Understanding Ethnicity and Cultural Practices: An Interview with an Iranian National in Los Angeles

Running head: SOCIOLOGY
Sociology
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1SOCIOLOGY
Introduction
Observations and one to one interview session are the best ways for the collection of
data or the information related to the culture and the family backgrounds during research
procedure (Muro, 2015). This assignment is the continuation of module 1 explaining the
details of the interview that has been taken with an Iranian national mostly known as
Tehrangeles. An ethnographic interview has been set up with a 65-year-old resident of Los
Angeles. This is because he is old enough to speak regarding the changing meaning of the
culture, the structure of the family and the class in the current society in the light of the
particular social setting, ethnicity.
Discussion
Discussion of the interview
The initial interview that was taken was a 45 minutes session. The process of the
ethnographic interview was a qualitative research procedure that included observation and
direct face to face interview with the interviewee. This interview was conducted with the
purpose of understanding the behaviour and the social rituals of the entire culture. The
process of the interview included various categories of research questions namely the closed-
ended, the open-ended, the probing and the checking questions (Farnen, 2017). The interview
aimed to understand the personal insight of the interviewee in regards to the social setting
that has been highlighted in the previous assignment.
The interview for the interview was an Iranian national. Alborz, the 65-year-old man,
belonging from Iranian culture and residing in the neighbourhood of the Los Angeles was
taken as the sample since he had been in the United States of America from the time of the
immigration. “ We escaped the dramatic bounds and the leaps after the Islamic revolution,"
said Alborz. The 65-year-old is the owner of a business firm which he started after the

2SOCIOLOGY
immigration to the country. “ This place is not for poor, we have carried our huge share of
fortune while escaping our mother country to start a new life”, the man boasted.
The process of the interview was taken in the lawn of his villa which stood beside the
beautiful lake in the centre of the city. While undergoing the method of the interview, nature,
the enthusiasm and the reluctance of the interviewee for answering some of the questions
were observed.
Analysis of the interview –ethnicity
This section of the essay will highlight the clear understanding and the application of
the anthropological concept of the social setting, ethnicity. On the basis of the collected data
from the interview with Alborz, this analysis highlights the cultural patterns and how the
cultural identities and ideas are changing over the space and the time.
As per the interview with the 65-year-old Iranian man, ethnicity is a cultural
construction and not a natural phenomenon which they inherit from their mother country.
While answering to the question regarding his friend circle in Los Angeles, Alborz stated his
sense of ethnicity of organising himself with the culturally similar people. While asking about
how his original myths, Alborz said how he had been rigid towards the cultural practices of
the United States like the thanksgiving ritual. He furthermore stated in the interview
regarding his provocative nature of promoting certain ethnic boundaries within the
community people after the immigration to the nation. “Our world has a distinct group with a
clear boundary”.
While being asked regarding his choice of settling down in Los Angeles, the
interviewee stated how he found the climate and the weather of the current place similar to
the Tehran and both of the place share resemblance overlooked by the Alborz Mountains. He