they even coined the term familism which is “the basis of a kind of society distinctive from any other kind in the world” [2] . This means that whatever the members of the family are doing should be only for the benefit of their family. Because of familism, a Chinese couple feels compelled to have at least one male child. The Chinese believe that having a son will benefit them in many ways and one of these is to ensure that their family line would be continued [3] .

The family in the Confucian view stresses the significance of hierarchy. Confucius also said that in a relationship, one should command and the other should obey. It is now known that the one who commands is the man or the elder, while the one who obeys is the woman or the younger person. The Chinese family is very paternalistic in a sense that it favors the men of the family more than the women [4] .

Unlike in the West, children in China were not as treasured by their parents. They were more of necessities for the families especially in the rural areas, so that they could help their parents with work in the fields. Sons were especially valued because of their ability to provide for their parents and to carry on their family name, something that the women can never be capable of doing [5] .

The men are also the only ones who have direct access to Heaven and they can perform rituals for their ancestors. The one who was in charge of the rituals is called the descent-line heir or the tsung-tzu [6] . For the Chinese, having a daughter would not be beneficial to them in any way because daughters would eventually leave them to join her husband’s family. She would worship their ancestors and serve his family. Having a son would be an assurance to a family; that the son would care for his parents and stay with them even after he gets married [7] .

The men of the family would also inherit the property that is left to them, and there is no way that a woman would be allowed to become heir to what has been left by the ancestors. An example of this would be the opposition of Chu Hsi, one of the most influential leaders of the Learning Way Movement, in his Family Rituals that a daughter cannot inherit her parents’ estate even when she had no (more) brothers. A woman, without brothers, inheriting the property of her parents was a Sung practice, but Chu Hsi emphasized that the males should be the ones inheriting the properties because if it were women, then “such property would be obtained ‘inappropriately’” [8] .

Everyone knows about how China is becoming more developed and as a result, the population of China has been growing rapidly. China had to do something about the population growth because the government was not able to meet the needs of the citizens anymore. To add to that, death rates were also declining. The government had different programs to prolong a couple from having a child such as encouraging them to get married late. This policy was implemented to answer the problems of overpopulation. Couples who abided by the policy would receive incentives, while those who decide to have more than one child would have to pay the sanctions [9] .

China’s one child policy was launched in the year 1979 by former Premier Deng Xiao Ping [10] . The main purpose of this policy is to stop the rapid population growth of the country that was clearly evident during the year 1949, when the population was nearly half a billion, the same time when the Chinese Communist Party was establishing itself and thought that this concern would hinder development [11] . The policy was not supposed to be permanent but because it was successful, they decided to continue implementing it. It was also not applied to all places in China. Places that do not practice the policy are Macau, Hong Kong and Taiwan, and in total only about 40% of the Chinese population practice the one-child policy [12] . The policy itself is not fully unreasonable since it had a practical purpose of controlling the population growth which was certainly necessary at that moment. The only time it gets out of hand is when the Chinese norm of favoring sons enters the picture. The fact that a family has to have only one child is absurd. How can the government of China expect to control millions of families in the country? Is this even possible?

In the urban areas, people found it difficult to resist this policy because of their social and economic conditions as well as the strict ruling of their leaders during that time. However, this is not the case in rural areas wherein active resistance could be seen everywhere. This is because of their children’s contribution to the typical Chinese agricultural family and “for their role in preserving the family line”. Because of the unfairness of this policy, a lot of people resisted in three forms: first was when the targets confronted the implementers of the policy; second was the escape from the policy by either “deceiving rural cadres or colluding with sympathetic ones”; third was to appear to be complying with what the state wanted but defying them at the same time. This means that the state succeeds when the couple would obey the state’s policy of having only one child (even if they want more), but the same couple would “reveal the influence of a counter-discourse that challenges the state’s ideological claim to dominate child-bearing” when they practice female infanticide. Couples would then resort to ultrasound technology, wherein a rural or urban couple can “engineer the sex” of their baby [13] .

The problem of population growth can be seen mostly in rural areas since “80 per cent of China’s population is rural and 87.2 per cent of births” occur there. The government tried to reason out with the peasants regarding the change in family size but they were not successful in changing their minds. By the year 1970, incentives and penalties were introduced as part of the two-child policy campaign. These were even highlighted during 1979, when the one-child policy was finally launched [14] .

Why the Chinese peasants preferred to have a large family is due to economic reasons. They felt that having a large family would bring more advantages for them, as compared to having only one child. The advantage would be that the family would receive “an allocation of grain distributed on a per capita basis”. The same goes for the allocation of land that is why people in the rural areas can expand their homes when they expand their families [15] . Sometimes, these children would help their parents by gathering materials related to the maintaining of the land such as water and fuel. They would also feed the animals and weed private plots. These tasks could be done even by children, thus it helps the parents prepare for the more rigorous chores. Their children are also the only large-scale investments of the peasants because sons join the work force and they eventually have to provide for their families [16] .

The preference for sons is also evident in the rural areas because they continue their family line, whereas most of the women get married outside their village, live with their in-laws and join their labor force. This preference is also reflected in a survey conducted during the year 1981. The participants are those couples who had a second child. 42.61 per cent of the 1000 participants had one son and 57.39 per cent had a daughter. When they were asked why they had another child, 50.5 per cent said that they wanted a boy and only 11.4 per cent said that they wanted a girl. This clearly indicates that majority of the respondents prefer a son over a daughter [17] .

Because they had to, the people from the rural areas used different methods to postpone the creation of children. Some relied on the low cost methods of contraception such as IUD and the second method is sterilization. However, those with only one child have a hard time using this method because they would consider having a second child in replacement of the first one just in case the first one dies or becomes disabled. They do not take pills that much because it is more expensive and supply could be a problem for them. In some rural areas, particularly in Sichuan, vasectomy was used. Both men and women had more complaints regarding the side-effects of this method because the men claimed to be “losing their strength”. However, this method became very effective because Sichuan was most successful in reducing its birth rate. There was also induced abortion, which was originally just a back up method and was not really meant to be an independent option for contraception [18] .

Despite the resistance, people still follow because there would be incentives and penalties enforced just to make sure that no one will go against the policy. Among the many incentives are a nutrition allowance, a full adult grain ration and free medical, educational and kindergarten facilities for the child. An example of the penalties on the other hand is the deduction of the couple’s income by 20 per cent from the time the second pregnancy is discovered but this 20 per cent will be returned to them if they had the child aborted. There are times when a couple is allowed to have a second child. Among these are if the first child suffers from a disability that would hinder him from working or if both are overseas Chinese who have just returned from another country [19] .

The policy was more successful in the urban areas than in the rural areas. This could be due to the aim of the government “that 95 per cent of the married couples in the cities and 90 per cent in the countryside will have only one child” so that by the end of the century, China could limit their population to about 1.2 billion [20] .

As early as 1955, family planning was being enforced in the urban areas of China [21] . Chen Da, a pioneering demographer, emphasized that people who received education overseas would more likely have less children because they have a background on birth control [22] . The people from the urban areas were more open and accepting of the one-child policy because for one, there were efforts to raise the status of the women by letting them enter into the labor force. Child bearing and rearing are not the only things that a woman is bound to do with all the work that she has [23] . The Chinese from urban areas also see children as more of an “economic liability” because it requires a lot of effort, attention and resources (like money) to raise them but these children contribute little to the lives of their parents [24] .

Different families have various practices or methods to get rid of a daughter. One of these is female infanticide or “the intentional killing of baby girls” [25] . The couple will resort to female infanticide to try their luck again hoping that they would get a boy the second time around (or kill the girl when the mother gets pregnant with a boy) [26] just so they could comply with the policy that was being implemented [27] . There are also hospitals in China that have “contraceptive technical guidance institutes”. These institutes have lower level workers who are trained in the four operations which are “tubectomy, vasectomy, insertion and removal of the IUD, and induced abortion” [28] . IUD and sterilization are widely used in China; in fact, as many as 50 per cent of the Chinese rely on IUDs and sterilization is the second most widely used form of contraceptive method [29] .

Partly because of these methods, it became possible for China to control its people. Again, the motive of preventing overpopulation is not a bad thing. In fact, it would be helpful to the government so that it could rule the country better. However, is this inhumane policy the only option that they had? Is it really success that they are achieving? Would they call this successful when they know that there are innocent babies killed along the way?

The Chinese may have controlled the growth of their population but they are also encountering problems as they go along with their one-child policy. This policy has prevented around 4oo million births, according to Chinese officials [30] . Because there are fewer children that are born, there is an expanding population of the elderly. This is a problem because there would be less number of young laborers in the future when the elderly die [31] . Another problem is the ratio of men and women because men have been outnumbering women already by about 60 million. This imbalance between men and women would make it difficult for the former to look for wives; therefore they can result to human trafficking of women and children [32] .

The policy is even crueler because of the inequality between men and women. The government has been addressing this issue saying that men and women must be equal at all costs and that this equality has to be promoted through media. People who commit infanticide, those who neglect or abandon their children or any act that would harm people especially female babies must be punished [33] . If the government really means this, then they could already stop with the payment of fines for having more than one child and just have a law against female infanticide, or better yet just abolish the policy.

Unfortunately, the Chinese will still be continuing this policy in the coming decades to control the population growth in their country [34] . According to the official and minister of the National Population and Family Planning Commission, Zhang Weiqing, China will not make any changes for about another decade because it has been effective in controlling their population growth. Since China’s population is growing by 17 million per year (according to China Daily as of 2008), abandoning the policy would have “major fluctuations in population growth”. Officials said that the one-child policy was the only choice that was available and realistic at the time of the construction of the policy, but they are now considering amendments to it, but abolishing it would cause many problems [35] .

The Philippines is also experiencing an event that is quite similar to the policy that China has implemented on its country for a long time. There may be many people in the Philippines, but they are still able to live their lives normally because the resources are sustaining them. There would be no poor people if only there was equal distribution of resources to all the Filipino people. The church also claims that poverty is not because of overpopulation but is due to the irresponsible and corrupt government that the country has [36] , but what exactly is overpopulation? As defined by Merriam Webster Dictionary, overpopulation is “the condition of having a population so dense as to cause environmental deterioration, an impaired quality of life, or a population crash” [37] .

The option that the lawmakers are considering is the Reproductive Health Bill that “promotes information on and access to both natural and modern family planning methods, which are medically safe and legally permissible” [38] . The difference of this from China’s one-child policy is the variation of the Filipino and Chinese mentality; that the former does not favor any gender because Southeast Asian countries tolerate both genders. The cause is the same-which is to control population growth, but the motive is different because while China intends to just control their population, the Philippines aims to eliminate poverty by controlling the population growth.

The cause may be reasonable but some parts of the bill are disadvantageous to the lives of the Filipinos, especially the Filipino women. Some institutions are supporting the RH Bill like the National Council of Churches in the Philippines or NCCP, saying that the Reproductive Health Bill does not necessarily promote anything illegal such as abortion [39] . However in the bill, it is said that women with post-abortion concerns will not be treated differently [40] . Does this mean that the government will still tolerate abortion even if they mentioned in the bill that abortion is illegal? Is what the NCCP saying about the bill not promoting abortion true?

Another is the mandatory sex education for elementary students [41] . Some parents have a difficult time explaining to their children about how they came to life or even talk about sex with them. Usually parents would wait for the right time to educate them about these things so that the child would understand better. If the law requires mandatory sex education, then these children will be more curious and try to experiment things and be exposed at a very young age.

Just like China’s one-child policy, the RH Bill may have a good purpose but its execution and some of the policies in it are not beneficial. The bill promotes responsible parenthood [42] –but does this responsibility involve the choice between having the baby and having the baby aborted?

If there is the belief that the Philippines is overpopulated, then why not use this to our advantage? Why not use the money for creating jobs instead of spending so much on contraceptives (or letting the corrupt officials keep the money) that will not bring any benefit to a person’s life? Our religion is also different from the Chinese. Filipinos do not see their children as economic liabilities because Filipinos are more emotionally attached to their children. The punishments in case of non-compliance stated in this bill will also have a great impact in the lives of the Filipinos who are compelled to comply with the provisions [43] .

Filipinos must be alarmed that there is so much poor people because the population is rapidly increasing that is why they are assuming that the country is becoming overpopulated and we need to solve this problem. However, the Philippines does not need the RH Bill because the country is not overpopulated. There is the assumption that poverty and overpopulation are connected, and by controlling the population, poverty will be reduced. According to Simon Kuznets, a Noble Prize Winner and author of Population and Capital Growth, there is no clear connection between overpopulation and economic development [44] . Places such as Singapore, Hong Kong, and Taiwan are overpopulated but still flourish. The population density of Taiwan is 1,460 per square mile but CIA’s “World Factbook 1999” stated that “Taiwan’s per capita gross domestic product is $16,500” [45]

What the Filipinos need is a better and more capable government instead of implementing an unnecessary law. As for China, they are also starting to question their own policy [46] and because they are already having doubts, then it is best that they reconsider executing it for another decade. By doing this, China would cease to harm innocent human beings and prevent the Philippines from following the footsteps of China in putting something unethical into practice.