Ethnic group of elderly people - Research Paper Example

? Research Paper Introduction Human beings live in the form of groups and are interdependent upon each other to fulfill most of their needs. In orderto live together amicably and work according to a pre-set pattern, they develop cultural patterns and traits that are mutually shared by each member of the community. They entertain common beliefs and values that ultimately give rise to the development of a culture (Greenberg, 1971). Every community has its specific culture that guides them to live their lives according to the things specified in their culture. Therefore, a culture is set of rules, values, beliefs, life styles, language and a lot other things that help humans to act in social situations (LeCompte & Schensul, 1992). It is not easy to study one’s culture and it needs specific research methods to undertake the study of culture. Ethnographic research method is the tool which is used by researchers to study culture of communities by using various techniques (Atkinson, 2007). The paper discusses the ethnographic research conducted in the area of an ethnic group; elderly people. The paper throws light on the type of life spent by elderly men and women in homes specially made for caring for the aged. Methodology The ethnic group chosen for the research is elderly people living in the old homes. The mode of research was participant observation as well as in-depth interviews were also being conducted to obtain additional information about the subjects of the study. The topic chosen for the ethnographic research is the nature of life spent at old homes by elderly people. Also the purpose of the research was to gain significant insights about their life styles as manifested by their appearance, interaction with peers and other things. The reason for the selection of this topic was to conduct research in a significant area that was related to a segment of a society that was generally neglected and needed attention. Therefore, the study was focused on elderly people to understand their issues and concerns that they had about the society and also to make their situation better by making themselves heard by others in the community. As the research tools used to collect data were participant observation method and interview method, it was necessary to establish rapport with the subjects of the study firstly before conducting the actual research. Another ethical consideration was taking consent of the participants to use them as subjects of the study which was enabled by asking them about their willingness to take part in the study. The informed consent was taken from the old home’s management staff to use the residents as the participants of the study. The permission was granted and 15 elderly people were used for the research by asking them individually about their willingness to participate in the research process. The ages of elderly people were from 75- 90 and both men and women were included in the research sample. In order to establish rapport with the participants, an effort was done on making them open up and take part in discussion with the researcher who had to meet them frequently and engage in friendly conversation with the aged people. The researcher asked about their general well-being and showed concern for them which made the elderly take the researcher as a friendly person with whom they could share their personal feelings and thoughts. In order to proceed with the research process, the researcher constantly met with the elderly people for a period of two weeks on regular basis. The researcher spent two to three hours with them daily and observed the type of life they spend in old home. The interviews were taken from the participants occasionally to synthesize with the information taken from the participants’ observation. Main Discussion The research was undertaken on elderly ethnic group by means of interview and participant observation method. The concepts of anthropology applied on this research are ethnicity, culture and race. Ethnicity implies a group of people living in the same vicinity and sharing common beliefs and values with each other (LeCompte & Schensul, 1992). The ethnic group chosen for the research is the group of elderly people living in an old home. Each ethnic group consists of some ethnic patterns that are shared and followed by all the members of the group regardless of the culture or race they belong to. Thus ethnic group is a narrow group located in the broad context of culture or race. Culture is an umbrella term for a large number of concepts encompassing social life of humans while race is an ethnic term which include people sharing similar physical traits or other features (Bonvillain, 2010). In this study, the ethnicity of a group of elderly people residing in an old home was studied. The methodology composed of conducting interview of the subjects and using participant observation method. The participant observation was conducted by the researcher’s involvement in their life by spending time with them on regular basis to study the patterns on which their life was being spent. The researcher specially looked for the type of interaction they had with each other and observed their life style closely by making him a part of the group. He took notes of the things he observed while spending his time with them. He observed that both men and women interacted with each other in a friendly manner. They showed care and concern for each other by calling them by pet names. They showed intimacy by empathizing with each other when someone appeared grieved. They also showed patterns of sadness when they remember their families. However, they lived like a family and shared their happiness and sorrows. Although their dressing and overall appearance was simple yet they kept neat and clean. It was also noticed that they participated in religious activities regularly as per their religions as they belonged to different religions. Despite being from different religious backgrounds, the elderly people showed respect for each others’ religions and celebrated their religious ceremonies mutually. They were also not from same racial background, however, they treated each other with equality and respect which was indicative of their religious and cultural tolerance. They also shared views about the political and economic conditions of their country which showed that they had active interest in the things happening in their surroundings. They also talked about their previous life, especially about their life before retirement and remembered their children and spouses. They narrated few instances of their memorable experiences of life and shared their tales of good and bad moments with the researcher. They accepted the researcher as a part of their community and showed friendly behavior with him. For conducting interviews with the subjects, the researcher asked for specific details about their family and their life previously spent in their own homes and also about the life they were living in this new home. The researcher took help from the checklist prepared by him before conducting the interview and asked questions to the participants about different areas of their life. Firstly, they were asked about their names, ages, education, nationality, religion and type of work they used to do before they got retired. Secondly, they were interviewed about the time spent at the old home and how was their experience of living there. Most of the interviewees gave positive response about their living in that old home. They appreciated the care they were being given there and were happy living there. However, some of the interviewee did show dissatisfaction and told the researcher that they would prefer living with their own family if they were given a chance to. Overall, the researcher found the sense of belonging in the ethnic group with strong attachment and shared values and beliefs. The subjects also complained about the less frequent visits made by their family members and expressed their desire to meet their children and spouse to spend good time with them. Conclusion The research undertaken to collect data from an ethnic group of elderly people highlighted the cultural patterns among which they were living their life. The methodology employed was participant observation and interview method by the researcher and the mode of research was ethnographic research method. The researcher had to take informed consent and establish rapport with the participants of the study to undertake the research process. The data collected from the researcher showed the type of life spent by the subject in the old home and their values, beliefs and life styles. It was found out that they were strongly attached with each other and had a good sense of belonging with spending their life according to their religious and cultural background. The research gives a valuable insight into the life of elderly people which can be used to study the cultural patterns of this ethnic group. It is expected that the study would prove to be useful for the future researchers as well who would like to study the same topic. Work Cited Atkinson, P. Handbook of Ethnography. SAGE: London. 2007. Print Bonvillain, Nancy, Language, Culture and Communication. 6th Edition. New Jersey: Prentice Hall. 2010. Print. Greenberg JH. Language, Culture and Communication. Stanford University Press: California. 1971. Print LeCompte DM & Schensul JL. Designing and Conducting Ethnographic Research. AltaMira Press: United States of America. 2011. Print Read More