group5文档格式.docx

group5文档格式.docx

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RandiLane

UrsulaPea

AmandaTaylor

JennaVandeGuchte

Introduction

Toseeawhitewomanandablackmanwalkingdownthestreetholdinghandsusedtobeunheardof.Itwasarelationshipthat,forthefewwhoengagedinit,waskeptasquietaspossible.Duringthefiftiesandsixties,interracialdatingwasnotsociallyacceptableandtherewererepercussionsforthosewhowereinvolvedinsuchbehaviorsbecausevariouslaws,suchastheJimCrowlaws,keptthedifferentraces/ethnicitiesseparateanditwasseenasextremelysociallydevianttogoagainsttheserules.Interracialdatingandmarriagearefairlynewsociallyacceptableconceptsthathavebeenintroducedintooursociety,butastimehasprogressed,moreofthesetypesofrelationshipsarebeingseen.

Formanyindividualstherearemultiplefactorsthatplayasignificantroleindeterminingthetypesofpeopletheywilldateorconsidermarrying,suchastheotherperson’sattractiveness,personalityorpersonalpreferences.Thepurposeofthisstudywastoseewhichfactors,inparticular,influencehowapersonfeelstowardsinterracialrelationshipsandwhetherornotcertainfactorsinfluenceaperson’sdecisiontoenteraninterracialrelationship.Specifically,theresearchgroupfeltthattherewerecertainfactorsthatwouldbeimportantinaperson’swillingnesstoengageinaninterracialrelationship.Thesefactorsconsistedofparent/familyinput,age,race,gender,religion,politicalaffiliation,personalbackgroundandeducationlevel,withsomeofthesefactorsweighingmoreheavilythanothers.

Thegroupsalsoexaminedtheattitudestowardsinterracialdating,especiallywithrespecttohoweachindividualperceivedsociety’sviewoninterracialrelationships,andwhetherornottheviewsofsocietyimpactedeachperson’sindividualdatingbehavior.Thepurposeofthestudywastogetabetterunderstandingofhowcollege-agedstudentsfeltaboutinterracialdatingandtoseewhetherornottheiropinionsreflectedmanyofthegeneralsocietalassumptions.Attheconclusionofthestudy,thegrouphopestocontributetotheexistingliteratureregardinginterracialdatingandmarriage.Inadditiontheliteraturewilldiscussmorewayshowpeoplechooseordonotchoosetodate/marryinterraciallyratherthanjustthepatternsthatareseeninmarriagelicenses,asinthepreviousresearch.Overall,theresearchgrouphopesthatthefindingsfromthisresearchprojectwillprovidemorediverseinformationthanwhatispresentlycitedintheresearchliteraturetoday,astheyplantoinvestigatethefactorsthatinfluenceaperson'

swillingnesstoengageinaninterracialrelationshipandnotjustthetrendsthathavebeenseenininterracialrelationships.

ResearchQuestion/Hypotheses

Thegroupwasinterestedindeterminingwhatfactorsinfluenceyoungpeople’sattitudestowardsinterracialrelationships.Theexperimentersfeltthatthisquestionwascompellingbecauseitwouldprobablyreflectavarietyofdifferentissuesthathavebeenaddressedthroughoutthesemester,includingfamilycommunicationandfunctioning,genderroles,theimportanceofeducationlevelandsocioeconomicstatusinchoosingamate,etc.Theresearchgrouphypothesizedthatindividualswouldrelatethatthewaytheyfeltaboutinterracialdatingand/ormarriagewaseffectedby:

theopinionsoftheirparentsandthepressuresorrestrictionsthatwereplacedonthemregardinginterracialrelationships,theageoftheindividual（thegroupassumedthatyoungerpeoplewouldbemoreopentointerracialrelationshipsthanolderparticipants）,theirrace（aswasreflectedinourliteraturereview,itappearsasthoughsomeracesaremorelikelytointerdatethanothers）,theirreligion（thegrouptheorizedthatdeeplyreligiouspeoplewouldbelesslikelytoengageininterracialdatingbecauseitmaycontradicttheteachingsoftheirreligion）,theirpoliticalaffiliation（thegroupthoughtliberalsmaybemoreopentointerracialdatingthanconservativeswouldbe）,theireducationallevel（duetotheprogressiveideasandenvironmentexperiencedatmostcolleges,thegroupassumedthatthosewithahighereducationallevelwouldbemorewillingtointerraciallydate）,andfinally,theirpersonalbackground.Forthislastfactortheexperimenterswantedtolookatanumberofdetails,suchastheirhometown,theracialcontentofthatsetting,theirhistoryofracialinteractions（eitherpositiveornegative）,andalsothedegreetowhichtheymayhavefeltlimitedbysocialpressuresinregardstowhotheyshouldandshouldnotdate.

DataandMethods

Initially,theresearchgroupthoughtitwouldbebesttoeachinterviewonepersonwhohadinterraciallydatedandonewhohadnot,inordertocomparethetwoonthesedimensionsandlookforkeydistinctions.However,afterthefirstfewinterviews,itwasdecidedthatabroaderethnicsamplemightbemorebeneficialinhelpingthegroupachieveourgoalsofdeterminingareasofdissimilarity.Soinstead,theexperimenterstriedtoconstructasamplepopulationthatwasraciallyvaried.Intheendthegrouphadareasonablyvariedsample,consistingofCaucasians,AfricanAmericans,HispanicsandNativeAmericans.ThereisanadmittedflawintheresearchinthatthegroupwasunabletospeakwitheitheranAsianindividualoranIndianindividual,butneverthelessthegroupfeelsthatourattempttomodifythesetofparticipantswaslargelysuccessful.

Thetablebelowcontainsthemostrelevantdemographicinformationfromeachofourparticipants.Thesamplewasdominantlyfemale（80%,males20%）andwhite（50%）.Allparticipantswereeitherattendingcollegeorhadgraduatedalready.Questioningonpoliticalaffiliationrevealedalargepercentageofdemocrats（60%）,aswellasindividualswhowereborninNorthCarolina（70%,asopposedto30%bornoutofstate）.Themeanageoftherespondentswas21.

Table1

#GenderRaceAgeReligionPoliticalBirth-EducationStatus

Affiliationplace

1

Male

Black

20

Baptist

None

NC

Sophomore

Dating

2

Female

White

25

Democrat

BA

Married

3

NativeAmerican

21

Junior

Single

4

Catholic

5

Hispanic

22

Republican

Senior

6

Christian

TX

7

8

Jewish

MA

9

10

23

NY

BS

Theinterviewswereconductedeitherinpersonandrecorded,orinanonlineformat.Mostoccurredinfairlypublicmeetingplaces,suchastheStudentUnionorlibrary,orinprivateresidences.Earlyafternoonwasthemostcommontimefortheinterviewstotakeplace,althoughsomewerescheduledforlaterintheeveningtobestaccommodatetheparticipants.Theinterviewguidewasquitestructured,includinggeneralquestionsaswellassetsofquestionsforindividualswhoeitherhadorhadnotinterraciallydatedinthepast.Whileeachquestiontypicallyhadanumberofprobestoencourageparticipation,eachintervieweralsotookthelibertytoaskadditionalquestionsthatmayhavebeenmorerelevanttotheconversation.Also,inthecontextofsomeinterviews,anumberofthequestionsoutlinedontheinterviewguidecameacrossassomewhatredundant,sotheywereskippedtoavoidannoyingtherespondent.Theaveragelengthoftheinterviewswas45minutes.

Toanalyzetheresearchresults,agroupmeetingwasheldtoreviewthecompletedtranscriptionsandsearchforoverallthemes.Theexperimentersidentifiedfourkeyconcepts:

familyviewpoint,societalpressure/stereotypingofinterracialcouples,levelofexperiencewithinterracialrelationships,andlastlythecombinedimpactofavarietyoffactors（includingeducation,religion,politicalviews,ageandsocioeconomicstatus）.Afteragreeingonthesethemesasourbasicdimensionsforexamination,fourgroupmemberswereeachassignedaparticularthemeandwereresponsibleforresearchingpreviousliteraturethatmayhelpilluminateourfindingsinthisarea,andgoingthrougheachtranscriptandhighlightingpassagesthatpertainedtoourareaofanalysis.Thegroupfeltthismethodofdividingresponsibilitywouldbehelpfulinmakingsureeachgroupmemberhadathoroughunderstandingofthemostsignificantresultsoftheproject.Also,itrelievedunduestresssinceonememberdidnotbecomesolelyresponsibleforconductingabroadliteraturereview.Thequoteseachgroupmemberfoundcanbeseeninthefollowingsectionsofthispaper.

BackgroundandPastResearch

Withrespecttothetopicofinterracialmarriages,variousresearchershaveconductedinvestigationsintothemanyfacetsofthistypeofrelationshipandhaveconcludedthatastimehasprogressed,anincreaseininterracialmarriageshasoccurred.Thisincreasemaybetheresultofnumerousfactors,includingtheSupremeCourtliftingofthelegalrestrictionsonracialintermarriagein1967,thedecreaseinWhiteprejudiceagainstBlacks,andthenarrowingoftheracialgapineducation,income,andoccupation（Kalmijn,1993）.However,Kalmijn（1993）statesthatalthoughtheseaforementionedfactorsmayhaveresultedinanincreaseininterracialmarriages,otherfactorsmaycounterthiseffect.Forinstance,therehasbeenanincreaseinBlackunemployment,ariseintheracialgapofcollegeenrollment,andpartoftheBlackinco