Formation Process of Ethnic Identities - Research Proposal Example

Running Head: Research Proposal Research Proposal [Institute’s Research Proposal Introduction Since centuries, culture and ethnic identities have played an imperative and influential role in lives of millions of people around the globe. In the past, people from different cultures were more limited in terms of their social environment that did not involve social interaction of more than one ethnic identity in one location. However, in recent decades, globalization has resulted in an urgent need of understanding for effective adjustment of different cultures in a single environment. Unfortunately, this has been one of the major problems, specifically, for ethnic minorities that often confront hindrances in development of their ethnic identity. (Smith, 1991) In this regard, public, as well as, private institutions should play a significant role in the effective development of cultural identities, and special treatment should be provided to adolescents, in order to eliminate such social problem and create an understanding for future generations. Aims and Objectives In this regard, the proposed research will identify and discuss differences and similarities related to minority and majority group effects on formation process of ethnic identities, specifically, in youth and young adults in the USA. Moreover, researcher will endeavor to acquire information related to identified factors that play a crucial role in such ethnic development, specifically in white ethnic and non-white ethnic groups. It is observed that educational institutions have the capacity to contribute positively in this case, and thus, different school setting and educational programs will be analyzed, which will allow the study to take a stand in the end. Different issues related to multiculturalism, cultural tolerance, ethnic identities, ethnic minorities and majorities, etc will be discussed that will provide an insight into the contemporary, as well as, future developments related to the issue. Literature Review Since centuries, ethnic status has been one of the foremost tools that have facilitated millions of people in living their lives purposefully, specifically, in worrying situations of their lives. However, it is observed that formation of such an identity becomes a worrying process for individuals coming from an ethnic background in the USA, as the process conflicts with the mainstream culture existing in different regions of the country. (Avery, et al, 2007) Both developmental, as well as, contextual factors play a crucial role in the process of ethnic identity formation, and thus, their interaction makes the process more complex and difficult. (Fishman, 2001) In addition, experts have indicated that family is a major component that contributes effectively in formation process. In this regard, parental involvement is very crucial and imperative in influencing an individual’s ethnic identity formation. As earlier mentioned, globalization has resulted in an urgent need of such ethnic formation, and it is very important that effective steps should be carried out to understand and carry out the formation process in an effective manner. (Guanipa-Ho & Guanipa, 1999) A major conflict in the process of identity formation results after the interaction of individuals from ethnic minorities with adolescents from majority ethnic groups. Experts have noted that the later group may play an influential role in the process, and thus, it then becomes a challenging process for individuals from minority groups to stick with their own process and values that are different from mainstream culture. Native American adolescents (Miyares, 2006) are an example of minority ethnic groups that prefers tribal spirituality, ceremonial processes, etc to other values of mainstream culture. (Avery, et al, 2007) In the result, it is likely that such values may conflict with school policies that are created according to mainstream dominant culture of the region, (Kroger, 2000). Adolescents who belong to ethnic minority groups face a more complicated task while developing an identity comprised of decisions about the roles offered by two or more sources of ethnic identification during their process of identity formation. Ethnic identity formation passes through a number of states in an ethnic minority group. Cross’s model explains that the formation of ethnic identity begins with the pre-encounter stage during which individuals have the chance to identify with the dominant culture. (De Vos, 1995) Though individuals are aware of the differences between the dominant culture and their own, these differences are not considered significant factors. The second stage—the encounter stage—occurs when adolescents experience discrimination, which evokes greater awareness about the cultural values inherent in their own ethnicity. During this stage, the individual will uphold the values of his or her ethnic group and reject those of the dominant culture. (Avery, et al, 2007) The Cross model refers to the next stage as immersion. This occurs when young people recognize strongly the values of their ethnic group and are likely to become politically active or adopt a militant state in order to reject the values of the dominant society. After experiencing this stage, individual feels discontented due to severity of the immersion process and it is likely that he may ultimately decide that it is unnecessary to reject all of the values of the dominant culture. Cross’s final stage is called internationalization, which occurs when the individual tends to recognize the values of the dominant society, such as in the US, in which people appreciate the person more as an individual than as a member of a specific ethnic group. (Moshman, 2005) Individuals from minority groups then feel a sense of fulfillment through the combination of cultural and personal identities. Although an individual maintains a sense of his or her ethnic origin, the person also achieves a general attitude of consideration and tolerance towards everyone in the society (Kroger, 2000). In contrast, ethnic identity formation is not such a challenging task for majority groups in the United States because ethnic origins are not given much importance in such groups. Caucasian North American teenagers are the major examples of such practice, who usually identify the values at home as being similar to mainstream values. Therefore, the question of ethnic identity does not arise among this majority group. The research by Alipuria and Phinney (1996) reveals that ethnic identity development has significance among ethnic minority groups, such as African Americans, Asian Americans, and Mexican Americans while the Caucasian majority group does not consider the development of ethnic identity to be significant. Moreover, ethnicity has greater significance for the overall identity of all minority groups compared to Caucasian groups (Kroger, 2000). Methodology It is very significant for a study to reflect on previously carried out researches, as well as, perform primary research methodologies, in order to recognize and evaluate possible gaps and findings related to the topic. (Trochim, 2001) In this regard, brief and succinct surveys will be an important part of the methodology, as it will authenticate the validity of results and will be specific according to the abovementioned selected research topic. Ethnic identity formation is an imperative issue that plays a crucial role in current globalized era, and thus, brief surveys will allow the research to take a stand on valid grounds. (Bernard, 2005) In this regard, information will be gathered by conducting a survey to acquire practical answers of queries from students representing various schools in the country. In specific, four public schools have been identified for the study, which are Stuyvesant High School, Wadleigh High School, Central High School (New Jersey), and Central High School (Pennsylvania) that represent Euro-American & Asian, African American, Black population, and White population respectively. In order to identify differences in school setting, some of the private educational institutions have been considered for research, which are Miss Porters School (White Girls), Avon Old farms (White Boys), Piney Woods School (Black), and the Dunn School (Euro-American & Asian). Additionally, diversified results will be acquired by carrying out surveys on university level as well. In this regard, students from City University of New York, University of Connecticut, Old Dominion University, New York University, University of Utah, and Howard University will be selected for survey. The proposed research will focus specifically on young adults in the age group of 12-21 years, living in urban, as well as, suburban areas in different parts of the country. In order to acquire actual results, confidentiality will be ensured during the study and methodology will be implemented according to ethical principles of research. Moreover, influence of ethnic status will be examined and role of school setting will be analyzed as well. The study will utilize the Rosenberg self esteem scale and the Multigroup Ethnic Identity Measure (MEIM) to carry out researches as discussed earlier in the proposal. Lastly, a two-sample t-test will support the research process by the provision of results of majority and minority groups and their relation with ethnic identity formation. Limitations Every research methodology has its benefits, as well as, drawbacks. It is observed that analysis of measurement equivalence of the MEIM across racial and ethnic groups have not provided convincing results, which might be the major limitation for study, as cross-cultural ethnic identity among various racially different groups will be assessed. Another identified limitation is focus on differences in majority and minority groups in terms of numbers only and not in terms of status. In the result, this focus will ignore some minority and majority groups that may have varying levels of ethnic identity formation. Conclusion It is observed that very few studies have been conducted to assess ethnic identity formation among predominant white ethnic groups, such as German Americans, Irish Americans, Italian Americans, and Polish Americans. This lack of research on white ethnic identity seems to presume, falsely, that the concept of white ethnic identity does not exist. While the research will provide an insight into similarities in ethnic identity formation among white ethnic and non-white ethnic groups, it will endeavor to reconstruct such false claim. Until now, this proposal has discussed some of the aims and objectives identified for the research, followed by literature review and methodological approaches that will be preferred for acquiring required information. This research will carry out abovementioned and discussed methodologies and strategies to acquire factual and logical results, which will be beneficial for students, teachers, and professionals in better understanding of the topic. References Avery, D. R., Tonidandel, S, Thomas, K. M., Johnson, C. D., & Mack, D. A. (2007). Assessing the multigroup ethnic identity measure for measurement equivalence across racial and ethnic group. Educational and Psychological Measurement. 67, 877-888. Bernard, Harvey Russell. (2005). Research Methods in Anthropology. Rowman Altamira. De Vos, George A. (1995). Ethnic Identity. AltaMira Press. Fishman, Joshua. (2001). Handbook of Language & Ethnic Identity. Oxford University Press. Guanipa-Ho, C. & Guanipa, J. A. (1999). Ethnic identity of adolescence. Retrieved on May 28, 2009; http://edweb.shsu.edu/people/cguanipa.ethnic.html Kroger, Jane. (2000). “Ego identity status research in the new millennium.” International Journal of Behavioral Development. 24(2), 145-148. Miyares, Ines M. (2006). Contemporary Ethnic Geographies in America. Rowman & Littlefield. Moshman, David. (2005). Adolescent Psychological Development. Routledge. Phinney, J. S., & Alipuria, L. L. (1996). “At the interface of cultures: Multiethnic high school and college students.” The Journal of Social Psychology.136 (2), 139-158. Smith, EJ. (1991). “Ethnic identity development: Toward the development of a theory within the context of majority/minority status.” Journal of Counseling and Development. 70(1), 181-188. Trochim, William M. K. (2001). Research Methods Knowledge Base. Atomic Dog Publications. Read More