The study carried out is based on the theories of schema. It focuses on the recent Asian tsunami.

Introduction

Background research

The study carried out is based on the theories of schema. It focuses on the recent Asian tsunami. It aims to find out if Asians or non-Asians will be more aware and have a better understanding of the incident because of a schema that relate to the area involved.

All human beings possess categorical rules or scripts that they use to interpret the world. New information is processed according to how it fits into these rules, called schema. These schemas can be used not only to interpret but also to predict situation occurring in our environment. Information that does not fit into these schemas may not be comprehended, or may not be comprehended correctly. The learner in schema theory actively builds schema and revises them in light on new information. Each individual’s schema is unique and depended on that individual’s experiences and cognitive processes.

Schemas are meaning-driven and networks of propositions are actively constructed by the learner. When we are asked to recall a story that we were told, we are able to reconstruct the meaning of the story, but usually not the exact sentences that we are told but the story is remembered by actively constructing a meaningful representation of the story in our memory.

This theory can be tested in the levels of culture and understanding of the cultures surroundings. The study tries to find out if the schema theory works in relation to cultures and understanding the surroundings and places related to the cultures.

The importance of schema has been shown in a number of studies. Participants where given text about washing clothes to read and their reading time for each sentence in each text was recorded. Half the texts were preceded by a title that activated a relevant schema, whereas the other halves were presented without relevant schemas. Overall, reading time per sentence was substantially longer when reading without a schema than with one. The amount of extra time needed to read a sentence when no schema was available was the same at all points in the story.

Participants recalled more for those who had the heading and therefore this shows that they used schema for washing clothes for recall.

Recalling 'The War of the Ghosts’ was done by British social psychologist, Sir Frederic Bartlett. He asked readers of the story to try to rewrite it, recalling it as accurately as possible. They read it through twice and recalled it after delays varying from 15 minutes after study to several years later.

To most readers, this North American folk tale was quite bizarre and in the attempt to recall it, readers omit details, change things, and import new material. Personal interests and experiences also tend to play a part in retelling stories from memory.

Bartlett's readers unconsciously made the story more orderly and coherent within their own cultural framework. The readers were mostly well-educated English people at the time of the First World War, but subsequent experiments have shown similar tendencies amongst other groups.

Some of the typical transformations of the story where: the part where, 'Something black came from his mouth' tended to become 'he frothed at the mouth', 'he vomited' or 'breath escaped from his mouth'. 'Hunting seals' tended to become 'fishing'. 'Canoe' tended to become 'boat' and 'paddles' to become 'oars'. The wounded Indian tended to become the hero, whose wounds were sometimes even 'bathed' at the end.

This study shows how the story was later interpreted by the readers in ways to suit their understandings and their cultures. The story came to them as quite bizarre as it was Native American and not something that the readers were naturally used to. This idea is used in the study of the Asian-tsunami. It aims to look at how cultures can affect peoples understanding of the incident. Where people maybe more used to certain styles and places they maybe more prone to understanding it than people who are from a different culture and environment.

Rationale

The study looks upon incidents and how much people maybe able to understand about them. It may show how schema alter the way people understand and recall news items.

The Asian tsunami study is adapting to the Bartlett’s study of the ‘War of the Ghosts’. Here a story is being presented to the readers, the Asian tsunami rather than a story from a different culture.

Based on previous study results and theories, the prediction for this study would be that more Asian people may understand more about the Asian tsunami than the non-Asian people as Asian people should have a better schema and understanding of the culture and surroundings.

Aims

The aim of this study is to find out whether Asian or non-Asian people understand more about the Asian tsunami. The study should give an understanding of how schema of different culture affects the way in which they understand news items from around the world.

Hypothesis

Asian people will give more correct answers to questions about the tsunami than non-Asian people.

Null

Non-Asian people will not give more correct answers to questions about the tsunami than Asian people.

Method

Design

This is a field experimental study between the understanding of Asians ...

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Aims

Hypothesis

Asian people will give more correct answers to questions about the tsunami than non-Asian people.

Null

Non-Asian people will not give more correct answers to questions about the tsunami than Asian people.

Method

Design

This is a field experimental study between the understanding of Asians and non-Asians. This will help put together the data between the two groups of people.to understand this study the data needed is to find out about who would know more about the tsunami, there for by doing a correlation study between two groups this is possible.

Variables

The independent variable is the 20 Asian people being studied (group 1) and 20 non-Asian people being studied (group 2). The dependant variable is the number of correct answers that are obtained by the two groups about the Asian tsunami.

Participants

A total of 40 people where used in this study. There were 20 Asians and 20 non-Asians. They were all between 16-19 years of age. The chosen participants were all students that go to Havering Sixth Form College. Out of the 20 Asians and non Asians we chose an equal number of females and males in each category. All the chosen people were from the east London area. The participants were sampled opportunistically (opportunistic sampling). This is done by quota sampling with the quotas selected opportunistically. As this was the easiest and most convenient method of sampling and by using quota sampling it ensured that equal numbers of results were obtained from each group.

Apparatus

We used a set of questions and prepared questionnaires that were given to our participants to fill out. (See appendix 1) The answers had a one right answer and wrong answers. The correct answers were put into a table and measured in correlation amongst other sets of data.

Prepare questionnaires
Pick participants by random sampling
Ask consent from participants
Give questionnaires to fill
Give 5 minutes to fill
Take the questionnaire back.

Procedure

The participants were given a briefing to gain informed consent, then given a questionnaire to fill out about the Asian tsunami. They were not told the complete details of the study but just said that the questionnaire was to find out a general view of their understanding of the Asian tsunami. It was done as a field experiment in the Havering sixth form college. The participants were allocated to different groups by their race and ethnic background and culture. They were all given roughly about five minutes each. They had to do the questionnaires in a natural environment. They had to do the questionnaires by themselves.

A standard procedure for carrying out this experiment that the reasearcher had to follow were:

Seek consent from the participant to take part in the survey
The participants were told it was just a simple questionnaire about the Asian tsunami. The objective was not told to the participants
Give the participant the questionnaire to fill out by them self. (appendix 1)
Take the questionnaire back and record the results

Controls

The controls in this experiment were mainly:

the same questions were asked to each of the participant that took part in the experimental survey
The same number of participants was chosen in each group. I.e.: 20 Asians and 20 non-Asians.
The same age group and type of people were used. All the people that were studied were college students from an age group of 16-19.
Each participant was given the same briefing and the standard procedure in conducting the survey was used.
The participants all took the survey in the same type of natural setting and environment in order to reduce any external factors affecting the outcome of the study.

The ethics in doing the study were also considered.

we ensured that the BPS guidelines were followed
the consent of the participants were asked before any experiment was carried out
The identity of the participants was strictly kept confidential and anonymous.
The participants had the right to withdraw from the experiment at any time they wanted to.

Results

Summary table of results

Comparison of correct answers from Asian and non-Asian people

Comments

The table shows the correct answers gained from both groups of people on the Asian tsunami. It shows that the Asians have a lot more correct answers than the non-Asians. This shows that Asian people knew a lot more about the Asian tsunami than non-Asian people.

From the results there seems to a be a lot of similarity in the results that were gained for questions 1 and 3. This shows that these questions do not depend upon schema and so are most likely to be similar. Similarly its is noticeable that questions such as 2 and 4 have very different answers which shows that these questions depend upon schema and relate to knowledge.

Graph (next page)

The graph shows the correct answers from Asians and non- Asians about the Asian tsunami. It shows a comparison between the answers both groups had. It shows the number of people who gave the correct answers in each group.

The graph shows that there is a lot of similarity between the results of question one. This question, as analysed before, can be concluded that it does not require the schema of being an Asian and may fall into the category of general knowledge. This pattern is also similar with question 3.

Whereas, the graphs that shows the results of questions 2 and 4 show that there is a varied result between the two groups. From this it can be concluded that these were the questions that required a schema of the Asian culture and understanding as from the graphs we can see that the Asian produced with a lot more correct results.

Relationship of results to hypothesis

As can be seen on the graph Asians have provided with more correct answers than non-Asian on the topic of the Asian tsunami. This shows that they must have a better understanding of the Asian cultures and the geographic area therefore have better understanding and memory of the disaster.

The research hypothesis is therefore accepted that, Asian people will have a better understanding of the Asian tsunami as they have a schema of the Asian culture and framework.

Discussion

Validity

As this is a psychology experiment the chances for complete accuracy in measurements are hard to gain as it is quite hard to measure anything psychological. In the study, questionnaires have been used. This may have problems such as some people may lie in questionnaires. They may also have problems such as forced answers that may not necessarily relate to the answer that they want. Another problem that may arise by using questionnaires as a form of study apparatus is that they may have questions that are biased or asked in a provoking manner and some questions may not cover all aspects of a particular subject. Other problems that may arise are things such as some participants may try to guess the answers to the questions.

The problems with the independent variable are that in the two conditions, the males and females may not be a representation of the group that is being studied. They may be a biased sample. A wrong type of person may have been put into the wrong category and so misleading the study and its results.

It may not be measuring the effectiveness of the schema because it depends on the amount that the participant knows about the tsunami disaster. Some of the questions are not valid measures of schema, as schema would not help with the answers. E.g.: scale on the Richter scale.

Some Asians may have been born in this country and never even visited the Asian countries that are involved therefore the schema would not be any better than that of non- Asians.

As this is a very general test that involves a generalisation of Asians or non- Asians this could mean that it is not a valid measure for all people as not all Asians will know more about the Asian tsunami or not all non-Asians will know less.

The motivations behind Asian people and non-Asians may vary in that Asians people may have a drive that may push them further and they may feel that they should know more about the disaster.

Improving validity

The validity can be improved by focusing on the problems and sorting them out. There are some points that just may not be able to be improved upon as they are uncontrollable variables. The questionnaires can be set out and given to the participants in such a way that they can be completely anonymous. This may help keep the validity of the answers that are gained to be good. To try and keep the participants from guessing the answers the questions should good enough so that they cannot be guessed.

As some participants may feel that they want to impress the studier or have self esteem. This can be sorted out by using very anonymous methods of studying. E.g.: having a box to put in the filled in questionnaires rather than giving it back personally to the studier. The questions should be written carefully so that it may not bias the way the participant is going to think or put the answer down. This will enable them to give a good idea of how they are going to answer the question. An option for the participants to put down any alternative answers should be given as this will lower the participants being forced to choose an answer that may not relate to what they want.

Although it is very difficult to measure and control the participant’s knowledge about the tsunami as it was very major news at the time and came to affect everyone on a level of impact. A solution for this can be that people who know a certain amount about the disaster should be tested on, but this is a very hard and impractical approach to solving this problem.

To make sure that the valid types of Asians and non- Asians are used, we could set certain rules to the type of participants chosen. i.e.: The Asians would have to be chosen so that the people chosen are from the areas affected and have lived there for at least one year or visited the place at least two times etc…

Reliability of results

The reliability of the results depends on the trust of the people who have provided the answers. By looking at the method used for this study which is questionnaires there may be some problems such as the moods of people doing the questionnaires they maybe in a particular mood which formulates them to provide with certain answers.

The time of day that the questionnaire was done could have some effect, if they were busy while doing the questionnaire or they were distracted by some other external cause may affect the way the questionnaire was answered and the answers where provide. If they were very busy it could have affected their memory and could not answer something if otherwise they could have easily answered. Other things that may affect the participants directly maybe things such as the participant being tired, hungry or bored this may affect the way the participant will answer the questions.

The participants may know the researchers so they may behave differently towards the researcher to fit the way the researcher might like the results to turn out to be. As there is only a small number of people that are being researched it may not give enough reliable results to give reliable averages.

As opportunistic sampling was used it may have some bias such as researchers going for certain types of people or going for people they may know. It has no real system of choosing the participants and so it cannot be replicated. On a different day there maybe different groups of people that may be selected and hence giving a different range of results.

The controls of situation also affect the study, if there were two researchers carrying out the study this could affect the results as two researchers might trust the people differently. The way in which the researchers treat the participants may be different. The way in which the questions are asked or given to them could also affect the way the answers are gained. There may be a standard procedure that is set, but may be followed differently by different researchers.

There are also situational factors such as if the participants where with a group of friends which may affect the way the participant answers the questions as they want to impress their friends etc…

Improvement for reliability

To improve the reliability of the study the participants chosen should be chosen fairly and unbiased. They should be chosen so that they can be reliable to give truthful answers. The groups chosen should have a mix of people that represent the group that is being studied and this should be kept constant throughout the different people in the group that are being studied.

The questionnaire should be done to all people around the same time settings i.e.: at lunch where there are lots of people around or in a free period when there are few people around. This should help keep the setting for the study constant. It should not be done when the participant is busy as it may affect the way they answer. If there are any external factors such as loud noises affecting the participant this should be avoided by making them do the questionnaire in another environment which may not affect the way they answer. The researcher should make sure that they choose participants that may not be tired or busy or any factors such as those that may cause them to answer unreliably.

The participants should be chosen so that they do not know the researcher as this would avoid the percentage of error that may occur. If they do know the researcher they should be reliable and not biased. If there is enough time a larger sample should be used so that a more reliable average can be obtained as if small numbers are used it may be slightly biased in one way or the other.

A set method of sampling can be used so that there is a real system of sampling so that it can be repeated and the same kind of answers will be obtained. i.e.: using the same people to do the test again.

The study could have been done by one researcher alone or with a set procedure which will allow the same type of research techniques to be done on each participant. If there are any major situational factors such as a large group of friends and situations where the participant may be distracted this should also be reduced as it may affect the answers.

Implications of the study

From the study, the results show that there is a difference in the understanding of the Asian tsunami, between Asians and non-Asians. The Asians tend to know more about the event than what the non-Asians knew. This could be due to many factors. The main one being that the Asians would know more about their culture and it’s surrounding and so will know more and understand more about where and how the Asian tsunami has happened. They might have a greater interest in the incident and may decide to want to find out more about the study. The places could be something that they could relate to more and so they know how to picture the incident better.

This is similar to the studies that where investigated in the introduction. The War of the Ghost showed that people could not remember as much as they could in detail about some of the Native American details, but they could remember details that they could personally relate to and understand. So a canoe would become a boat. This relates to the Asian tsunami study in ways which show that people may understand more about the Asian tsunami because it occurred in an Asian surrounding and a place where there are things which Asians can relate to better than non-Asians could.

The non-Asians are like the participants in the war of the ghosts. They can relate to the incident by adapting it to their own understanding. This does mean that they would not understand the scale of the incidents as if it had occurred in a non-Asian surrounding it would be different and that would be how they would be trying to relate it to. The scale of devastations would be different and because the infrastructure of the countries in the more developed countries would be different the way things are dealt with would be different and that would be how the non-Asians might presume to happen.

Generalization and application

The finding from this experiment is applicable to everyone. As everyone belongs to some culture and everyone has been brought up with different schemas and ways of life. They will be prone to understanding better if something happens in their environment than if it happens in another cultures environment. So even objective news items from around the world will be understood and remembered better by some people than others.

This may not sometimes apply to people that come from mixed cultures or some that may have a good and widespread understanding of all cultures and how it works. This will help people to understand that sometimes it is easier for one person to understand about a subject better than what someone else could understand it.