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The headline read, “One out of 12 in America Held to be Illegitimate; Issuance of ‘Partial’ Birth Certificates Proposed to Avoid Embarrassments” (Staff, 1944, p. 4). The assertion conjures a mental image of hundreds of decadent, low socioeconomic status, immoral women and her filius nullius (Latin term meaning, “son of nobody”). Parents of the single, gravid woman were shamed, mortified or disgusted by the sexual promiscuity of their daughter; how they could face their friends after learning of the daughter’s transgression? Is this the first era of social stigma related to a child borne by an unmarried woman? The samplings of historical data below indicate no.

The Bible speaks often to a debauched woman and her bastard offspring. For example, Galatians 5:19-21 (English Standard Version):

19 Now, the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality,

20 Idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions,

21 Envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

Figure Lillian Gish (1926)In 1850, Nathanial Hawthorne wrote the “Scarlet Letter.” Set in a Puritan colony, his central character Hester Prynne, gave birth to an illegitimate daughter because of an adulterous affair. Hester was publicly shamed and forced to wear a red letter “A” on her chest, identifying her as an adulterer. She experienced cruelty, humiliation, and ostracism from the people of the community. She eventually realized the fortitude of her spirit. The novel is 160 years old, yet the moral dilemmas of personal responsibility, and consuming emotions of guilt, anger, loyalty and revenge are enduring.

“Unfair treatment and the stigma really permeate all aspects of society. It’s still expected that people will marry and that there’s something weird about you if you don’t.” Thomas Coleman

In the year 1944, when the above article appeared in The Pittsburgh Press, the institution of marriage before parenthood was the virtuous and accepted way of life. Women were expected to “love and obey” their husbands.

bas·tard (basaˆ?tE™rd) noun

a person born of parents not married to each other; illegitimate child

anything spurious, inferior, or varying from standard

Slang a person regarded with contempt, hatred, pity, resentment, etc. or, sometimes, with playful affection: a vulgar usage

Etymology: ME < OFr < bast- (also in fils de bast) (< ? Goth bansts, barn) + -ard, -ard: hence, one conceived in a barn (Webster's, 2010).

Vocabulary to describe the child borne of an unmarried woman varies throughout literature. Bastard is the most prolific term used in the earliest writings. A bastard is a person born out of wedlock whose father is not listed on the birth certificate and legal status is illegitimacy. Bastards had no right to inherit property from his or her parents except through a will. In the mid-20th century, discrimination against children born out of wedlock became subject to constitutional limitation under the provisions of the Fourteenth Amendment (Columbia, 2009, p. 1).

Illegitimate, love child, whoreson, spurious; terminology referring to the child borne of an unmarried mother may be perceived as vilifying the child. The mother, who’s referenced by the terms unwed, unmarried, or single, was a pariah. Often, the pregnant single woman was scuttled off to a residential home for unwed mothers.

The occurrence of out-of-wedlock births has been rising over the past 70 years. In the 1940s, fewer than five percent of the total births were out of wedlock (Ventura, 2009). In the 1940s and 1950s, unwed mothers were strongly encouraged to give their children up for adoption. Commonly, an illegitimate child raised by grandparents or married relatives believed the unwed mother was his sister or he was her nephew.

Between 1940 and 1960, the escalation of out-of-wedlock births was subtle. Since the 1970s, increases in the number, rate, and ratio of out-of-wedlock births have been dramatic. In addition, the size of the unmarried population has increased as a result of the high birth rates during late 1940s through the early 1960s, along with the unprecedented deferment of marriage by the baby-boomers (U. S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [DHHS], 1995, p. 4).

Little in the literature discusses the biosocial and psychosocial influences upon the child or the mother. However, researchers have gathered a multitude of statistics demonstrating the delayed cognitive development of the child of a single parent. Unwed teenage mothers and their children are more likely living in lower socioeconomic conditions. The mothers face multiple risks of dropping out of school and becoming part of the economic underclass (Drummond & Hansford, 1992, p. 529). The unwed mothers were perceived by society as “deadbeats ripping off the American taxpayer.” Additionally, the societal concern of Americans over teenage mothers was that “babies are having babies”; that 16 year old girls were too young and unprepared for the responsibilities of single parenthood (Whitehead, 2007, p. 6).

The negativity surrounding unmarried mothers and their children was rampant during the years prior to 1970. That is not to say the mind-set completely disappeared at the stroke of midnight on December 31, 1969.

The public opinion of unmarried mothers remains. How that opinion is manifested has undergone changes. The transformation of the single-parent family from uncommonness to an established family style was one of the most dramatic social changes of the 20th century. Only 1 in 10 children lived in a single-parent family prior to 1960. More than 1in 4 did so by the century’s end. Although the consequences of single parent family formation have received abundant scrutiny, less is known about the evolution of attitudes toward these families (Usdansky, 2009, p. 209).

Is the increase of non-martial births due to eroding morals? Or, is there more ambivalence and apathy towards the single parent lifestyle? The cognitive development of morals and culture in emerging adult (ages 18-25) continues through middle age (Berger, 2008, p. 483). During this phase of human development, the emerging adult thinking is more practical, more flexible, and more dialectical (Berger, 2008, p. 472). The cultural background likely affects the cognitive process (Berger, 2008, p. 481).

Cultural influences have an effect on religious belief development. The religious and spiritual growth of a genome progresses with stages of human development. Take the quotation below, for example.

“‘Marriage exerts less influence over how adults organize their lives and how children are born and raised than at any time in the nation’s history,’ the survey says. Between 1960 and 2005, the rate of unwed childbearing increased sevenfold, from 5.3 percent of all births to 36.8 percent. The survey finds that the average unwed mother ‘is more likely to be white than black, and more likely to be an adult than a teenager. aˆ¦’ The survey attributes this ‘sharp increase in non-marital births’ to ‘an ever greater percentage of women in the 20s, 30s, and older aˆ¦ delaying or forgoing marriage but having children.’ But more Americans than ever naively think they alone can make single-parenting work.”

“Day-to-day realities slowly undermine this optimism. Single parents who have been at it awhile know better than anyone how less than ideal their situation is. That’s one reason we can expect to see more and more single parents looking for outside support. Single mothers aˆ¦often long for a strong, caring male to enter their children’s lives. So it nearly goes without saying: The church has a unique opportunity at this cultural moment.”

“For years, we have been preaching the supremacy of the two-parent family, offering classes and seminars for young couples and familiesaˆ¦”

“A dramatic example, but boys without father figures and girls without mother figures have a strike against them. The latest national study shows that more children than ever are entering the world with such strikes. It’s an unprecedented cultural moment for Christians, to see if we can act less like individual consumers of spirituality and more like the family of God” (“The fatherless child”, 2007, p. 5).

On August 22, 1996, President Clinton signed into law the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996, Public Law 104-193, better known as the Welfare Reform Bill. This law changes how governmental financial assistance is administered.

On September 15, 2000, the Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Donna Shalala awarded five states $100 million ($20 million each) in for reducing the number of out-of-wedlock births. “Among the priorities of the 1996 welfare reform law were promoting parental responsibility and encouraging two-parent families,” said Secretary Shalala. “I’m very pleased to award these bonuses as an incentive to advance these important family goals” (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services [DHHS], 2000).

Is the child borne of an unwed mother destined to poverty, illiteracy, and a life of crime? Is the single mother doomed to never-ending disgrace and the topic for scandalous gossip? In the next chapter, evidence throughout the years reveals the picture is not all black.

“The moment a child is born, the mother is also born. She never existed before. The woman existed, but the mother, never. A mother is something absolutely new.” Rajneesh

The year 1992 marked a pioneering event on network television. The highly-rated CBS show “Murphy Brown” started the new season with Murphy Brown, a divorced news anchorwoman, become pregnant and choosing to have the baby and raise it alone. America’s pro-lifers jeered, while the pro-choices cheered. Even the presidential candidates had something to say. Vice President Dan Quayle declared that the Los Angeles riots were caused in part by a “poverty of values.” He went on to denounce the acceptance of unwed motherhood. “It doesn’t help matters,” Quayle complained, when Murphy Brown, “a character who supposedly epitomizes today’s intelligent, highly paid professional woman” is portrayed as “mocking the importance of fathers, by bearing a child alone, and calling it just another ‘life-style choice’ ” (“Murphy Brown”, 1992).

In 2006, Rosanna Hertz published her non-fiction book, Single by Chance, Mothers by Choice. She noted the Single By Choice (SBC) woman belongs to a distinct subgroup of single parents, who, out of a strong desire for a child, have made the active choice to go it alone. Moreover, she asserts the SBC route to parenthood does not necessarily seem to have an adverse effect on mothers’ parenting ability or the psychological adjustment of the child (Murray & Golombok, 2005, p. 1655).

From the early 1960s to the late 1980s, the percentage of women having a non-marital child increased by 50% among whites and by 24% among blacks (Currie, 2009, p. 37).

One research study hypothesized a preventive group intervention with SBC mothers can identify potential psychological risk factors and help mothers with sensitive aspects of parenting (Ben-Daniel, Rokach, Filtzer, & Feldman, 2007, p. 249). There is research indicating that women in the typical age group of SBC mothers (35 to 44) tend to experience more stress than younger mothers. Their lifestyle is well established; pregnancy and parenting are perceived by some as interfering with their chosen way of life, especially in her career. SBC women are often the oldest daughter in their family (Ben-Daniel et al., 2007, p. 263).

In the few studies that exist on children of single mothers, no significant difference has been found in the child’s emotional and social development. Likewise, the development of gender identity of children of single mothers, as compared with children raised in heterosexual families, was unaffected.

The results of the study revealed therapeutic gain: Reduction of stress, tension and guilt; helped mothers prepared for parenting by encouraging a positive self-image and perceptions of the child. Improving the SBC mother’s acceptance of her chosen family model therefore promoted her willingness to tell children their birth story (Ben-Daniel et al., 2007, p. 264).

The child must be aware that it is okay to come from a family background different from a friend’s or neighbors. Some children live with two parents, others with only their mother or a father. Recently, grandparents have become the newest faction of caregivers for their grandchildren. Other relatives, step-parents, friends, or guardians are examples for the child to ponder. As one SBC mother revealed to her son, Walt Disney’s famous mother and son elephant family never made reference to a father; and the mother and son seemed perfectly content.

“The child must know that he is a miracle, that since the beginning of the world there hasn’t been, and until the end of the world there will not be, another child like him.” Pablo Casals

The non-marital child and his mother faced prejudice, humiliation, taunts and sneers over the centuries. The hurtful monikers of bastard or illegitimate child are slowly giving way to kinder terms. The prevalence of single by choice, mother by choice women is increasing at the end of the first decade in the 21st century. The commonality of alternative family models and the quiet acceptance of them allay the self-consciousness of the mother and child. No longer does the solo parent with her child have to endure the social stigma of a virtual scarlet letter. When two are a family, the biosocial, cognitive and psychosocial development of the non-marital child is determined by nature and nurture, the environment of unconditional love and acceptance by his society, and the eternal affection of his mother.

The issue of economic growth has for several decades been at the fore-front of every country’s policy agenda and has been the most talked about phenomena spanning from the industrial revolution era up to date. With most of the world economies recovering from the shock and memories of the 2008 global economic downturn, the world still remains ascetically divided between affluent and underprivileged, democratic and authoritarian, just and unjust, orderly and chaotic. These differences are so conspicuously clear to even the casual spectator that we live in highly disjunctive times. This has generated a lot of explanations pinpointing to the underlying causal factors. Geography, climate, previous historic situations such as colonization among others have been propounded in support of this huge economic divergence.

However, cultural traits and its influence on economic growth seem to have been given less attention. The reason for this gap is easily traceable. Anything invoking cultural attributes, values and predisposition according to [1] Patterson (2006) has been pushed and sidelined within the field of social sciences and policy circles. One would therefore be wondering why such a marginalization? The obvious answer to this is simply due to the fact that culture is difficult to address on several levels. What is perceived as culture in one locality or region might not be applicable to another. This makes culture definitionally problematic. Its relativity and ambiguity affected by contextual factors is actually difficult to objectify and assess.

The focus of this thesis however, is to do an empirical study on this subject matter especially considering the fact that most research works such as Jiang Shixue (1998) and others have resorted to theoretical means of finding explanatory factors to buttress culture and its relationship to economic development. To make this paper distinctive enough, we employ a multidisciplinary approach in which a wide array of data set from 948 countries would be considered for sampling from the world value survey database from 1981 to 2009. Our tasked would be to sample out 30 countries across the six continents with their distinctive cultural values. These cultural values sampled from the selected 29 countries would be regrouped into four main indices- instrumental rationality, affectual rationality, value rationality and traditional rationality. The detail of these headings would be covered in subsequent sections. Corresponding economic variables such as real GDP per capita, human capital captured as in gross school enrollment at different levels and physical capital ( employment levels) measured by the value of gross fixed capital formation would as well be collected to match the sampled countries.

1.1.2 Motivation

Recent causal factors on economic growth have been expounded from different angles and theories. These divergent views have established a somewhat two strands or schools of thought. The first and widely known group is the neoclassical group based on Solow’s growth model which emphasizes the importance of investment. The second and most recent group- known as the theory of endogenous growth propounded by Romer and Lucas has also shed more light on the essence of human capital and innovation capacity (technology).

Besides these two economic think tanks, there have also been other contributions from Myrdal’s cumulative causation theory and another from the New Economic Geography School (NEG). Others such as Jiang Shixue (1998), Granato, Inglehart and Leblang (GIL; 1996), Papamarcos, Watson, Fukuyama (1995; 1996), Weber (1958), Jonathan (2009), Jackman and Miller (1996a), McClelland et al (1953; 1961), Landes (1998) have all highlighted on the significant role of non- economic factors play on economic growth. The emergence of this area has given rise to yet another distinction between what Petrakos et al (2007) termed as ‘proximate’ and ‘fundamental or ultimate’ sources of growth.

However, with the exception of few of these works, most publications on economic development have centered on the ‘proximate’ sources of growth. The proximate group advocate on issues such as accumulation of capital, labor and technology. On the ‘ultimate’ group, most research works (see Weber, Jiang Shixue) have been done theoretical without empirical backing. It is only in most recent times that others such as Granato et al (1996) and Jonathan Hanson (2009) correlated cultural factors to economic growth with data collected from the world values survey database. For instance, in the work of GIL (1996), that was developed based on the shortcomings of McClelland et al (1953; 1961), collected data from 25 countries from the world value survey database. They systematically tried to test the robustness of “achievement motivation” index on economic growth. As part of their findings, they concluded that there exist significant relationship between achievement motivation index and economic development. However, their work received a lot of critiques from James Miller, Jackman and most recently by Jonathan Hanson (2009). These criticisms span from the sample size to the inability of their model to predict the future except the past. Jonathan Hanson (2009) in an attempt to address and assert on GIL’s findings, has also tested the validly of earlier results and has concluded that there is no such relationship between achievement motivation and growth. He did this by increasing the sample size from 25 to 42 countries and also extended the years from 17 years to 27 years period.

From the above developments, it is evident that the ‘ultimate or fundamental’ source of growth has had limited attention and that findings on the relationship between cultural factors and economic development has not been straightforward. We are therefore left to wonder if there exist any sort of relationship between cultural factors and economic development. If yes, can it be measured and its effects compared with traditional economic factors such as savings and investment? These questions and others would constitute the basis of my research objectives. My desire to do this research work is therefore informed by the questions raised above and the huge vacuum in research publications in this area. Also, considering the fact that all the research works on this area seems to follow similar pattern, that is, they all employ the same index (achievement motivation) in their test. This paper would somehow differ by employing a different approach that would seek to go beyond this by aggregating cultural traits into four indices.

1.1.3 Aims and Objectives

The objective of this research is to answer the question posed in our motivation by identifying and investigating if there are any relationship between cultural traits and economic growth. To achieve this, our aim would be to try to assign quantities and measure these cultural traits empirically. Specifically, the research would focus on data sets from across the six continents, advanced, emerging and LDCs. We would build cultural traits indices on the basis of rationality as defined by Max Weber.

1.1.4 Hypothesis of the Study

The following null and alternative hypotheses have therefore been set and the research would seek to prove the validity of each hypothesis formulated:

H0: Culture is positively associated with economic growth with high level of IR/ VR and low levels of TNR/ANR

H1: Culture is negatively associated with economic growth with low level of IR/ VR and high levels of TNR/ANR

1.1.5 Significance of the Study

Just as we highlighted in our rationale as to the vacuum in research as far as this area is concern, it is our expectation that this work would fill the gap in research publications. Our findings as to whether cultural values have strong correlation with growth or not would also go a long way to give an empirical meaning to the numerous theoretical publications on this subject matter. Given our distinct approach coupled with the large sample size of 52 countries across the six continents and the depth in data set spanning from 1981-2009, we believe our result would hold more credibility. Our result would lay to rest the discrepancies in findings by Granato et al (1996) and Jonathan (2009) by affirming either of their results. The policy recommendations that would be outlined based on our result findings would be very useful to policy makers and the world of academia.

Limitation

We encountered a lot of shortcomings in undertaking this research work. To begin with, our chosen topic in itself poses a lot of problem as it is not straightforward to deal with. Its subjectivess was a cause to worry to us. The immaterial nature of culture traits quantitatively was also another bottleneck to us. There are no quantitative data representing cultural traits. We had to rely on world value survey and European value survey responds to represent culture traits in quantities. This approach is tedious and time consuming. Last but the least, the time allotted for students to write their thesis is not enough. We were given approximately three months to come out with this thesis report. Originally, our aim was to go beyond the sample sizes of the different literatures we have reviewed, but time did not permit us to do so. We had to settle on 30 countries.

Outline

This thesis report is divided into eight main parts. Section one gives a general overview of the intended work encompassing background, research motivation, limitations and research outline. Section two devotes attention on the various literatures in lieu to this research. Section three looks into how culture has been perceived and defined from different perspectives and dimensions. Our aim in doing this is to identify the various traits as in culture. Section four deals with the methodology and specification of the model employed. We move on to describe our data set, sources and the countries involved in section five. We move on to Section six which is the empirical aspect in which our economic and cultural variables are co-tested and interpreted. Sections seven and eight attempts summarizing the result findings and its implication and further conclude with recommendations in a respective manner.

CHAPTER TWO
REVIEW OF RELEVANT LITERATURE

2. INTRODUCTION

This part of the paper takes a critical look at some of the works already been done as far as our subject matter is concern. To do this, our quest would be to review relevant literatures and approach employed by other writers. Our target would be to consider all explanatory factors that shares relevance with economic growth as proposed.

2.1 LITERATURE REVIEW

There is more than enough literature on sources of economic growth but amongst these sources, little seems to have been done on culture, as a factor that could induce development. The reason for this negligence is easily traceable, perhaps due to the complications and ambiguities attached to this subject matter. Culture is dynamic and harbors a lot of relativities hence making it quite difficult in ascribing a definite definition.

For instance, theories such as the one developed by Solow (1956), and publications by Romer (1986), Lucas (1988), Aghion and Howith (1992), Barro (1990), Grossman and Helpman (1991) acknowledges and therefore highlighted three sources of growth: new knowledge, innovation and public infrastructure. Another batch of literature, that is not widely known in academic circles is the growth theory of cumulative causation developed by Mydal (1957) and Kaldor (1970) that argues growth emerges from centrifugal effects ( positive spillovers) that’s spreading growth from more to less advance economies. This theory implicitly shares a lot of commonalities with endogenous growth. In another view, Krugman, 1991; Fujita et al, 1999 tried using the New Economic Geography (NEG) theory to explain the possible sources of growth. They assert that economic growth tends to be an unbalance process favoring the initially advantaged economies. This theory focus on location of economic activity, agglomeration and specialization rather than growth, but indirectly, growth outcomes can be sourced from this model.

When observed in a more macro point of view, other theoretical approached have emphasized the significant role non-economic factors play on economic performance. In other words, institutional economics have embraced the emerging roles of institutions [2] , economic sociology stressed out the importance of socio-cultural factors [3] , political science placed its clarification on this emerging subject on political determinants [4] and others have shed light on the role played by geography [5] and demography (Brander and Dowrick, 1994; Kalemli-Ozcan, 2002).

Granato et al (1996), Huntington (1996); Temple and Johnson (1998); Landes (2000); Inglehart and Baker (2000); Zak and Knack (2001); Barro and McCleary (2003); in recent years have done some research on how socio-cultural factors may affect growth. Most of them used different approaches and data sources to buttress their points. As part of some of their findings, it was concluded that there is a significant relationship between cultural factors and growth. However, Authors like Granato, Inglehart and Leblang (GIL 1996) have come under serious criticism. For instance Jackman and Miller claim that it is impossible to measure the stability of democracy as purported to have been measured in GIL’s work. Jackman and Miller cited the reason that levels of democracy have changed greatly over the last two centuries.

Jiang Shixue (1998) carried out a theoretical study on cultural factors and its role in changing the economic positions of most East Asia and Latin American economies. His aim was to compare how economic growths in these two regions have been shaped by cultural factors or values. In his findings, he was of the view that Confucianism as a cultural value has contributed immensely to East Asian Development as compared to its Ibero-Catholic or Hispanic counterpart in Latin America. He argued that Confucianism encourages thrift, savings (which is core to investment) and education. We are made to understand that, in the mid 1960s, the savings rate in most East Asian countries was 35 percent. However, this was not the case for most Latin America economies that were by then struggling to overcome high inflation rate, which kept interest rate negative. Their saving rate was therefore 16 percent, one half of their Asian counterparts.

Jonathan (2009) used similar approach by Granato et al (1996) to test how correlated achievement index is to economic growth. As opposed to the findings of GIL, Jonathan extended the data sample years from 1991-2008. An empirical test was thus carried out with the same data from world value survey. Jonathan concluded that there is no such relationship between achievement motivation index and growth as may have been reported by GIL.

Muhammed et al (2010) have recently done an empirical research on cultural values and economic growth in Asia. They used the traditional growth model as built by Solow and Lucas to test cultural values collected from world value survey database (1995-2007). Presence in their model was factors such as investment in human capital and per capita income since it is an established fact these factors have had positive correlation with economic growth. They augmented these economic variables with cultural variables such as trust, respect, self-determination and obedience. Their findings were quite similar to Granato et al (1996). They saw that obedience as a cultural value bears a negative correlation to economic growth. However, the other two traits indicated a positive correlation to economic growth. They summed these up to conclude that there is a strong and robustly positive impact of cultural traits on growth.

In addition, the effect of economic growth are thought to be related to the elements of culture that affect production and investment decisions, efficient allocation of resources, technological innovation and openness to trade. Altman (2001) models the impact of culture on economic growth by arguing that work effort is maximized when the cultural environment stimulates cooperative work, which is positively correlated to labor productivity. In the same direction, Faria and Leon-Ledesma (2004) also argue that cultural values that emphasis hard work affects labor supply. In their views, work is like a habit forming. They indicated that in the case of habit forming, the labor supply is higher than neoclassical case and can further lead to higher level of consumption, capital stock and output.

Cozzi (1998) also asserts that culture affects technological innovations. He however points out that culture in itself bears no utility and that its survival is linked to its positive effects on productivity. Cozzi generated technological innovations as an externality in his model by the aggregate investment in bubble culture. In a similar study, Johnson and Lenartowicz (1998) investigated the relationship between cultural factors and economic growth. They concentrated on values like uncertainty avoidance, conservatism and hierarchy (economic freedom and economic growth). They found a strong and robust relationship between economic freedom and economic growth and weak uncertainty avoidance and high level of individual autonomy.

Yuriy and Roland (2010) in their preliminary research publication investigated the relationship between cultural variables and growth by constructing an endogenous growth model. They used individualism-collectivism as the main cultural traits and sought to predict how this trait has a bearing on growth. Their work was an improvement of Hofsede (2001) who used surveys among IBM workers in 30 countries. Yuriy and Roland expanded this number to 80 countries. Their results were quite similar to Hofsede’s work. They found a strong and robust relationship of culture traits on long-run economic growth. They conclude that individualism should lead more to innovation due to the social rewards and that this cultural effect may offset negatives of bad institutions on growth.

From the vast array of literatures, it is quite evident that our approach is different from the others. Our decision to aggregate the various cultural traits on the basis of reason affirms this notion. Our collection of more traits to form distinctive indices transcends what others have done.

CHAPTER THREE
DEFINITION AND AGREGATION OF CULTURAL TRAITS

3.0 INTRODUCTION

In this section, we seek to give a general picture as in the definition of culture as understood by several authors. We would move a step further by proposing and outlining our working definition by our own understanding of what culture is. On the basis of our definition, we then group the various cultural traits under the various level of rationality as mentioned in our introductory part.

3.1 DEFINITION OF CULTURE

To understand how culture can affect economic growth, we would attempt to define it in several ways in order to capture some of the traits as used. However, [6] culture just as we pointed out in our introduction is difficult to define. Its subjectiveness makes it a bit difficult to objectify. Nevertheless, in the light of these difficulties, certain writers have been able to define it to suit their various works or purposes. [7] This has brought some sort of enmity between historical economists and these scholars (culture writers) who are fans of culture.

These subjectiveness in culture definition prompted people like A.L. Kroeber and Clyde Kluchohn to list about 160 definitions in their work between 1871- 1951. Ian Jamieson surveyed 160 definitions of culture that were in use by anthropologists, sociologists, psychologists and others.

Earlier usage of the word “culture” has always been designated the cultivation or tending of something like “agri-culture”. It was during and after the 16th century that there were some modifications. There has since been an extension to include the cultivation of prestigious human qualities like mind, manners, spirit, sensibility and taste. The 18th century elite Europeans used the term culture to distinguish between the highly refined civil cultivation achieved by privileged western Europeans and what was generally perceived as the relatively primitive development of such human qualities both in non-Europeans and the poor. The term however received its first usage to signify a noun when it was used by a German Historian Herder implying that all peoples “had” a culture.

The term has since then seen changes from time to time. For instance, Tylor defined culture in the classical book primitive culture (1871) as ” that complex whole which includes knowledge, beliefs, art, morals, law, customs and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society”. Others such as [8] A.L Kroeber (1948) have described culture as consisting speech, knowledge, beliefs, customs, art and technologies, ideals and rules; what is learned from other man, from elders and what is added to it. In 1952, Kroeber and Clyde Kluchohn added new dimension to the notion of culture. They stated that culture consists of patterns both explicit and implicit, of and for behavior acquired and transmitted by symbols, constituting the distinctive achievements of human groups including their embodiment in artifacts. They argued that the essence of culture lies in tradition- historically derived and selected, ideas and their attached values; a cultural system may on the other hand be considered as a product of action and on the other hand as a conditioning element of further action. Succinctly, culture is the total social heritage acquired by man as a member of the society. This definition argues that culture is shared and has distinctive forms or patterns that it shapes human behavior and its essence is the values embodied in the beliefs of the people.

Lawrence Harrison (1997) also tried to define culture in a simple manner. He stated that culture is a set of values and attitudes that guide the actions of individuals and the interaction of people within society. He defines ‘values’ as ideals or norms of behavior to which a society attaches importance, and “attitude” as ways in which people learn to respond to facts, circumstances and issues.

Others like Nobel laureate and economic historian Douglass North views and defines culture in the realm of institutions and institutional change. He views culture as “the transmission from one generation to the next, via teaching and imitation, knowledge, values and other factors that influence behavior”. Douglas continues to say that culture provides a language-based conceptual framework for encoding and interpreting the information that the senses are presenting to the brain.

Fukuyama (1995) defines culture as “inherited ethical habit”. He was of the opinion that this definition which draws on both culture and social structure comes closer to understanding the word. Huntington (1993) also defined culture on the basis of civilization. He argues that civilization is a cultural entity. Civilization according to him is the highest cultural grouping of people and the broadest level of cultural identity people have short of that which distinguishes humans from other species. He identifies language, history, religion, customs, institutions and the subjective self-identification of people as the major elements of culture.

We can infer from the above definitions and descriptions that culture as a subject matter is not that straightforward to tackle. However, it is also evident that there are a lot of commonalities in the definitions and opinions as shared by some of these writers. The sort of core elements some of them mentioned was quite similar and kept appearing in each other’s work. In this research work, we define culture simply as the implicit force that prompt individuals to behave in a certain rational manner (action). These implicit forces are the set of values imbued in the individual by learning. Defined this way, we can appreciate that culture does not only affect social norm but also economic activities like the propensity to consume and save, fertility choices, investment in education among other economic variables. These implicit force(s) are open to changes from time to time. We view this definition to be synonymous to the ones given by Max Weber, A.L Kroeber and Clyde Kluchohn and Lawrence Harrison.

Invariably, the complex and vast nature of culture as a concept involves a lot of elements which makes it too general to be captured by a single traits, idea or object. Thus when one intends to examine the role of culture on economic growth, one has to look for a proxy for culture. Previous studies to infer economic growth from culture have relied on [9] historical evidence without any quantitative backing. The end results of these studies have been criticized on the basis of its subjectiveness. We seek to use a cultural proxy that can be tested and validated to give a particular outcome.

3.2 AGGREGATION OF CULTURAL TRAITS

In aggregating the various cultural traits to form an index as described and defined by the various writers above, we sought to rely on the definition by [10] Max Weber (1978). Weber defined culture on the basis of rationality or action. Weber defines “action” as behavior invested with an individual’s subjective meaning and culture is “a segment on which human beings confer meaning and significance”-we can conclude that culture, in its very nature, is reflected in people’s action. All individual action may be oriented in four ways: instrumentally rational, value-rational, affective (especially emotional) and traditional rationality. [11] Our task hereafter is to identify the various traits as it’s related to the level of action or rationality mentioned.

3.2.1 Traditional Rationality

Traditional rationality or behavior is determined by long standing habits. They are actions which are carried out due to tradition, because they are always carried out in such a situation. An example would be putting on clothes or relaxing on Sundays. Some traditional actions can become cultural artifacts. It is expressed in terms of social rules, with violations interpretable as cheating – as defections from cooperative norms. If you want me to accept a belief from you, you are obligated to provide me with a certain amount of evidence. Traditional Rationality is phrased similarly to the customs that govern human societies, which makes it easy to pass on by word of mouth. Humans detect social cheating with much greater reliability than isomorphic violations of abstract logical rules. But viewing rationality as a social obligation gives rise to some strange ideas.

Here, we try to identify in our responses traits that fall under [12] TR. Possibly, as inferred from its definition above, our focus would be on democracy, belief, religion, obedience, respect, trust, faithfulness, thrift, hard work and leisure. Collecting a set of these traits would help us to come out with TR index.

3.2.2 Affective Rationality

Affective Rationality is strongly associated with strong feelings (emotional) for something. Emotions are an integral part of being human; we all express them and they shape the character and contents of our lived experiences. Emotion is functionally integrated alongside cognition in how we reason. Specific traits that relates to [13] AR include care, tactfulness, love, patriotism, religion, peace, revenge, loyalty, and confidence. Those actions are taken due to one’s emotions, to express personal feelings. For example, cheering after a victory, crying at a funeral would be emotional actions.

3.2.3 Value-Rationality

Value rationality is determined by a conscious belief in the intrinsic value of acting in a certain way. Value-rational action, wert rational is a social action which is taken because it leads to a valued goal, but with no thought of its consequences and often without consideration of the appropriateness of the means chosen to achieve it (‘the end sanctifies the means’). Specific traits that relates to [14] VR include hard work, confidence, frugality, generosity, grandeur and determination.

3.2.4 Instrumental Rationality

Instrumental rationality is determined by a consciously calculating attempt to achieve desired ends with appropriate means. This is direct opposite to VR. It is pursued after evaluating its consequences and consideration of the various means to achieve it. They are usually planned and taken after considering costs and consequences. Specific traits that fall under [15] IR are hard work, tactfulness, confidence, speech, thrift, discipline, commitment, worldly achievement.

CHAPTER FOUR
METHODOLOGY, MODEL SPECIFICATION AND DATA DESCRIPTION

4. INTRODUCTION

Chapter four introduces us to the methodology and model we employed. This section also exposes us to the fundament Cobb Douglas function and the extension of this function by Mankiw, Romer and Weil. The 29 countries involved in the research work are also introduced in this chapter. We also explain how we derived our cultural traits from the data collected. The build-up of all this brings us to our own model, the Solow augmented exogenous growth model.

4.1 METHODOLOGY AND MODEL SPECIFICATION

To account for the contribution of factor accumulation and measure the impact of the different factors in the economic growth, this paper employs the input-output data model. Capital from other forms of physical capital and human capital inputs and some cultural traits that produce output in the form of real GDP.

For this purpose, the model taken is the original Robert Solow (1956) model of exogenous growth with technological progress. The centerpiece of the standard neoclassical growth model developed by Solow is an aggregate production function of the form:

Yt = KI± t (At Lt) 1-I± 0Where Y is output, K is capital, L is labor and A an index of technology o

This research paper provides insights into the Political Organization, Gender Relations, and Beliefs and Values of the agrarian state and cultural practices of the Nayar people of southwestern India. By understanding the Nayar culture, people may better understand and appreciate cultural differences between the Nayar culture and that of their own.

In the essay, “Some Aspects of Nayar Life” Panikkar (1918) states, “The Nayars are at present an essentially agricultural population. The vast majority of them are peasant proprietors owning small farms. Rice and coco-nuts are the chief things cultivated, though in North Malabar pepper and card oman have also their share” (p.285).

It should also be noted that “states are much more complex and stratified than chiefdoms, so it is not feasible to rely solely on kinship as a recruitment method. In state systems, land ownership and occupation are at least as important as kinship as a system of organization; the state itself becomes a key institution of organization.” (Nowak, et al., 2010, ch.7.8, n. p.).

Of particular interest is the fact that the Nayar as with other caste societies, marry within their own caste. While this similarity with other endogamous societies helps to preserve the class of people, the Nayar marriage practices vary considerably from other agrarian states and caste for which I explain later.

Political Organization

The political system among the Nayar people has as with most cultures that have been the target of colonialism and capitalism, seen considerable change over last several hundred years. Much of the former kinship, matrilineal and political structures and systems of the Nayar culture have all but vanished. Kathleen Gough (1952), stated that “Later in the nineteenth century, more deep-rooted economic changes took place, and these have increased in momentum until all the traditional groupings of caste, village and lineage are dis-integrating” (p. 79).

The political and economic influence during the later part of 19th century by the British probably had the most notable impact on the Nayar people. European military forces and government structures as well as the introduction of machines played a significant role in the changing political and economic structures and systems as well as building of permanent roads and railroads.

The introduction of new trading opportunities, realignment of jobs, tighter controls to ensure peace, increased use of monetary currency, and broader reaching governmental jurisdiction across caste and villages played a vital role in redesigning the Nayar culture and politics as well.

Evidence of this breaking down of prior systems has been described as “The expansion of trade, the introduction of new technological devices, and the opening up of new occupations, produce new economic classes between which there is mobility, and which to some extent cut across the affiliations and ranking of caste. ” (Gough, 1952, p. 81). Through the elimination of caste ranking, socioeconomic and sociopolitical class rankings no longer limit Nayar people from changing class levels and limits have become more aligned with performance and education.

With the introduction of formal government, monetary systems, increased import and export as well as technological advances, the former Nayar methods of controlling the distribution of wealth, food and other trade labor as well as class distinctions have resulted in a more capitalistic society. Along with these changes, the Nayar people are increasingly integrating practices common in more advanced capitalistic and socialistic society forms of government, business, and family relationships.

Gender Relations

Anthropologists studying the Nayar society of southwestern India continue to struggle with defining certain aspects of gender relations in a western context. One such area of significant interest and difficulty is in contrasting Nayar marriage with marriage in western society and terms. While marriage may be seen by many as a cultural universal even in consideration of variations such as polygamy, the Nayar marriage purpose and experience is quite different from marriages in most other societies. Perhaps, such significant differences would be more understandable if a different term other than marriage was used to represent Nayar marriage.

One example of the differences in Nayar marriages as stated by Miriam Koktvedgaard (2008) was that “The Nayar of India practiced a form of non-fraternal polyandry in which several men were simultaneously the ‘husbands’ of one wife. Usually only the first husband underwent a ritual marriage with the woman before she entered puberty” (p.11). This cultural practice appears to be an extraordinary characteristic of the Nayar unlike most other marriage constructs. Not so much perhaps as a woman having multiple simultaneous husbands although rare, but having ritual marriages with a woman that has not reached puberty.

In order to further elaborate on the marriage of girls that have not yet reach puberty, I should explain that “Before a girl reaches puberty, a Nayar girl is married to a man as a rite of passage. The man she marries has no rights to the girl, and she has no obligation to him. When she is older, the girl is allowed to enter into other marriages and have children with those husbands.” (Nowak, et al., 2010, ch 7.8, n.p.)

Anthropologist suspect that by maintain a loosely committed marriage relationship with both men and women being sexually active with other mates or spouses, it allows men to stay away for long periods of time with little affect on the family system.

Another characteristic of the Nayar gender relationship was with regard to the definition of the domestic unit or nuclear family in that “The central Nayar domestic unit consisted of a mother, her daughters and their children; husbands and wife did not set up house together” (Koktvedgaard, 2008, p. 11).

While for some it may be difficult to show proper respect for the differences in marriage practices and to fully comprehend how the standard definition of a domestic unit that does not include a husband or father could exist, these are important distinctions remain.

Interactions by an outsider with beliefs that differ from Nayar gender relations and beliefs could easily produce criticisms or a sense of condemnation which could quickly derail otherwise honest attempts at gaining progress or cooperation. It has been recognized however that the influence of British colonization and the exposing of criticisms and by force that the matrilineal change to patrilineal form of family organization has been made.

Beliefs and Values

Over thousands of years of considerable influence by mainstream religious faith denominations such as Christianity, Judaism, and Hinduism, the Nayar have been substantially un-phased in adopting one of the recognized religions.

Evidence of the lack of adoption of a primary religion by the Nayar is stated as “Nothing shows so much the extreme persistence of primitive culture, even in the face of higher civilising agencies, than the wide and almost universal acceptance of spirit-worship, and the almost entire absence of religious life among the Nayars after at least twenty centuries of contact with Hinduism ” Panikkar, (1918), p.277.

While the Nayar do use Hindu temples for worship and ceremonies, the nature of these particular practices are not recognized under any Hindu creed or other religion for that matter. The Nayar belief in magic and spirit worship continues although they are recognized leaders in literature and music within their culture and subsequently would not be considered uncivilized.

Another characteristic of the Nayar people is where they fit within a caste society. “A caste is an endogamous social grouping into which a person is born and within which a person remains throughout his or her lifetime. It is an ascribed position.” (Nowak, et al., 2010, ch 7.8, n.p.). Within these groupings, marriages and other interactions which were tightly controlled even forbid physical touch across caste. With the capitalistic evolution and exposure to western culture, the adherence too many of the cross-caste practices continue to see change.

The impact on discussions or considerations concerning life, business or religion with Nayar people considering both the likely absence of common religious beliefs and belief in magic and spirit worship could be significant. Consider a Christian believer entering into discussion with a Nayar community by condemning Nayar core religious beliefs in hopes of collecting contributions for acquiring land for a new church. In this example, it is unlikely this approach would succeed given criticism of beliefs as a basis for support.

If religious beliefs vary as significantly as I have described, what is valued is also in conflict. These differences would then become obstacles in coming together towards common goals if not taken into consideration prior to presenting a position introducing mutually beneficial outcomes in which both parties increase items or results of value.

Conclusion

The Nayar depended largely on rice for food and to a lesser extent vegetables, fish, and poultry. The formation and growth of families was largely relative to the amount of land they owned and the class of house. The ownership or family structure that developed as a result was more of a community or corporate type of ownership model which was significantly linked to the women and her side of the family in years past.

The Nayar are heavily involved in politics and other forms of industrialized production observable by the number of local printing businesses while continuing their tradition of agriculture. In many ways, the Nayar people and culture has adopted many aspects of American and European culture.

By gaining a better understanding of the Nayar political organizations, gender relations, and beliefs and values, people from other cultures will better understand and appreciate the cultural differences. This enhanced awareness will be beneficial in helping to offer solutions to problems in government, business growth, housing, and as other forms of industry are introduced or sought out.

New ways of thinking can often illuminate new ideas that would not come to light using our conventional and most natural modes of reasoning. We can be stretched in dynamic ways by altering our methods or approaches to our thinking. Several methods of thinking include exploration of the unconscious, symbolic systems, radical Synthesis, hermeneutic analysis, among others. For me, the hermeneutic form of thinking has the most unsettling effect upon my mind. A hermeneutic approach has experience a revival in recent times in the wake of influential thinkers such as Jacques Derrida, Michel Foucault, and others. These hold a significant place in the present intellectual climate in the Western world. For this essay, I decided to use a hermeneutic approach to analyze a particular cultural phenomenon. Cultural phenomena are of vital importance for study since they represent aspects of human nature (en masse) that are impossible to extrapolate independently. Not only are they interesting to study, but they maintain continual interest for elites and common people alike. It is not a stretch to state that these phenomena successfully capture the population’s imagination. In this particular essay, I will look at the cultural phenomena of the celebrity using hermeneutic analysis. The hermeneutical way of thinking, in this case, won’t apply to a given text but rather to the social phenomenon of “celebritydom”. By thinking about social phenomena in a hermeneutical way, one can look at a subject that rarely gets such scrutiny and hopefully begin to find understanding as to why our societies are so enthralled by the celebrity narrative. The development of a new form of “celebritydom” can be understood in a new way by understanding the context, audience, media sources, and other hermeneutical factors. First of all, we will begin to think about the context of celebrities in the past.

There has most obviously been a shift in Western Society in the development of the celebrity. It has not been an overnight shift by any means, but it has been significant. The most outstanding example of recent changes in the nature of celebrity is the professional celebrity—a celebrity with little reason to be revered or famous. The prime example would be the infamous Paris Hilton. Although a notable heiress to her parent’s fortune, she has become a celebrity in her own right through self-promotion. There are countless heirs to various fortunes that will never be known. This kind of character, however, is unprecedented, even in the 20^th century. Most celebrities came into being through some sort of accomplishment, i.e. film, music, politics, sports, etc. Or, they became celebrities by association, such as royalty. The amount of coverage allotted to celebrity-esque storylines has grown exponentially. Entire television channels are devoted to the ceaseless coverage of celebrity’s lives. A whole subclass of photography has developed in the “paparazzi,” known for being the epitome of the dog-eat-dog line of work. Not to mention the countless “tabloids” that line the newsstands. These are some of the basic contextual factors that surround the modern celebrity phenomenon.

Another factor for thinking about this social phenomenon is the audience. The audience for the development of new celebrities that must be analyzed if one is to use a hermeneutical strategy. The audience for much of celebrity press and concern has largely not changed in type, but likely has changes in how broad the appeal is. It would have been impossible to imagine that Clark Gable’s personal life would have been known or a concern for Middle East youth fifty years ago. Today, however, in all corners of the world they not only know the names of key celebrities but also their storylines of gossip. I remember being asked in a remote village in Albania about the future of “J-Lo” and Ben Affleck’s relationship if they got married. Obviously this change has a lot to do with the digital revolution—opening up a large part of the world to a previously unknown celebrity world. It also betrays the fact that the same phenomenon is at work in these non-Western countries as is here in the West.

Knowledge and a pursuit of information about Western celebrities could also reveal an admiration of the culture of celebrities by the non-West, but often times these elements remain even in countries predisposed to hate the west. Although many citizens of these said countries likely separate the politics and the culture of the West, a large majority still do not. There is an effect of “can’t help but look” type psychology in regards to coverage of celebrities. Just like in the West, many in these societies likely think the coverage is superfluous and or wrong. Although a judgment has been made concerning the validity and morality of celebrity coverage many remain to have a working knowledge of the ins and outs of Hollywood love life. These ‘stories’ seem to do something for us en masse.

Using further hermeneutical strategies, we will now turn to the sources for the coverage of celebrity gossip and the like. If one is to exit the supermarket on a given day he or she is given the opportunity to be swiftly educated in celebritydom. The print media is a key source of information on celebrities. This seems to be chiefly centered on magazines; the newspaper medium seems to inadequately address the goals of celebrity coverage. The magazine provides the opportunity for vivid pictures, small pithy commentary, and quick entertainment. It is glitzy, stylish, and most of all fast. Whereas one may need to have some backround in Middle Eastern politics in order to find parts of the newspaper engaging, the celebrity magazine can bring the glamour and scandal of the celebrity phenomenon with little or no education. The celebrity magazine is an odd mix of “posed” shots of red carpet entries into various galas, possibly a celebrity interview/photo shoot, and scandalizing pictures kindly provided by the paparazzi. This seems to be a winning combination of glamour, personal interest, and scandal.

The second main conduit for the celebrity phenomenon is the television medium. As mentioned before, “E!” is an entire channel devoted to the coverage of celebrity life. This is not to mention the countless celebrity news shows, and their subsequent spoofs. Celebrity news shows use a similar format compared to that of their magazine cousins. The show usually features some sort of personal interaction with a celebrity, praising the glamour or character of a particular celebrity, and (of course) the mandatory scandal. These shows have produced celebrities in their own right out of the mere reporting on celebrities. The prime example is Ryan Seacrest. Seacrest is the epitome of the ultimate host, having hosted the top twenty for years on a radio station in Los Angeles, been an E! “anchor,” and most famously the host of American Idol. Seacrest has become a celebrity by merely reporting on celebrities. Both media types—that of magazine and t.v.—have worked in conjunction. One reports on the other and vice versa. One makes the other.

Using a hermeneutical strategy to look at the social phenomenon of the celebrity has brought to light several profound new ideas for me. The first is what celebrity coverage does for us. I have come to the conclusion at various times that humans have at all times needed a common narrative in their social relationships. In days gone by, this narrative could be sustained by regional parochial concerns. A village would find a bond in the fact that their story was shared, they lived close to one another, married into each other’s families, etc. The gossip and glory of a small town would sustain its people. Yet, as society has diversified, fragmented, pluralized, etc. it has lost that local connection that is vital for human connection. At the most basic social level, we need something to talk about—a common ground. Human connection is essential for the flourishing of human life. Celebrity coverage, professional sports, and other modern social phenomena seek to fill that void. In a time when we increasingly find our human contact in less connected or natural ways, such coverage give us a cultural common ground. We can gripe about the fortunes of Liverpool or quip about the Beckham family to absolute strangers and they will likely be able to track with our line of thought. Celebrity narratives give us a common ground for humor, social reflection, and allusions. In order to have fulfilling communication we must have some sort of shared story, even if these stories are plastic in nature. Our society has inevitably become more diverse, global, and connected. This has inevitably lead to an erosion of parochial concerns, and pushed us to socially evolve in order to maintain human connection. We have found common social narrative in the celebrity. Their story has become a common story for us. Their divorces, their cheating, their success, their money, etc., have all become a commentary about our own lives. This line of thought leads me to an additional hermeneutic conclusion concerning celebrity coverage and its reflective nature.

We are not interested in celebrities just because they happen to be successful but because they are reflective. Celebrities embody our hopes and dreams, fears and pitfalls, and desire for detachedness. The populace not only celebrates celebrity success, but also celebrates celebrity failure. There is a lust for failure as much as there is for success in the interest in these lives. It is interesting to note that the most famous celebrities are those where there are equal portions success and failure. This is important. Without adjoining failure these celebrities fail to capture people’s imagination. Too much success and too much failure both trigger a lose of interest in the given celebrity. Celebrities find themselves in a proverbial catch-22, trying to allow promotion while not being raked through the coals. The most successful in this respect have allowed both. The reality about celebrity coverage is that we are not interested because these people are necessarily glamorous (there are a lot of unknown glamorous people to be found). We are interested because celebrities create for us a narrative for self reflection and self understanding.

Having used hermeneutical techniques such as analyzing the context, audience, media sources, etc., I have come to some interesting new ideas and understanding about a key phenomenon in our society—the celebrity. In previous times, I have been rather perplexed as to why we care so much about these lives. Yet after thinking about the topic using hermeneutical analysis, I have come to several profound reasons as to why this is so.

A cultural myth is a traditional story that has a meaning attached to it. These myths have an effect in they way people lead their lives and even how they interact with each other. It is notable that myths have a role to play be it personally, or to the wider society. In as much as one may believe or doubt such myths, they still continue to exist in different ways, and are shaping destinies of many. Myths can be full of truth or falsehood and depend on the interpretation a person may prefer. Many societies and races in the world have diverse myths which may encourage or discourage certain patterns of behavior. Rituals and customs are explained in myths and their merits or demerits laid down for everyone to discern.

The Greek mythology (Detienne, 18) is most notable especially in the way they exhort ancestors to be like gods. Myths came before science and this makes it impossible to discredit them. Long time ago, people depended on myths to explain the mysteries of creation and they accepted them with a lot of zeal. Many other questions were answered including the origin of man and his eventual destiny after death. Evil is also brought under the scrutiny of myths and they expound its cause and reason for its existence. The rise of modern civilization can too be traced in myths ranging from agriculture to industry to settled life in cities.

The modern world has continued to embrace myths in one way or another. Modern technology has given rise to much development in mass media which in turn has enabled many myths from different parts of the world to be collected together for study. Books have been printed and availed to anybody with interest to read and either agree or disagree with the subject. From an individual to a community, some cultural myths seem worthy in the sense that they encourage or uplift the spirit (Wessels, 92). Others may not necessarily be so and may seem unrealistic especially if they are prejudicial or implying immorality.

Happily Ever After; the American society as any other society has not been left behind in embracing myths. Many of them believe that happiness can be sought and achieved despite the hardship one may go through. Happiness is attributed to material possessions whereby those who do not have ample material wealth are considered unhappy. The ideology of possessions can be traced through ancient myths some of which are still followed today. Hard work is associated to prosperity and lack of it therefore leads to a lowly life.

Studies have shown that happiness is not related to material or money possessions (Veenhoven, 5). The old notion which led many people to acquire as much as they could has been proven false. Traditionalists believed that it is out of what you possess that gives you the feeling of happiness. People then would strive so much in order to have money so that they may live the rest of their lives happily. In did not matter the means or the extent to which this was sought as long as one could proudly claim he had money. Americans forgot that happiness is never permanent and mostly is derived from being comfortable with what one has, however little.

Obsession with possessions created greed in American people which can never be satisfied. Someone even came up with a term “National Happiness”, a system that oversaw people overlook other important issues in order to acquire happiness. Ironically, this myth has wrought greed, selfishness and immorality in the Americans (Alesina & Tella, 3).

The Nuclear Family has been a basis upon which nations are built. The nuclear family is composed of a father, mother and their children. This family set up has been criticized for a very long time due to its lack of universality, essence and modernity (Chester, 111). Industrialization brought out the need to move away to work places and obviously the nuclear family was affected. When the heads of the family began moving to far away places in search of job, there remained a question as to whether those left should still be considered as a nuclear family.

The myth that every nuclear family should cater for itself has contributed negatively in its essence. Most Americans may prefer to be in such families in contrast that whole societies need to live together and cater for each other. Another aspect which makes the nuclear family fail is failure of it being universal. Since other societies in the world have extended families, the notion in Americans mind that only the nuclear family is perfect could be wrong. This is another cultural myth that has pulled back the Americans in their pursuits and has isolated them.

The western culture took the nuclear family as a symbol and went ahead to portray it in art and media. But statistics show that there has been a decline in the number of nuclear families in the America over the past few years. Divorces and remarriages are common and therefore the true definition of a nuclear family has eroded. This goes on to show that the ideal nuclear family that was projected was just another cultural myth which has no place in modern society. It becomes a myth in the sense that sometimes ago; departure from this family set up was seen as immoral and unhealthy by many Americans (Uzoka, 34).

Most Americans have shunned the extended family setup which encouraged communal responsibility, and have upheld nuclear families which promote individualism. The extended family comprises of the nuclear family and the relatives. This type of family is mostly concerned with building relationships which in turn play a role in the wide community. It is only when people begin to care for each other, the immediate community benefits as well as the whole country. It is therefore important that the Americans embrace extended family and break from their cultural myth of nuclear families.

Racial Stereotyping

There have always been contentious issues in regard to racial conflict existing between the whites and the blacks in America. The problem can be traced in the colonial times whereby black slavery was a norm. Blacks then were considered superstitious and primitive. Such a myth has seen them being oppressed for so many years that even now there exists a small percentage of whites who regard them so. They have also been associated with every negative aspect in society from crime, violence and laziness.

An important fact to note is that, were it not for a tradition of viewing black negatively, they too are human and have all the abilities as white have. The cultural myths have engineered a trend that is difficult to deal with in modern society. Some instances where these myths have brought about are cases where people are discriminated according to their skin color. They are denied jobs and other government services just because of their skin color. A recent case during Hurricane Katrina where the government failed to act speedily is a case study for this. It attests to the fact that cultural myths still have a place in the modern society; albeit the American society ought to shun this evil (Palmer, 75).

Americans have stereotyped many other races. The, Americans have stereotyped many other races and the most affected are the African-Americans. African -American simplification of individuals’ behavior is the African-American Stereotyping. They came about into the American culture from the period of colonial settlement, specifically after the collapse of Slave Trade. The minstrel of the earlier blackface illustrates blacks as ignorant, superstitious as well as naA?ve in addition to been joyous which are the same characteristics which were associated with the slaves. Additionally the African-American have been stereotyped as a race which consists of people who are only good at sports. The act of stereotyping has got to its peak in the media through movies in addition to television. The media has contributed in passing negative information regarding the lifestyle of African-American to the young people. Certain shows aired on the T.V channels demonstrate the false personalities about the African Americans. To make the matters worse, there is a specific video game which has been developed whose main character is an African American who plays only the role of killing, robbing alongside having sexual relations with persons. This indicates an example through which the media has been involved in stereotyping. It is because of these cultural myths that have behaved in negative ways towards each other. They have refused to move away from such myths ignoring the fact that such cause hatred amongst each other.

Mark Twain analyses myths in a perfect way by showing in the characters the effect myths can have on people. The main themes of past, slavery, chivalry are expressed well in the book. Self-destruction and or preservation are another aspect that is brought about by the book.

Hank Morgan is a prisoner who has traveled back in time to the sixth century and is sentenced to death before Arthur’s court because of his strange dress and appearance. Before the execution is carried out, he is able to buy his freedom by convincing the Arthur that he is a magician. He relies on knowledge that a sun eclipse will take place before he is executed and he convinces the King that he is the cause of it. Hank is given the highest title in the land and he does not fail to ridicule the people who fear him.

Morgan sooner learns about superstitions embraced by the natives and he capitalizes on his superior knowledge to outdo them. Through the magician Merlin, Hank is later discovered as a fake and people start to spread rumor about him. Using his wit he is able to outsmart Merlin again by “calling fire from above”. Hank uses his influence to bring about industrialization to that country and also set up schools.

She becomes familiar with the territory he begins to understand the people and their way of life, which are still much in superstitions and myths, and even befriends a girl named Sandy. Hank outsmarts Merlin again in rebuilding a broken water fountain and thus retains power and respect. He convinces all present on his ability to summon the demons. Morgan has a way with the native’s lives and together with the king he continues the hold of power.

Sandy gives birth to a baby with Hank and upon the child’s illness he is lured to leave the country thus leaving a gap in the country’s leadership. The King and Lancelot fight over Guinevere infidelity. The church provokes a revolt over Hank the people start a war. The story ends with the present day where Hank is found dreaming about his lover, Sandy, almost a millennium later. It is argued by some people that the book is an attack on American’s values which include materialism and technology. American sentimentalism about the past is also criticized (Twain & Thompson).

In conclusion myths, however good they might be still remain myths. In the modern society, we should be keen to understand the truths about life and work together towards a common goal. The real goal in our cultural diversity should be to see everybody gets food, clothing and shelter and that they can fit in every situation.

Twain in his book looks in the effect myths have on our culture and day to day live. The mythic Arthur is associated with the past in contrast with Hank who symbolizes the present. The church is also brought into perspective and is seen as an evil and an enemy which conspires with political figures to oppress people. Slavery as another social menace should also be done away with. Slavery was embraced by many people in the past since they saw in it a way to get cheap labor and monetary gain. It becomes a cultural myth that Americans now should abolish.

Magic is contrasted with reality in form of industrialization. People in the past relied on magic to achieve their needs but the book shows that such a myth can be done away with through use of technology. Industrialization should be a factor in civilization rather the magic of yesteryears. Many more achievements can be found by training people since human nature allows it. Training determines the behavior of a society unlike when people rely on myths. They are then able to differentiate between what is right and wrong (Umland & Umland 25).

Besides stereotyping being hurtful, it is wrong as well. Even though the stereotype can be correct in some occasions; relentlessly putting an individual down on the basis of predetermined perceptions cannot assist in motivating one to succeed. Stereotyping only gears people to lead lifestyles of hatred and in some situations stereotypes victims live in fear.

It should be noted that all these myths have had a place in American society and some have tarnished its name. Americans should therefore move away from negative cultural myths, as discussed above, in order to continue as a nation. Above all, all other nations look towards America for guidance and support.

People from all parts of the world behave differently towards different situations and conditions. In today’s world of continuous internationalization and globalization, there is an increasing need for people to do business across cultures.

Many business experts and academicians have attempted to define frameworks within which individuals and organizations from different nationalities and backgrounds can do business without facing cultural challenges. One of the best known models for cross cultural comparative analysis in the business context is Geert Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions (Gouveia & Ros, 2000)

This research paper focuses on how to recognize and analyse dilemmas resulting from different business cultures. It attempts to apply this to real-life management and business issues in the cultural setting of two countries: Italy and Australia.

Culture

Culture is “the complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, customs and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society” (McCort & Malhotra, 1993).

Culture is seen as the body of information, character and traits that a person acquires as a member of a group. Although individuals are different in our perceptions and aspirations, there are some tendencies, inclinations and preference that individuals develop whilst they live amongst social groups. The sum total of these common traits that individuals share collectively in a group defines the culture of the group.

“Culture is a powerful factor in shaping how people think, communicate and behaveaˆ¦” (Salacuse, 1993, p. 199). Culture is a very strong and potent force that determines the lives of individuals who belong to a group.

Every human being has basic physiological needs – the needs to survive (Maslow, 1954). However, as the basic need to stay alive is attained, human beings desire to identify with a group or a society. This means that individuals would have to conform to certain values and norms that are shared by members of the group or society in question. These values form a framework for the formation of individual personalities in the group.

Hofstede (1997) argues that the values of a given culture affect the practices of the people in the culture. In other words, the norms and ethics of a group affect the way members behave. The main intervention points of the values of a given culture include rituals, heroes and symbols (Hofstede, 1997).

Values determine why a particular individual wants to follow a particular course of action over another. (Hofstede, 1997).

Shalom Schwartz identified ten value types that affect individuals (Schwartz, 1992). Schwartz conducted a survey of more than 60,000 people to ascertain the principles that direct their lives. He concluded by identifying these ten values that affects the lives of most people. These values define the core of the cultures of these people. They include:

Power: social status and prestige.

Achievement: Attaining goals and objectives.

Hedonism: Seeking pleasure ahead of all other things.

Stimulation: Seeking thrills and excitement

Self direction: Seeking independence and freedom from the control and manipulation of other people.

Universalism: Seeking social justice and progress for all people on earth.

Benevolence: Giving, the idea of seeking the general welfare of people.

Tradition: Honoring the customs of the society.

Conformity: seeking obedience of the rules and regulations of the society.

Security: seeking continuous health and safety.

The culture of a given society will affect and be affected by these ten values as identified by Schwartz. The culture of a given nation will determine the definition of these ten values. The values that the people uphold will on a collective level, determine the culture of the people.

The culture and values of the broader society affects the way organizations do their things. The values of the broader society influence various components of organizations and determine the lifestyles and traits of individual members of organizations.

Therefore in the business context, when one understands the values, rituals, heroes and symbols of a given society, he can transact business with organizations and individuals in the society efficiently and effectively. On the other hand, if a person is ignorant of the values and culture of a given people, it is likely that he would attempt to do business with the people based on the cultural setting he might be familiar with. Such a business transactions are prone to conflict and are likely to be unsuccessful.

Hofstede’s Dimensions of Culture

Professor Geert Hofstede attempted to define a model for the analysis of the characteristics of a given culture (Soares et al, 2007). He measured the values of subjects in a given sample and made inferences on the cultural characteristics of the larger society based on the aggregation of the findings (Soares et al, 2007).

Hofstede defined five dimensions that determines the culture of a given group or society (Hofstede, 2001). These dimensions varied based on the uniqueness of a group of people or society. The elements of Hofstede’s cultural dimensions include:

Power Distance (PDI)

Individualism/Collectivism (IDV)

Masculinity/Femininity (MAS)

Uncertainty Avoidance (UAI) &

Long-Term Orientation (LTO)

Hofstede’s cultural dimensions sets the framework for which communities can be assessed based on these five variables. In his assessments, he places groups on a scale of 0 to 120 based on these five variables, with zero being the lowest and 120 being the highest.

Power Distance Index (PDI)

Power distance (PDI) refers to “the extent to which the less powerful members of institutions and organizations within a country expect and accept that power is distributed unequally.” (Hofstede, 1991 p. 28)

Nations with low PDI tend to expect subordinates and their superiors to be treated somewhat equally. However cultures with high PDIs have authoritarian systems where people in authority must be distinguished from their subordinates. In the business context, one can use this index to determine the organizational structure, distribution of power in the organization and remuneration of employees in a given cultural setting.

Individualism/Collectivism (IDV)

Individualism/Collectivism (IDV) attempts to define the extent to which individuals are connected to social groups in a given culture. Individualism ” pertains to societies in which ties between individuals are loose: everyone is expected to look after himself or herself and his or her immediate family” (Hofstede, 1991, p 51).

Collectivism on the other hand “pertains to societies in which people from birth onwards are integrated into strong, cohesive in-groups which throughout people’s lifetime continue to protect them in exchange for unquestioned loyalty” (Hofstede 1991, p 51).

The Individualism/Collectivism scale, tells us how people derive their identity in a given setting. It tells us how bargaining strengths, power and authority are acquired. In nations with low IDV, people acquire their identity, power and authority based on the social network they belong to. However, in nations with high IDV, people acquire their identity as individuals. In a high IDV environment, people’s progress increases their individual self worth, however in lower IDV communities, progress means moving from one society to a higher society.

In the business context, this dimension can affect the strategic plans of businesses mainly through the marketing plan. The marketing strategy and sales plan of an entity can utilize the IDV index of a community it operates in. This is because the IDV status of a group determines many of their tastes, preferences and demand trends.

Masculinity/Femininity (MAS)

“aˆ¦ masculinity pertains to societies in which social gender roles are clearly distinct (ie men are supposed to be assertive, tough and focused on material success whereas women are supposed to be more modest, tender and concerned with quality of life): femininity pertains to societies in which social gender roles overlap (ie both men and women are supposed to be modest, tender and concerned with quality of life)” (Hofstede 1991 p. 82-83).

This variable of Hofstede’s cultural dimension examines the extent to which people in society are grouped based on their sex: the condition of being male or female mainly in relation to the quantity or quality of life. In groups with high MAS indices, people are seen primarily as being male or female. Males are defined by their role of being tough, focused and making enough money. Females in these societies are mainly tender, flexible and more concerned with the quality of life. These differences are distinct and spelt out in high MAS cultures.

However, in lower MAS cultures, males and females are considered to be equal. Each individual is expected to show a blend of masculine and feminine traits. Here, a person has inclinations towards caring for people and other social tendencies.

In business, the masculinity and femininity will affect the human resource strategy of firms. Also, it will affect the research and development department of businesses because there is the need to develop products and services that meet the masculine/feminine features of the society. The financial department of a business is influenced by the masculine index of the society. If a society is highly masculine and the people value money, the finance department must have strategies that would enable the business to expand by way of paying more to individuals by way of salaries and compensations. However, if the society is feminine, the finance department must have an outlook for payments that would ensure more quality for individuals like pecks and social responsibility.

Uncertainty Avoidance Index (UAI)

This relates to how much people are willing to go to attain their goals without facing unexpected challenges. “Extreme uncertainty creates intolerable anxiety. Every human society has developed ways to alleviate this anxiety. These ways belong to the domain of technology, law and religion” (Hofstede, 1997 p. 110).

This measure tries to identify the extent to which people rely on human institution and interventions to avoid or ameliorate uncertainty. In societies with low UAIs, uncertainties are considered a normal part of life. There are few laws which are mainly general and there is greater tolerance. In nations with high UAIs, uncertainty is considered as a threat, there are precise laws and people are more conservative with risks.

In business, this can create a context within which one can negotiate or deal with other parties and organizations in different cultural settings.

Long Term Orientation (LTO)

This dimension, was included in Hofstede’s dimensions after his studies of Buddhist cultures in 2001. LTO “stands for the fostering of virtues oriented towards future rewards, in particular perseverance and thrift” (Buddhist 2001, p. 351).

It measures how people in a society consider the long-term over short-term. It tries to define how much effort a group of people are likely to forgo in order to reap benefits in the future.

Comparison of Italy & Australia Using Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions

Italy and Australia are two nations located on two different continents. Italy is a member of the European Union and it is predominantly Catholic. Australia is also a continent located in South of Asia. (Geert Hofstede.com)

The cultures of Italy and Australia can be compared using Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions. This can be used to assess to get an idea of how best the two nations can do business.

Based on the summary of Hofstede’s studies in the 2001 edition of his book, Culture’s Consequences, these are the rankings of Australia and Italy:

Variable

Australia

Italy

Power-Distance Index (PDI)

36

50

Individualism/Collectivism Index (IDV)

90

76

Masculinity/Feminism Index (MAS)

61

70

Uncertainty Avoidance Index (UAI)

51

75

Long-Term Orientation

31

N/A*

N/A* Hofstede’s study for LTO did not include Italy.

Power Distance Index

With Australia at 36 and Italy at 50, it suggests that Australia is a lower PDI country than Italy, which has a relatively higher PDI.

This suggests that the people of Australia are likely to see subordinates and superiors as more equal than Italy where people give credence to people in authority. In this case, it looks like in Australia, employees will expect participation in decision-making. Consumers would also expect to be given some preferences and greater care. In Italy, it can be inferred that the employees expect to be told what to do whilst their bosses expect complete obedience. Consumers would have lesser bargaining power and are more likely to accept what corporations sell to them.

These two countries can do business by varying the way they view superior-subordinate relationships. The Australians must accept the fact that Italians give more respect to people in authority and they believe that people in power have more control and thus ‘know better’. Any Australian business move in Italy should focus more in creating an authoritarian entity than an egalitarian one. On the other hand, any Italian business transaction in Australia must be more egalitarian; negotiated with some more concern for subordinates than it would normally be done in Italy.

Individualism/Collectivism (IDV)

At a scale of 90, Australia appears to be a very individualistic nation. People in Australia are encouraged to speak their minds. Independent media is the source of information to people and people are more interested in what they can do rather than who they are linked to. Italy has a relatively lower index of 76. This implies that in Italy, an individual is defined more by the social network he belongs to. Being a predominantly Catholic nation, people are expected to join the Catholic social system right at birth. Their achievement determines their social standing in the Catholic system. Australia, although a Christian nation, has links to Protestant movements and organizations (Geert-Hofstede.com) which promotes individualism.

For business to prevail in these two nations there is the need for each of the nations to understand the culture of the other nation. Australians must understand that in Italy, a person is defined by the social group he or she belongs to. Therefore, if they seek to establish businesses in Italy, they would have to draw a strategic plan that would recognize individuals as part of social groupings. This will enable them to build more successful marketing plans and research structures. Italian businesses also need to appreciate the fact that individuals are seen as independent entities in Australia. They should therefore draw strategies that would target individuals and not spend too many resources on reaching individuals through their social groupings.

Masculinity/Femininity (MAS)

Australia is seen as a marginally less masculine society than Italy. Both nations stand at 61 and 70 respectively on the MAS index. This suggests that the people of Australia expect people of both sexes to be equally concerned with quality of life and quantity of life. In other words, in Australia, people accept that men and women can play roles that are traditionally associated to the opposite sex. It is generally accepted for men to be concerned with the quality of their lives whilst women can easily become high wage earners.

In Italy, which is a more masculine culture, people are expected to stick to the roles generally played by their sexes. Men are expected to make money and stay tough whilst women concentrate on the quality of life and care for other people.

In business, the Australian who seeks to do business in Italy must organize things to be able to target one sex at a time. They should conceptualize and accept the fact that men are identified by masculine traits in Italy whilst women are identified by feminine traits. For Italians that seek to do business in Australia, they should position themselves to treat men and women equally. This kind of mindset will enable them to win the hearts and minds of consumers and other stakeholders in practice.

Uncertainty Avoidance Index (UAI)

Australia stands at 51 whilst Italy stands at 75. This means that Italy is a very high UAI culture. This implies that the people of Italy do not perceive uncertainty to be a part of their culture. They make every effort to eliminate uncertainty. If ambiguous situations crop up, the average Italian shows aggression and emotions. They do more to ensure that unfamiliar risks are eliminated. They fall on religion, technology and law to ensure that uncertainties and unfamiliar risks are prevented.

On the other hand, an index of 51 indicates that the Australian business culture is more tolerant of uncertainty. People are not prone to showing aggression and emotions in ambiguous situations as is the case with the Italians. The laws are less precise and there are fewer rules (religious or legal) to keep out uncertainties.

In doing business, an organization from any of these settings should be mindful of what they do in another nation. First of all, it appears that Australian Legal, Technological and Religious organizations can do well in Italy if they decide to open branches in the country. Secondly, if any business wants to move from Australia to Italy, it needs to understand the need to be highly precise and fulfill promises they make. This is because any failures and ambiguities are not likely to be taken lightly in Italy as it would in Australia. An Italian business seeking to do business in Australia must be prepared to tolerate a degree of uncertainty and ambiguity and it must get an understanding of the Australia setting before drawing up its strategic plans.

Long Term Orientation (LTO)

Australia scores a point of 31 on this scale. This should suggest to the average Italian going to do business in Australia that the long-term orientation is quite low, especially if it is compared to Japan which has a high ranking of 80. This indicates that the Australian business climate favors a high level of short-termism and there is relatively less concerns for the next generation. However, it must be noted that because Hofstede made no ratings for Italy on the LTO scale, it is possible that Australia is more of a longer-term looking culture than Italy.

Limitations

Hofstede’s research studied samples of given nations and communities. It therefore lacks the general ability to predict the lifestyle of the whole of Australia or Italy.

Conclusion

It is evident that Hofstede’s Cultural Dimension sets the stage for analysis of various cultures around the globe. It gives individuals and organizations an understanding of areas of social lives that can vary across nations namely Power Distance, Individualism, Masculinity, Uncertainty Avoidance and Long Term Orientation. This set up can be used to predict and direct businesses in terms of formulating their strategies in foreign cultures. Since Hofstede’s model seeks to examine human behavior, it affects areas of businesses’ strategies like Management, Human Resource, Marketing, Finance, Operations and Research and Development. The model can be used to a high degree of certainty to assess the business cultures of two nations: Australia and Italy based on the indices they scored for the various variables in Hofstede’s studies. The limitation of the model is that it was carved based on surveys conducted on a small section of the nations around the globe. Thus generalizations might not be appropriate.

The Amish originated in Switzerland but is now culturally centered in the States and Canada. The Amish are called the Old Order Amish or Pennsylvania Dutch. The religion is strict in the teaching of separation from the world and a tightly knit community. The doctrine that the Amish follow teaches farming and simplicity. Because of this simplicity, the Amish are now allowed to have electricity, own cars, or go to war. What modern people see as necessities in today’s world, the Amish people live without in the Pennsylvania Dutch society.

The Amish originated in Switzerland around the time of 1525. In the 16th century, the act of baptizing an adult was considered a crime. The members were beaten and thrown into rivers and left to die painful deaths. The carnage in Europe led to the immigration of the Amish (Amish). A man named Jacob Ammann lead the Swiss Mennonites, now called the Amish, to the United States of America and Canada (Origins).

When the Amish settled in the United States the religion had its own ideas of how strict the religion should be. As groups of people began to split, different religious groups formed. The Old Order Amish are the strictest of the groups (Amish).

In the religion the services are done in the homes. These homes are designed to be able to have a large group of people in them. There are members of the religion that half a higher position than normal members. There is a deacon, a bishop, and two preachers. The church is held on Sundays and the members of the church take turns on who will host the next service (BBC).

The doctrine of the Amish teaches its members about farming and simplicity. The unwritten rules are called Ordnung. This unwritten set of rules is followed by everyone but if there is a question about them then the oldest members of the community will take up the position and make sure the rule is made clear. The religion teaches that individualism is not something important or to be proud of but that it’s better to be plain and simple. The Amish believe that God is happier when people take care of the world and remain pacifists. If anyone breaks these rules the person who is accused will be shunned until forgiveness has been offered (BBC).

The clothing of the women in the Amish society consists of long plain dresses and bonnets (Amish). The women can also wear long sleeves and a full skirt with plain shoes. The women do not wear make-up. The men’s clothing is of the same plainness as the women’s. The men wear dark colored pants or trousers, braces, and straight-cut coats. The men are often seen with a wide brimmed hat sometimes made of straw. The children wear closely to the same clothing that the adults wear with the exception that they often go barefoot (BBC).

The life of the Amish consists of no electrical uses in their homes. There are exceptions as dairy farmers have to comply to the religions. The electricity is only wired up to the barns and is not used but to continue as dairy farmers (BBC). Everything done by the Amish involved the help of the community as a whole. If a family needs a barn built the whole community comes together and helps build the barn and depending on the size, it can be put up in a few days or a few weeks (Origins).

As the Amish practice separation from the modern world, they practice different languages. At home the families use a German based language called Pennsylvania Dutch. At church the Amish use a high German dialect. When speaking to a person that isn’t Amish, or “English”, the use English (BBC).

As tourism of Amish communities grows, Amish people are starting businesses to help make money. It has been noted that Amish businesses do better than U.S. businesses. “Amish businessesaˆ¦ are growing, prospering, and thriving. The Amish have low business failure rate, 4 percent a decade compared to the 70 percent failure rate of new U.S. businesses within their first three years of operation.” This increase in business success rates could be the result of more tourism. “aˆ¦the Aurthur Vistor center recorded 29,114 visitsaˆ¦” (Turco). Many Amish people have shops that consist of wood shops, selling craft such as quilts, selling fruits and vegetables, bakeries, restaurants, gift shops, and an open farmer’s market (Mink). Most of the businesses have 10 or fewer employees who are Amish. In some business it is completely ran by family members (Tenner).

Most Amish families are farmers. They use horses, oxen, or mules to plow their fields. The machinery used cannot have rubber wheels but metal ones instead. Many of the Amish produce corn to feed the animals that they family will use for meat. Some of the meat may be sold at the markets and the hides of the animals are used to make leather goods. Some families may be smaller and that raise animals for their own consumption while other farms may be raising or growing the animals or crops to sell. The animals grown may be chickens, pork, beef, and lamb. Some major crops grown are corn and oats (BBC).

Some farmers use pesticides, herbicides, and may use seeds that have been altered genetically (Tenner).Other farmers rely on nature to benefit them in the way that nature does. Farmers that use more traditional ways rely on birds to take care of their insect problems. “the birds, you see, are our allies. Each year, the swallows kill thousands of insects over our fieldsaˆ¦” the Amish need the birds so they help them by building them nest and never tarring down the old nest. Some Amish believe by using horses rather than tractors, they are being closer to one with nature (Kline).

The families in the Amish communities usually have an average of seven to eight children. The families never divorce and only marry other Amish. The Amish do not marry a first cousin and would prefer not marrying the second cousin either (BBC). The husbands are usually the ones that are responsible for bringing in the most money. They are usually the farmers and do the harder labored work in the barns and in the fields. Some men many have a change of roles and may do more of the gardening and house roles that most women would do (Amish Studies).

The wives can be the bread winner in some cases because she may run a business. Most wives are stay at home moms that have the responsibilities of taking care of the children and doing task around the house. Most women do not have full time jobs because of their children. Women and men share the house hold decisions for the most part. The husband usually just makes religious decision and the wife is more active in nurturing the religion and making more household decisions (Amish Studies).

The wives aren’t always busy with house chores. The Amish sisters have gatherings that mix everyday chores up. The group of women may get together and make quilts or have fun while harvesting vegetables. In a time of an emergency the community will come together to help the families. The wives will care for the children and the men will focus on more labored work. The elderly also help the families. The grandmothers will help baby sit and the grandfathers will help the other men with outside chores (Amish Studies).

The children’s roles at home are chores around the farm such as feeding chickens and collecting the eggs and milking cows. The children go to school until 14 and 15 years old. A normal school has about 25 to 35 people in a one room schoolhouse. The material is taught in English and is usually taught by younger women (BBC).

In the Amish schools text books are used and the teacher has the same education as an eighth grader (Halvorsen). The teachers have been taught by older more experienced Amish teachers. “By the time an Amish girl is twelve years old she knows how to cook a meal for a whole crew of Amish workers, and a young man knows farm operations by the time he is a teenager.” The Amish limit the education because after school the children learn the vocational skills (BBC).

“After they leave school Amish boys learn work skills such as farming and carpentry on the job, while Amish girls concentrate on practical domestic matters” This remains true until the child turns 16 and goes through a period called Rumspringa. Rumspringa is when an Amish child is allowed to go out into the world to choose if he or she wants to go live there or wants to become a full Amish member. “90% decide to do so” (BBC).

The transportation of the Amish consists of simply horses and buggies. The Amish can take rides in someone else’s car. For long distances, this is a good way for getting around. The Amish can hire someone to drive them to places if need be (BBC). Most stores have made hitching post and accommodations for the Amish. “Amish friends, please clean up after your horse. A shovel and garbage can are provided” (Mink).

The life of the Amish is centered on their community, having strong family bonds, and living life with a simplicity that most modern people don’t have. The Amish remind people of how things used to be and because of this the tourism in the Amish communities are growing. This doesn’t change the roles of the people or their beliefs in their religion. The Amish live in peace and harmony with nature and themselves.

Riley 7

Defining health has always been relative; sometimes it is defined in terms of good health (feeling fit), bad health (free from pain and discomfort), and in terms of rang of task an individual is able to perform (functional). However, WHO (1948) “Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity. A resource for everyday life, not the objective of living. Health is a positive concept emphasizing social and personal resources, as well as physical capacities.” The medical dictionary define illness as “disease of body or mind; poor health; sickness.

Culture is the way of life of a group of people, society or community, it consist of beliefs, behavior, values, norms, customs, language, institutions etc common to the members of the group, society or community.

Culture can influence the definition of health and illness. Cultural approach explains that health differences can best be understood in terms of our way of life as society and as an individual and on the social class in which we find ourselves, the lower the social class the worse the health issues.

Cultural approach is of the opinion that poor health is due to our diet, habits & life style. In some non western culture, a big person is seen as healthy and the slim person is seen as ill, and is encouraged to eat more, where as in the western world, been fat is seen as a death warrant.

Some cultures do not believe in going to the doctors when they are ill, they rather use a local remedy. Cultural approach completely blame the individual for his /her health problems because they do not follow a healthy life style, the black report (1980) also accepted this explanation, but acknowledged the fact that even does that lead a healthy life, still suffer from same ill health as those that does the opposite e.g. non smokers at the risk of lung cancer. The report suggested that differences in social class factors only account for 25% of social class inequities in health and illness.

More so, the structural approach, accepts the behavioral explanation to health differences, but claims that the behavioral approach fail to look at the broader context of inequality. Thus, poor health is as a result of the working condition to which some people have no choice but to be subjected to given the present income distribution and access to opportunity.

In explaining the structural approach, the Marxist perspective of health and illness will be analyzed. The key assertion of Marxist is the relation of production (structure of the society) which brought about division of labor, which in turn reflect in the derivation of social classes. Marxist believes that health outcomes for any society are influenced by the economy system in two ways;

Level of production: industrial diseases and injuries, stress- related illness, environment pollution, processed food, chemical additives.

Income distribution: standard of living is measured by wealth and income-living condition, access to health care, diet, educational opportunities, and recreational opportunities.

The black report (1980) also agrees with this view, as finding continues to show that adverse social condition is significant to the social pattering of health and illness in the society.

Task 2
EVALUATION OF THE EVIDENCE OF REGIONAL VARIATIONS AND INEQUALITIES IN HEALTH AND ILLNESS

This essay will be outlining and evaluating the evidence of variation in health and illness. To evaluate these issues two material evidences from the Guardian News paper will be analysed. The first is LOCAL INEQUALITIES MARK MAP OF WELLBEING (24/09/2008) will be referred as APPENDIX A. This essay will also evaluate sociological explanations for health inequalities such as cultural, structural, functional perspectives. Reports produced by the government and independent research will be applied in evaluating these regional variations.

Appendix A covered the disparities in the health and behaviour of people in different parts of England. The findings made by the report regarding health disparities are:

Women in Blackpool are 8 times more likely to smokes during pregnancy than women from Richmond upon Thames.

Average 5year old in Blackburn suffers 7 times more tooth decay than 5year olds in Lichfield and Staffordshire.

Teenage pregnancy rate in Lambeth south London is more than 6 times that of Rutland.

Obesity rate among children starting school in Hackney, east London is 3 time the rate in Teedale.

The research was done using 30 key indicators, of which none was mentioned in the report. The report agreed that despite government effort to eradicate health inequalities, the gap in health between the social classes in society keep increasing. The report agrees with the structural perspective, which blames health inequalities on the economy system (capitalist state) of the society, as captured in paragraph 5 lines 4-6, addressing the issue of child poverty the tax system. This can be backed by the finding of the Black report (1980) which opined that health standard is directly linked to social class and social economics factors such as poor housing, education, income and environment.

The findings in Appendix A, was published and distributed to every local councils in the UK, so health worker in every region can devise solution to curbing their respective health issues.

Finding made by the report (APPENDIX A) regarding behaviour cannot be explained entirely by relative poverty. The findings on behaviour are:

Lambeth despite having the worst teenage pregnancy problem in England, it also has the best figure for breastfeeding. More than 90% of mothers’ breastfeed in Lambeth compared to 33% in Knowsley, Merseyside.

Malvern Hills, west Devon and south Shropshire, almost all children of school age engage with at least two hours of high quality PE /school sport a week compared to only 2/3 of children in Newcastle-under Lyme and Surrey Heath.

Kensington and Chelsea has the highest life expectancy, for both man and women compared to Manchester and Liverpool, they eat the highest proportion of fruit and vegetables and the lowest rate of premature death rate caused by cancer. But was in the bottom 10 in England for problems relating to substance abuse among people aged 15 to 64.

The above findings can be related to the cultural approach, which lay emphasis on the cultural choices of the individual / group such as; life style, diet, cigarette smoking and alcohol consumption. And partly in relation to the structural approach, for Lambeth, there was increase of awareness on the importance of breastfeeding, for Malvern Hills, there is also the increase of awareness of the importance of exercise as for Kensington and Chelsea abuse of substance might be due to life style and mostly because they are wealthy.

Task 3
MOST SIGNIFICANT FACTORS INFLUENCING THE HEALTH AND ILLNESS IN A COMMUNITY

Many factors influence health and general well being of a community. These range from individual factors, such as generic make up, age, gender and lifestyle, socio-economic, cultural and environment factors.

Despite the above factors, the once that are most significant influence on a community health and well being are referred to as “the wider determinant of health”. These are educational attainment, employment status, housing and the environment. Because these wider determinants interact with other factors it is difficult to evaluate the respective contribution of each determinant to eventual health outcomes.

Educational Attainment: From various perspective of sociology and the finding of the Black report (1980), it is evidence that educational attainment plays an important part in the overall well being of the society. According to the Black report (1980), while, the general health of the nation had improved, theses improvements have not been equal across all the various social classes. And the gap between the lower and higher social levels continue to widen. The report on Appendix A also highlighted this difference, when Knowsley borough found it difficult to educate mothers to on the importance of breastfeeding (paragraph 17). The situation in Knowsley can also be interpreted as a cultural trend within the women.

Employment Status: Cultural approach opined that those in social class four and five eat less nutritious diet than those in social class one and two, structural argues however, that, due to income inequality, those in lower classes cannot enjoy the lifestyle of the rich in society and suffer more illness as a result of their job. Appendix B indicates that unemployment brings about poverty and social exclusion. It also shows that Barnet borough unemployment rate increased from 68.7% in 2006 to 71.2% in 2007, but remained below England average.

Task 4

BALANCING HEALTH AND ILLNESS IN A COMMUNITY

Keeping the community well: Prevention they say is better than cure. Unhealthy habits are passed on from generation as indicated in Appendix A, paragraph 7, lines 4-5. Barnet council plans to support their community to live a healthy lifestyle, to stop them from getting avoidable

Health workers in the various county/ boroughs should work in preventing the particular health problems of their local population as indicated in Appendix A paragraph 3.

Government should embark, on health plans that are long term.

Tourism and hospitality turned out to be one of the very important industry all over the world. Even the governments also started to concentrate on this field as it became one of the major revenue source. The ministries of tourism development made lots of recreational work to attract tourist all over the world. For this work the research is very important to gather knowledge about what attracts the tourists, what need to be done for attract more tourists and it is important to get the statistics to keep tab on the growth rate to identify the impact of the improvement measures made.

There is lots of interaction between the peoples from different countries, communities, religions, regions, language, races. These interactions greatly boost up the tourism and hospitality around the world. Various new techniques and research methodologies are needed to identify and fulfill the requirements of the tourist and find out the customer satisfaction and make innovative steps to attract more number of them and to get a clear picture about the issues which affects tourism, and get proper solution for that.

The research is more important for this industry and various research theories evolved all around the world and researches, case studies and surveys on various aspect of tourism and hospitality.

ADVANTAGES OF TOURISM:-

Tourism is one of the world’s most rapidly growing industries. It is also one of the driving factor of the global economy of the 21st century. Much of its growth is due to increased leisure time, increased income, travelling cost. Due to technological development like computers and internet tourists can easily find the places and get information about the places which they want to visit, can find out best accommodation and hotels and it also able to compare the cost and decide which is best and made effective plans for their tours.

As for as the tours are concerned they must be made in the right time of the year especially the climate must be considered the internet makes it’s possible to decide which time of the year is best to visit the place, they can know about the climate, culture of the native people, the details about the foods and much more important information’s about the place where they are going to visit. It encouraged people to travel a lot and its made them feels confident because they know each and every step of their travel and can manage even some unexpected problem arises,

This new trend made the tourism jobs very challenging, the holiday makers want a good return for what the cost they pay. The increase in tourism made lots of changes in the life of the people globally it provide more employment opportunity, increases the income of the people, generates foreign exchange , builds on the existing infra structure, diversifies the economy and it also develops the local products and resources.

EVALUATION OF TOURISM RESEARCH:-

Research in the field of tourism and hospitality has been started in early 18th century the knowledge about the tourism and hospitality during the Middle Ages are mainly come from

The pope/priest who has act as the religious heads those who are the one who is very powerful and has control over the social life of the people also.

TRADITION the tradition of the people once people’s started to travel from one place to other place the tradition of the people’s are also started to spread around the world. The tradition of the tourists and native people started to mingle and the traditions started to modified and the changes automatically attracts the researchers who concentrated in the patterns on the social changes in the people’s life. The changes based on the number of tourist visit, their period of stay, their interaction and the relationship between the tourist and natives plays a vital role in the traditional change.

The traditions cannot be changed easily it will take a considerable period of time associated with other factors. Tourism plays an important role in intermingling the traditions and cultures of various country people’s around the world. The tourism not only affects the tradition of local people but also make considerable changes in the tradition of the tourist’s country also.

Tourism and hospitality are now one of the fast developing business sector of this century. In olden days it’s not easy to travel from one place to other place the mode of travelling, climate, language problem are major hurdles for the travel it takes long period of time to travel from one place to other place most of the travels are made either for the purpose of business or as pilgrimage rather than tourism.

Due to the development in the transport the invention of fast travelling vehicles made the travelling faster as well as easier and less costlier. This change made it possible for the people who is curious about other parts of the world and cultures of the people around the world.

The language, dressing, lifestyle and culture started to attract not only the common people it also started to attract the scholars like philosophers and researchers who is interested about the people’s around the world. This interest triggered them to make close communication with the foreigner’s and they started to record the culture and language of the visitors and started to compare the difference and uniqueness of the visitors culture, language and life style with their own and with other foreign visitors. These are the foundations of research’s in the field of tourism and hospitality.

The rational thinking by the philosophers and researchers based on the various notes and chronological record of events and detailed notes about the cultural, traditional practices and life style of the people’s of various places left by the priest who played an important role in day to day life of the local people and the personal diaries, notes and communication left behind by the people who travelled around the world which had lots of information about the travelling pattern, food, natural attractions and travelling modes helped researchers to widen the scope of research in the field of tourism and hospitality.

The researchers mainly focused on the social science, natural science, religious aspects palmistry and faith of the people and their traditional sharing and development based on the tourism and hospitality for coming to various assumptions and formed various theories

The researchers and philosophers formed various research theories based on the assumptions:-

1. Classical theory – The assumption in classical theory is people are working because of the

pay.

2. Systems theory – This theory slightly varied from the classical theory in this theory it is

assumed that the people are happily working because along with the

pay they get better treatment from the management also.

TOURISM RESEARCH OVERVIEW:-

The researchers help to find out the origin, age, education, income and spending habits and travel patterns, life style and activity preferences of the tourists and get the picture about what the tourist like and dislikes about the destination and the travel information’s importance, the impression of adverting and the overall satisfaction of the visitors.

Not only the private persons. But, the Governments is also started to concentrate on tourism development. It also initiated various researches to introduce several development programmes, to follow up the improvements, to rectify difficulties and made other necessary developments to attract the tourist for increase its revenue.

Research methodologies generally differentiate the research approaches in 3 different categories

Positivism and post positivism

Inter pretivism

Critical theory

The positivism is mainly focused and based on the positive data there are chances of falsification because of the nature of the data’s involved and to overcome the possibility of falsification, the scientific research method is used in the scientific or quantitative method the data’s used in this method is numerical data’s and surveys easily comparable and very reliable.

There are various approaches and dimensions for the research in tourism and hospitality industry

-? Theoretical research

-? Applied research

-? Empirical research

-? Non – Empirical research

-? Induction method

-? Deduction method

-? Descriptive research

-? Explanatory research

-? Positivist research

-? Interpretive research

-? Experimental research

-? Non – Experimental research

-? Qualitative research

-? Quantitative research

1. QUALITATIVE RESEARCH :-

This research method is the research on the great deal of information about the small number of people. It’s a research based on the sociological, Phenomenological, Observational research rather than the research based on figures, numbers, percentages if the various aspects of the subject.

The qualitative research method is based on interviews, observations, questionnaires, focus groups, reports and case studies. It not relied on the numerical data’s or statistics.

Furthermore qualitative research is the assumption

Qualitative research is a research method used to analysis the reasons why the tourists select one place over another, why one place attract more tourists than the other. This method used to understand, describe, and dissect the problems and find out the reason and the solution for the problem or complexity by way of using techniques like assumption, understanding and try to find out the solution.

This method is one of the alternative methodological approach which has been recognised in lots of fields and it is against the old positivism approach.

Generally qualitative research is starting from an inductive position, to build up the theoretical concept related framework because of the present literatures or theories may mislead.

However, Miles and Huberman (1994) stated that:

“Researchers usually have idea about the study, a provisional initial conceptual frame work and for the new , in experienced or time constrained researchers it is always better to have some basic idea about what they are looking for it may change over the time”.

Qualitative data are not based on the statistical report but it is basically a content based data. It balance the impersonal nature of fact with the statistics or personal information given by individuals for the research.

This methodology in tourism research is a collection of life stories of persons, interviews and participant observation. It also shows the group of person relevant to the research and why they are related to the research.

DATA COLLECTION TECHNIQUES:-

Qualitative data’s are non – numerical. Hence, the term “empirical material” was used by Researchers to refer the term “data” in Qualitative Research.

The Interviews, observation, Focus groups, Non statistical methods.

Interviews:-

Interview is a technique used in qualitative research to get the in depth knowledge of the participant about the research theme. It is also used to describe the theme effectively and it mainly concentrate in the factual and meaning level.

It is mainly used in interviews concentrate in the sociological researches. Types of interviews used in qualitative research –

–? Unstructured interview – Unstructured interview are otherwise called life history interviews because they mainly concentrate on the facts about once personal and intimate information. This method allows the researcher to ask as many question as he needed to sort out the fact.

In this type of interview the researcher must alert because this interviews produce a great deal of information which is more difficult to analyse.

-? Semi structured interview – Semi structured interviews are generally used in the qualitative sociological research. This type of interviews must be conducted by schedule and need to prepare list of questions and topics because in this type interview the researched want to know the specific information and then compare it with the other information’s he gathered so, same questions need to be asked in all the interview on the same topic.

Observations:-

Observation is a technique that is not directly involves the questing of participants it’s merely the observation of what is happening and gathering the data by way of that observation. It is very useful for gathering data’s about certain categories like children and infants.

The researchers observes in two ways,

The direct observation and

The participant observation

The direct observation generally uses the one way mirrors and video camera technologies in certain circumstance to observe. Researches in field of health and psychology generally on the direct observation method.

The participation observation is viewed as a method as well as a methodology, in this method the observer become one of the participant, it is also a time consuming process this type generally used in anthropological and sociological researches.

Focus groups:-
Focus groups may be group discussion or the group interview. A particular issue discussed by number of people who gathered in one place. It helps to get qualitative feedback. The focus groups in the tourism and hospitality industries influences on the investment of the companies in this industry.

In this method it is possible to get more number of ideas in the same place and it is also possible to get a majority aspect of a particular theme easily rather than collecting the information’s individually and then come to a conclusion. In this type of group discussion its possible to analyse one view over others and question the others why they come to this conclusion. The technological advancements helps a lot in the group discussions by way of video conferencing, skype, webcams and all.

Customer feedback cards:

The customer feedback cards generally used to collect the comments about a particular product, a particular service or a particular place. It is very useful to get the majority view of the advantage and disadvantage about that service or product.

This method generally used in marketing, tourism and hospitality industries to gather the idea or to decide what improvements should be made to attract more number of people and know which is greatly preferred by the people and what should be done for the customer satisfaction.

In tourism and hospitality industry this technique is used by restaurants, hotels, travel agencies on other service providers in that industry

Non – statistical data’s :-

published and unpublished documents like company reports, memos, letters, email messages, reports, faxes and news paper articles are considered as written data sources also plays an important role in the qualitative research data collection.

DATA ANALYSIS IN QUALITATIVE RESEARCH:-

Analysing qualitative data is not a simple procedure, It’s a time consuming procedure and the researcher have to go through thousands of information’s he collected and sort out them before got a clear picture about what sort of result he got.

The draw back in analysing the qualitative data is it is associated with the social life the researcher carried out his research using various techniques to collect the data and the long period of time it consume makes a significant impact in the final conclusion because of the social change in the passing time. When the researcher analysing the collected data he has to consider the social circumstance at the time of its collection to come to a correct conclusion otherwise it leads the researcher in a wrong direction and make him come to a wrong conclusion.

The Subjective analysis and The Objective analysis are the data analysis method used in the qualitative and quantitative research methods.

The subjective analysis used is usually applied to analysis of qualitative data’s. For example analyse the impact of culture on tourism, analyse the aspects which affects the tourism, analyse the facts plays a role in perception of tourism place select.

LIMITATIONS

When it comes to qualitative research it varies from time to time along with the cultural changes, the hurdles by language difference and difference in the approaches that would affect the tourism participants.

2. QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH:-

The quantitative research method is a research based on the data’s. It is the scientific approach of the problem and it is one of the traditional method of approach. This research generally held when we need the result in numerical form, it is useful to divide people into different category based on their interest. It is very useful to quantify the opinions. For example, the increase in middle clause peoples spending in tourism, find out the increase in international tourism. This method is very useful if any issue involve mass people’s opinion it is easy to use the quantitative research method rather than a qualitative method to find out the majority opinion.

This method analysis the theory deductively by comparing the relationship between the existing data’s and the proposed research results. According to Duffy (1985) – the Quantitative research is based on the random selection of sample from various study groups and collect data’s over a particular population.

As per the study of Backmon and riemans (1987) – the experimental and quasi experiments gives the essential data’s to the research to control and manipulate the independent variable to study the effects on the dependent variable. But this is not possible in the quantitative research because this research method dismisses the individual variable as unimportant.

The quantitative research is a research based on the numerical and figurative data’s of various aspect collected by the researcher. The researcher can come to a conclusion or get solutions to various problems by comparing and analysing statistics. The quantitative research method is used in tourism related researches also the year wise data’s of the tourist visit to a particular spot, finding out the reason for the increase or decrease of tourist visit to that area by taking interviews and surveys from the tourist as well as local people’s.

Further that this method is used to find out the success of various development measures taken by the government as well as the innovative improvement activities made out by the private entrepreneurs for the development of the area, how the improvements attracts more number of tourist around the world.

As per UNWTO’s World Tourism Barometer (volume – 10 , July,2012) :-

Based on the reports of 85 countries, UNWTO estimated that destinations worldwide recorded 285 million International tourist between January and April 2012, some 15 million more than the 270 million recorded in the same period in 2011.

Limitations:

But this method is not useful if we want in-depth research about a certain issue, it only give the broader and swallow detail and the details regarding facts alone and the simple issues.

DATA COLLECTION TECHNIQUES:-

The data collection techniques of the quantitative research method are surveys, questionnaires, structured interviews, customer feed back

Surveys

Questioners

Structured interviews

Surveys:

Surveys are the best method of collecting the statistical data. It is one of the primary data collection techniques of quantitative data collection and it is also a non experimental method. This method especially very useful for the researches in the tourism and hospitality industries because this technique is very useful to get the direct and comparable data’s.

Cross sectional survey: survey taken in the same point of time basically the questionnaires is used. In tourism and hospitality industry it is used for the surveys like no of tourist visited u.k in 2011.

Longitudinal survey: This technique is the survey taken over a long period of time on the same aspect to compare whether the rate of tourist inflow increased, the increase in the per capita income of the native people. Comparing the no of visitors of Olympics 2007 and 2012.

There are many of surveys methods such as customer in person surveys like Electronic surveys like survey through telephone, online surveys. The technological development made the survey really easier, speedy and economic the electronic surveys like the survey through the telephone, mobile or the survey through online are very effective and made the surveys covering wider area and millions of people around the world.

Questionnaires:

A questionnaire is one of the important tool in collecting the quantitative data’s. It is useful only to gather the factual and straight forward information.

Generally questionnaires are paper – pencil methods or web based questioner, the paper – pencil methods made people more truthful because many people feel comfortable in this indirect method rather than respond in face to face direct methods. So often the paper pencil method is more useful.

There are 3 types of questionnaires:

Closed ended questionnaires

Open ended questionnaires

Combination of both

Closed ended questionnaires are generally yes or no type or optional type and in this type of questionnaire the answers already given and the participants only have to select the answers. This type used in survey methods.

Open ended questionnaires:

In the open ended questionnaires the answers are in descriptive type. In this method

the blank space provided below the question for the answer. It is used to know what the people think about the place or about the service.

Combination of both:

Now a days the Combination of both the open and closed end questionnaires are effective way used for research. In this method both the objective as well as descriptive type questions. The optional type questions are used to get the direct question and the descriptive type questions in the same questionnaires to get more details about the same issue for detailed and in depth knowledge.

Structured interviews:-

In Quantitative research structured interviews are often used to collect data’s. In this method it is very easy to get direct data’s rather than getting an indirect one but it’s a one of time consuming and expensive method.

In structured interview can be conducted Face to face, with help of computers and webcams and over the telephones. Face to face interview is the one of the best form of interview rather than the telephone interview or computer assisted personal interviews. In the face to face interview it is more possible to get the detailed and direct answers.

DATA ANALYSIS IN QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH:-

Analysing the quantitative data’s the researchers can able to get a clear picture of customer satisfaction and need of improvement, growth of the hospitality business, economic impact of tourism among the local community.

In analysing the data’s in quantitative research techniques the researchers uses various types of analysing methods such as Descriptive statistics, regression analysis, time -series regression and input – output method.

The objective method usually applied the analyse the quantitative data’s. It examines the data in scientific method in the prospect of other branches indicated by the methodology. For example analysing the impact of economy and ecology on tourism.

3. CRITICAL THEORY:-

Critical theory is the research developed by the Frankfurt school (horkheimer, Adorno, Marcuse and Habermas). This critical theory meaning referred by its difference from other research types and its roots traced to marx and Hegel. To some extent critical theory have some aspects of constructionism such as the cultural and historical knowledge and hat knowledge is specific it interlinks the social action and culture.

THE CONCEPT OF CRITICAL TOURISM:

There are many meanings for the word critical and we have to single out a particular meaning to use in tourism research. Critical is a special category of importance where the failure to understand and act may result in irretrievable loss.

The tourism research has the issues like critical incident analysis and critical success factors hence it is considered as critical research. There is another meaning for critical it is based on the notion that close scrutiny of the fact, identifying the weaknesses and wrongs and offering correct judgement for the considered issue. There are many examples of such research in tourism

Analysing consumer satisfaction and destination, quality to evaluation of sustainable

practices. Both of these usages of the term are familiar to those in the tourism and hospitality industry. But neither reflects the precise use of the term for the tourism research where discussion will engage in the more specialised and technical meaning of the term as deployed in the concept of critical theory. Critical theory shares the concepts of constructionism it clearly distinguishes itself from constructionism in lot of important ways.

Kincheloe and McLaren (2003) enumerate the major concerns of critical theory and these are illustrated in table one which organises them around eleven domains. These domains and their associated objectives are now discussed. A key distinguishing feature of critical theory.

Habermas’s (1978) contribution is very important in the critical theory, particularly his theory of knowledge-constitutive interests, where he concludes that there is no interest-free knowledge. For example in Knowledge and Human Interests he argues that knowledge derived from positivist methodology generally serves technical interests – in particular those of management and control and the finding of technical solutions to problems. Considering the importance of this technical

solutions takes the current ordering of things as given whereas for critical theory the deliberately fore grounded things by current ordering is considered as a possible problem.

The critical theory approach to tourism research is to conclude what interest the people, which interest is served and how the power operated in the particular formation of tourism research as well as int he process of tourism and hospitality.

Kincheloe and McLaren (2003:437) explains that:- the critical theory rejects the crude forms of economic determinism (domain two) and rather posits that there are “multiple forms of power.” The most relevant discourse and ideology for tourism over structuralist explanation based on simple economic determinism is the post structuralist concept of ideology and discourse.

The next goal of critical theory is its interest in emancipation. Grundy (1987:99) describes the critical theory – as leading to a “transformation in the way in which one perceives and acts in the world”. The result of the emancipation is must be the production and consumption of tourism. In other words critical theory entertains ideas about ideal place and the good life for tourism with a particular emphasis in unleashing human agency and autonomy.

A critique of technical rationality is formed it focused on means rather than ends and it demonstrates how in this respect critical theory differs from positivism. Positivism generally values the freedom, excluding the question of ethical and moral aspect which cannot be defined and concluded by the appeal to facts. It thereby rules out the consideration of what might or ought to be in favour of what is so that only means, facts and theory remain.

Young (1989:2) observes – “society which exists is only an imperfect representation of what it could be” as a key concern for the critical theorists.

Gibson (1986:37) explains that for critical theory: knowledge and interest in emancipation coincide and thus make for those unities which positivism severs – theory and practice, means and ends, thought and action, fact and value, reason and emotion.

A further aspect of critical theory is an understanding of the manifestation of the researcher and research theme and indeed an admission of first person reporting in research where positivism insists on third person distancing of the researcher in their reportage. In this way identity, sex and emotions are considered as part of a complex set of factors that can influence research and therefore deserve reflexive recognition in along with issues of rationality and power.

For one important reason the Critical theory sets itself apart from interpretivism. It does not necessary to believe the research result of the researcher to get a true reading of the world. It is wary of the possibility of their false or at the very least, not fully engaged consciousness and their inability to escape the knowledge – conventions of their period or culture. For example when witchcraft was an accepted explanation of human activity interpretivist research would have resulted in rich accounts of the phenomenon without necessarily challenging the concept.

Barnett (2003:56) describes false consciousness as the situation where “that which is contingent is seen as inevitable. That which is iniquitous is seen as just. That which is imposed is seen as natural.”

Ideology is considered as key to critical theory. Ideology has two unique meanings. The overarching network guidelines which has the ideas that frame, direct and inform the thinking.

Marx and Engels (1845:53) played an significant role in developing the concept of ideology and they identified the ruling ideology, that is the ideology of the dominant class.

The ideas of the ruling classes are in every epoch the ruling ideas, i.e. the class which act as a ruling material force of society, at the same time it acts as a counterpart of ruling intellectual force. The class which has the material production at its disposal at the same time have the control over the mental production, so generally speaking the idea of them whose don’t have control over the mental or intellectual production are subject to it.

Ideology also have a discrete and coherent belief systems. That systems have a long and ranging ideology such as political system for, e.g. Communism, Idea system e.g. Pantheism, Utilitarianism, liberalism and Confucianism to religious faiths such as Judaeo – Christianity, Mohammedism and Hinduism.

The work of critical theory is to identify the influence of ideology at research work and Habermas deployed ideology critique as a method of identification of ideology and a possible means of escape from ideology. Critiques encourages the self-understanding and the placing of representation of the world in the competition with other possible views of the world.

The Materialism is the ideology which concerns with the literature, research and the activities in the tourism as it suggests the underlying dominant common – sense view. The basic idea of tourism is it should bring profit or it should be organised for profit, it should not only concentrate on the profit it must also take the satisfaction of the paying tourist this is the common-sense back ground in which the tourism research operates

This common sense background ideology promotes the specific kind of knowledge which concentrates on the marketi

As feminist writer Starhawk said,” Only when we know how we have been shaped by the structures of power in which we live can we become shapers” (Staehawk, 1988) It is essential for every participant of social activity to know our own complex social locations, social position, and identities. By acknowledge how these factors are processed, we could understand what privilege we has hold and what oppression we are involve in order to improve our capacity for social work and practice anti-oppressively in our daily life.

Features of Social Locations

Our memberships are interactional, they are” come into existence in and through relation to one another”. (Ringrose, 2002) Knowing what futures of our social locations are and how they are consolidated and changed by each other could improve the depth of our self-awareness and warning us be critical.

People usually ask me questions about my nationality, location of hometown, and my occupation when we start a conversation. Therefore, most of time I am identified as a female student who comes from a developing country of Southeast Asia. Broadly speaking, the reason why these questions have been asked commonly during our communication is because of these social location have a same feature which has a huge impact on our behaviors, accents, appearances. In the other words, they are visible and audible for people to recognized and identify. However, compare with these social locations, my political affiliations, religion are more difficult for others to indentify due to the abstraction of these social locations that make them relatively invisible and inaudible. The influence of these social locations are ideological. They have constructed our ideology, social norm and even have shaped our identity. My social locations are various, I am an oppressor while I am oppressed by others. Understanding these features of my social locations could help me to aware the privileges, powers, and injustice that these social locations have been bought to me and to avoid these unfair privilege, “power over” and subjective feelings of injustice , in order to share power with others and practice anti-oppressively in daily life.

Message of Identity from Society

As Aristotle has pointed out in his book Politics, “Man is by nature a social animal”, (Stagiritis, 2000) human being always has demand to connect with others in order to gain a sense of belonging in society. They have been self-locating, identifying others and being identified base on their experience, education, religion, race, gender and more elements of society during their connection which means that our complex identity have been constructed by these elements.

As an individual with multi-dimensional identity, I have been received various societal message in my daily life. Some of these messages are relate to my cultural background while some messages relate to other elements. I moved to a capital city which named Kunming from Shilin (a small town of southwest China) when I was young, for the first few days in my new school I wear the traditional Yi costume as what I did in my previous school in Shilin as an Yi people. However, my new classmates gave me a hard time because of I wear a dress with embroidered totem instead of wearing a “normal” dress as they did; my teacher punished me to stand on a chair with arms extended upwards in front of the entire school because I refused to take off my bracelet on the weekly assembly. Although I spoke fluently Mandarin and had been raised in an urban intellectual family as majority had, most of students even teachers in my new school shown their unwillingness to communicate with me and used “your people” to separated me from them. In my understanding, the difficulty to” fell a sense of belonging and acceptance” (James, 1991) causes the feeling of being isolation, it was a societal message about my identity at that time. The message are conveyed to me by isolating me physically and psychologically from the majority. After receiving the message I started to refuse to wear any Yi clothes and accessories to school because the painfulness from being isolated from “normal” people was unbearable for me as a teenager. During that time, my identity had been adjusted by following the process which has been pointed out by Smith,” moving from unawareness and lack of differentiation to ethnic awareness and self-identification” (Smith, 1991).

Power and Privilege

Our society is diverse in many aspects, such as gender, religion, age etc. These differentiations “cause(s) fear, mistrust, and hatred” (Uvic, 2004 ) and bring us advantage and disadvantage in our life. What is more, these differentiations have been used as justification for holding “belief in the superiority of one way of being over another” (Uvic, 2004) . We need to understand what type of power has been embedded in our social locations in order to practice anti-oppressively when we face the inequality and unjustice.

Being a twenty-one year-old heterosexual female, I have been experienced power-from-within and power-with due to my complex social locations. As being defined as a “young people”, there are various resources and opportunities out there for me when I need them such as entertainment resources ,education opportunity etc. These elements provide me materially and emotionally supports to help me increase personal power in order to against the oppression from society. However, I should not feel happy with this unequal advantages because this institutionalized ageism does not provide equally opportunity for elder to take part in meaningful social activity or “exercise their capacities in socially defined and recognized ways” (Muallaly, 2002) . In order to resist privilege and unearned advantage, I have been participated in a volunteer group which works with elder and to power connect with them in order decrease the influences of institutionalized ageism on elder. Meanwhile, as being a heterosexual female I have holding many invisible and visible privileges. For example, I will not be judged by people if I hand in hand and walk on street with my boyfriend; my sexual orientation will not be treated as “immoral” or “abnormal”. There are many social constructions are built base on the assumption that every individual’s sexual attractions are to someone of opposite sex. Instead of seeing these privilege as advantage, we should not only see them as social resistances and avoid power-over in our practice, but also respect and “support all non-transitional forms of sexuality” (Uvic, 2004 ) by following Queer Theory. These unfair and unearned advantages will resist our society to develop comprehensively, humanely and justly and we definitely have the responsibility to be aware of diversity and never assume people around us.

Purpose of Social Work

It is essential for social worker to know the purposes of this profession because these purposes are the direction for us and provide clients with a constructive solution when we work with them.

When I began this course, in my understanding the purpose of social work was improving the physical environment of individual as in a micro level and promote the justice of society as in a macro level. As my learning about this profession has been processing, my ideas of social work purpose have expanded. According to purpose for this profession which is defined by The National Association of Social Workers, the mission is ” promote or restore a mutually beneficial interaction between individuals and society in order to improve the quality of life for everyone” (Dubois, 2004), this profession assists individuals to create a supportive social system that help clients to achieve their personal goals. Dubois and Krogsrud have mentioned about social work purpose in their book Social Work: An Empowering Profession, they said social workers strived to release human power in order to ensure the well performance for individual and to release social power in order to promote social injustice. (Dubois, 2004) More specifically, the purpose in Micro level is to enhance clients’ ability for social functioning and to match individuals with favorable resources. From a macro perspective, the purpose is to stimulate the development of social justice. These purposes are leading entire profession to strive to create an better society.

Social Justice

Social justice is a key point to promote the fairness and equity in our social environment. Depending on the concept of this course, there are some elements which are necessary for social justice to exist. These elements are: acknowledgment of the connections between social with politic and economy (Uvic, 2004 ), awareness of social injustice, action and movement, fairness of policy, and equality of social opportunity. In order to promote the justice of social construction, I have positioned myself as a participant of social activity who has desire to against injustice and have responsibility to think critically, act anti-oppressively with belief in that everyone has right to share equal physical resources and to be benefited from comprehensive policy. However, there are might resistances stand in my way when I involve activities to fight for political justice and economic redistribution. These resistances could be lack of resources and effect of bureaucratization. In order to avoid the resistance from these two dimensions, I should not be afraid to question the policy and speak out to let government know what is needed by people. Also think and act critically instead of working hidebound. Bridget used her action to examine that everyone has ability to make difference in our society. We shall never give up our goal for working to promote justice in social system. As American social critic James Baldwin said, “according to the way people see it, and if you can alter, even by a millimeter, the way people look at reality, then you can change the world.”

About This Profession

Social Work is a profession which attempts to “demonstrated the interconnectedness between individual changes and social changes” (Uvic,2004). To some extent, the primary purposes could include unpacking the complicity both in societal structure and individual life. This profession should not position itself as an “caring and help” institution and stay in this image, this profession should stand out to “reconnect the political with social” (Uvic, 2004 ) and involve the economic redistrubution in order to ensure that everyone has equal worth, opportunity, and dignity in society. There are two questions I need to be answered, first question is how to act anti-bureaucratically in workplace and the second one is what can I do when there is no matching resources for clients. To practice efficiency, I need to get spiritual and technical supports from myself and co-worker, and people around me to point out what I did wrong. This activity from Art Journal helps me to understand myself better and help me to know why I choose this profession, it also help me to know what is boundary when I work with clients.

Our society is not perfect, to some degree its awareness for diversity, injustice government policy and inequality distribution of physical resources are resisting the promotion of social justice. we have responsibility to understand clearly what our ideology perspective is and what power we have due to our social locations and identities. These could release human power and social power in order to enhance social functioning and social policy. Sometimes it is not easy to have the visible effect for promoting the quality of life to entire society, but it worth us to strive for and fight for. As a Chinese old saying goes: No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.