Ethnographic Research Project: UNL Student Culture

This ethnographic research project examines the experiences of international students at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL), focusing on their motivations for studying at UNL and the impact of Nebraska's culture on their own. The study employs both primary and secondary research methods, including a survey of three Chinese students. Secondary research explores the culture of Nebraska and utilizes Hofstede's cultural dimensions to compare cultural values. The analysis reveals similarities between the cultures of Nebraska and China, which the students perceive as facilitating their integration and academic performance. The report concludes that cultural similarity plays a significant role in the success of international students at UNL, highlighting the importance of cultural understanding in academic settings. The study contributes to the field of cultural anthropology and offers valuable insights into the experiences of international students.

Running head: ETHNOGRAPHIC RESEARCH PROJECT
ETHNOGRAPHIC RESEARCH PROJECT
An analytical study on how people from other places plan to study in University of Nebraska-
Lincoln, focusing on the cultural differences of the people
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author Note:

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
I. INTRODUCTION..................................................................................................................2
II. RESEARCH..........................................................................................................................3
III. ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION.............................................................................7
IV. CONCLUSION....................................................................................................................8
V. REFERENCE LIST...............................................................................................................9
VI. APPENDIX........................................................................................................................11

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I. INTRODUCTION
A systematic study of people and culture in order to explore the cultural background
of the people is known as ethnography (Helmreich et al. 2017). In order to understand the
cultural background and to compare the culture with another culture, a research has to
undertake both qualitative and quantitative research (Helmreich et al. 2017). As a part of
collecting the information on the cultural background of the people under consideration of
research, it is often required that the researcher has to participate in social experiments and
prolonged exposure to the society in order to record the behaviour of the people from
different background. Understanding the cultural behaviour of different people from different
background has always interested me. The human society is a representation of people from
various backgrounds and a better understanding of each other can only bring better harmony
and better means of living together.
For this particular study, I have decided to study the behaviour of the people or the
students studying in University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) coming from various part of the
world with different cultural background (Network, University 2018). The idea of collecting
the information about this group of people is to understand the reason why these people
planned to study in UNL. What are the reasons that made them to select this University and
the way the culture of Nebraska impacts their own culture. A detailed analysis or
ethnography of the people study in the University of Nebraska-Lincoln will be carried on in
this study.

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II. RESEARCH
The research involves collection of both primary and secondary research and both
qualitative and quantitative research. For the secondary research the information regarding
the culture of the people of Nebraska and those of the people from other parts of the world. In
order to understand how the culture of a place actually affects the lifestyle of the people
belonging to another place, several theories and concepts have been used (Mackey et al.
2015). As for the collected secondary data from the various sources, positivism research
philosophy has been used that has helped to understand the theories and concepts in a logical
way and thus, helped in interpreting the outcome properly. Moreover, deductive research
approach has been used as with the help of cultural models and theories, it has been able to
evaluate the study properly. Again, an analytical research design has been used that helped in
understanding the concept in a detailed manner (Mackey et al. 2015). However, for the
research strategy, the survey method was preferred in order to reach out the people from
different cultural background personally and to understand their point of view in regard to the
difference in their culture.
The study focused on the difference in the culture of Nebraska and that of the culture
of Asia. It has been found that there are many candidates from Asian countries, especially
from China, Singapore, Malaysia and India. Thus, the survey has been conducted among few
Asian students of Nebraska. For the survey, non-probability sampling technique was selected
as the participants have to be the ones who have studied in the University of Nebraska-
Lincoln (Flick 2015). Primarily, it was expected that about 10 students will be interviewed in
order to understand their cultural perspective. However, at the time of conducting the survey,
it happened that only 3 of the participants responded properly. These three participants were
from China and they were friends. A set of questions was prepared and these people were

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asked to participate in the survey and share their experience. After the survey result was
collected, a thematic approach was taken and the outcome of the survey has been discussed in
the analysis and interpretation section. It has also been found that the outcome result of the
survey from the three participants were more or less similar; the reason could be because of
them belonging to the same country and same cultural background.
Reading Lewis (2017) it has been found that the culture of Nebraska is basically
defined by the music, sports, community and the local cuisine that the people of this region
follow. The region can be well related to how early Europeans explored the North America.
The place in inhabited by the Native American tribes like the Pawnee, Lakota and the Omaha
who are considered as the first settlers of this region. According to Kathuria et al. (2018),
Nebraska has always been a travel destination and has attracted people from various parts of
the world to visit the place. People have also preferred to stay here for a longer period of
time. However, the place is still dominant as a rural state with a little international chic. It
was in 1891 when US government placed its foothold and brought a wave of settlers to the
place (Lewis 2017). The place is mainly considered as a rural region but it was when the
settlers encouraged the growing of the crops and the ploughing of the soil, the state evident a
mass migration and a group of settlers placed here.

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Fig: Country comparison according to Hofstede’s cultural dimension
(Source: Hofstede-insights.com)
According to the Hofstede’s cultural dimension, the effect of a society’s culture or the
values that the members of a country follow depends of certain factors. These factors are
individualism-collectivism, uncertainty avoidance, power distance and the masculinity-
femininity. The power-distance facts showed that the individuals in the society are not equal
and there is a strong dissimilarity between the attitude and the culture of the people between
different countries. As stated by Ovchinnikov and Lyubov (2016), people of China believes
that the inequalities in the society is acceptable and at the same time, the individuals of US
expresses that all the people in the society are not equal and the culture is definitely affected
by the power of the inequalities. Considering individualism, the culture of the people of
China is to look after themselves and on the immediate family members. IT is only in some

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cases, other families or groups can get preference in the treatment (Bravo et al. 2017).
Similarly, it has been found that people of US follows a high degree of interdependence to
maintain a high degree of interdependence among the close members of the family or the
society. Masculinity shows the dimension that a society is run by the means of competition,
achievement and the success, and this is only motivates them to grow further in their field.
People of China are success oriented and they sacrifice their leisure time in order to prove
themselves capable of any work (Zheng et al. 2017). In the US, the behaviour and the success
pattern in every field is easily reflected on the fact on how competitive they are and how
much value being proving them that they are better than the other.
As per the Uncertainty avoidance, it is believed that the way the society will deal with
the facts of the future can never be known. In this factor both China and US scores low. It has
been found that the Chinese remain in ambiguity and they always follow the law and
regulations that are meant for them to follow. Similarly, the people of US understand that
their behaviour will going to impact on the society and thus, they remain cautious towards
their part of activities (Bravo et al. 20017). People of both China and US want to maintain a
pragmatic relationship with others and thus to maintain a long term orientation with the
people in the society. The degree to which the small children are socialised that confronts
humanity is terms as the indulgence. It has been found that the Chinese have a low score here
and they tend to spend less leisure time with their children in order to socialise more. At the
same time, US also show a less control towards the children and the children are more
restrained or indulged in regular activities rather than getting strict towards their children
(Quanhong and Chang 2017).

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III. ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION
On the basis of the various findings from both the secondary and the primary research
data, it can be said that both the Asians as well has the people of Nebraska have a unique
resemblance towards the culture that resulted in the creation of a unique culture in
University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL). This forms the thesis of the study. After conducting
the survey among the three participants from China, it has been found that they are more
likely to catch up with the people of Nebraska as there is a similarity between their cultural
and the culture of Nebraska (Tubadji et al. 2015). As identified from the Hofstede’s cultural
dimension that the scores in each parameter are more or less similar and thus, there is a high
chance that there will be similarity between the cultures of the two countries (Quanhong and
Chang 2017). In fact, when it was asked on how their productivity and the performance is
improved as there is a similarity in the culture, it has been found that people can actually
share their feelings and can relate themselves well with the people of Nebraska and thus, it do
not becomes difficult for them to collaborate or be with each other.
From the primary survey, it has been found that the participants were not at all
unaware of the culture of Nebraska and thus, there was indeed a hope that their cultural
preferences would match and they can be able to relate each other properly. It is only when
there is a strong bonding among the people due to the similarity in their culture that they were
able to perform together in groups. On the contrary, it can also be said that if there would not
be any kind of similarity between the people, it would become very difficult for them to work
or study together.

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IV. CONCLUSION
With the detailed analysis, it can be easily said that the objective to understand why
people of different parts of the world come to study in Nebraska and the reason behind their
preference is quite clear. As from the collected data from the group of Chinese respondents, it
has been clear that they find a good resemblance of their culture with the culture of the
people of Nebraska and this is the most appropriate reason behind the success rate of the
people studying in Nebraska. To add, it has to be pointed that in order to be at a same place
for a longer duration of time, it is indeed important that there would be similarity in the
culture of the people. Studying and analysing about the culture of the people in account, it has
helped to widen my knowledge on the cultural anthropology that would definitely help me in
future both in personal and professional life.

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V. REFERENCE LIST
Bravo, Adrian J., Matthew R. Pearson, Angelina Pilatti, Jennifer P. Read, Laura Mezquita,
Manuel I. Ibáñez, and Generós Ortet. "Cross-cultural examination of college drinking culture
in Spain, Argentina, and USA: Measurement invariance testing of the College Life Alcohol
Salience Scale." Drug and alcohol dependence 180 (2017): 349-355.
"Country Comparison - Hofstede Insights". 2018. Hofstede Insights. https://www.hofstede-
insights.com/country-comparison/china,the-usa/.
Flick, Uwe. Introducing research methodology: A beginner's guide to doing a research
project. Sage, 2015.
Helmreich, Robert L., and Ashleigh C. Merritt. Culture at work in aviation and medicine:
National, organizational and professional influences. Routledge, 2017.
Kathuria, Ravi, T. K. Kohli, N. N. Kathuria, and S. J. Porth. "Strategic Consensus in India
vis-a-vis USA: A comparative study." IJAME (2018).
Lewis, Ioan. Social and cultural anthropology in perspective: Their relevance in the modern
world. Routledge, 2017.
Mackey, Alison, and Susan M. Gass. Second language research: Methodology and design.
Routledge, 2015.
Network, University. 2018. "University Of Nebraska–Lincoln". Unl.Edu.
https://www.unl.edu/.

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Ovchinnikov, Yuri, and Lyubov Horkova. "FEATURES OF PHYSICAL CULTURE IN
CHINA AND JAPAN." Scientific enquiry in the contemporary world: theoretical basiсs and
innovative approach [L 26] (2016).
Quanhong, Wang, and Chang Liang. "The Default and Evolution of University Library
Culture of China——Based on the Consideration of Chinese Characteristics University
Culture." Library Work and Study 8 (2016): 003. Degens, Nick, Birgit Endrass, Gert Jan
Hofstede, Adrie Beulens, and Elisabeth André. "‘What I see is not what you get’: why
culture-specific behaviours for virtual characters should be user-tested across cultures." AI &
society 32, no. 1 (2017): 37-49.
Tubadji, Annie, Brian J. Osoba, and Peter Nijkamp. "Culture-based development in the USA:
Culture as a factor for economic welfare and social well-being at a county level." Journal of
cultural economics 39, no. 3 (2015): 277-303.
Zheng, Wenzhi, Yen-Chun Jim Wu, XiaoChen Chen, and Shu-Jou Lin. "Why do employees
have counterproductive work behavior? The role of founder’s Machiavellianism and the
corporate culture in China." Management Decision 55, no. 3 (2017): 563-578.

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VI. APPENDIX
The following questions were asked to 10 participants of the survey. The set of questionnaire
contained both open-ended and closed-ended questions
Name: _______________________________
Age: ___________ Gender: ____________ Nationality: ___________________
Q1. What inspires you to study in the University of Nebraska?
Q2. How does it feel to work as a team with people from different cultural background?
Q3. What makes it easier for you to communicate with your fellow learner?
Q4. How do you overcome any kind of communication barrier while communicating with people
from different cultural background?
Q5. How do you believe that a significant similarity in the culture helps in increasing productivity
and improving the performance of yourself?