Ernst and Young (Etnography - lesson april 23rd)

After having a meeting with Maria Alejandra, our teacher, we did clarify some aspect that we should bear in mind in order to do our Etnography rightly. Thus, in April 23rd, we could work on our report, this time we searched some books in order to find out the theory to support our final report. The work done was very nice, and we keep on doing the report.

Lesson April 16th

April 16th we have done an outdoor activity in which we searched and consolidated our knowledge about Europe, this activity let us to cover definitions such as Nationalism, Totalitarism, Liberalism and so on. it was such an interesting lesson carried out in a different way.

Australia and Oceania (lesson 21st)

1. What did i learn?

This area has got a population of 32.000.000 people, in its 14 countries with english, french and others as languages. The predominant religion in this region is Catholic with a 27%, followed by Anglican and other Christians 21% both. This zone in the world is well known by its high rate of immigration.

The population in the region has increased significantly since the end of World War I, Following World War II and through to 2000, almost half of the total population settled in the regions were new immigrants. The immigation mainly comes from the UK, Vietnam, Italy and China. That is why, a multiculturalism policy has been established in order to promote the racial harmony.

Nowadays, cultural differences are respected, in fact; this region of the world is well known as a multicultural and civilized people in the way they behave.

The regions in Oceania are named according to the scheme for geographic subregions:It is such a extended region.

*Australasia: Australia, Christmas Island, Cocos (Keeling) Islands, New Zealand, Norfolk Island.
*Melanesia : Fiji, Indonesia (Oceanian part only), New Caledonia (France), Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu.
*Micronesia :Federated States of Micronesia, Guam, Marshall Islands.
*Polynesia: American Samoa, French Polynesia, Samoa, Tonga, Tuvalu.

By its side, Australia being the biggest island in Oceania, is more famous, its capital is Cranberra, Sydney is its large city, the official language is english, actually Australia is a typical destination for foreigners to learn english. On the contrast New Zealand is wll known by its landscapes so it becomes such a lovely destination on holidays.

Other important facts in the Oceania - Australia region, are the traditions, which are based on the lifestyles, so meeting such as: Having a bbq, going to the beach, or attending a music festival, rather than the history or the moral of the story, and regarding to home-grown traditions, the most remarkable one is the Melbourne Cup where punters show their patriotism with gambling and drinking. So it is pretty interesting to see how different are traditions in that part of the world, while most of the countries are strongly tied up to ist roots and traditions.

Other curious fact is the newspaper readership, actually Australians read more newspapers than any other nation, we could conclude that they are wll informed about news around the world, ant there must be great newspaper enterprises over there.

They do not spend so much money in newspapers but they do in Gambling, they are addicted to gambling. I must say that I do find out pretty interesting these issues.

2. Questions: How is the Colombian immigration to Australia?

3. Answer: Colombian immigrants are the fifth group of foreign people that grows in a fast way, the majority live in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth. It does not exist many Colombia immigrants associations. Nevertheless, The Colombian association in Australia, with headquarters in Sydney, works for promoting a good image of Colombia, and "El club Colombiano de Victoria" en Melbourne gives assistance to the immigrants who are just arrived to the city. "El Rincón Quindiano" and "La Cumbia" havc become the meeting points for Colombian people.

SOURCE:

• Australia - Oceania´s presentation
• http://www.conexioncolombia.com/wf_InfoArticuloNormal.aspx?IdArt=92862

Europe ( lesson april 14th)

This presentation was pretty interesting but it was even more the final activity about the european countries. Topics such as: The changing contours of European space, the Creation of “communities”: EU Diversity, Unity and Conflict and the European Management Style are studied.

1. What did I learn?

The space in Europe has been affected by three main phenomens, its historical war background, the several existent cultures, and the attemps for an integration; the result os the lattest is the European union. For the community building is was needed to keep in mind features as: diversity, interest and exixtent conflicts.

According to the Unesco the appropriate definition of diversity: “Cultural diversity refers to the manifold ways in which the cultures of groups and societies find expression.”

The EU unity, is according to the definition given by Wikepedia: “The EU is a political and economic comm-unity of twenty-seven member states European”. (Wikipedia;2008). This unity has got as objective the free movement of goods, services, people and other production factors. Nevertheless, it is very difficult to accomplish this idea as a completed one, so process adaptation and reduction of important gaps in the european reality is needed.

About the political issues, it is divided into two categories: European integration and enlargement, which each of the present point in favor and against. In addition, the community building has been affected by others divisive matters: racism, xenofobia given by the constant migration factor, are the strongest one. Thus, the problem with community is that its assumptions may serve to exclude other people. But it is important to say that, there is an attemp to leave the individualism between leaders among countries in Europe.

At the present, Europe lives a conflict due to the multiculuralism. The most influent natios in Europe are against of the stablisment of a same space for people form different cultures.

Refering to the managerial style as an European one, it is said that regarding the differences such as religious, historical, political and other facts that conclude that there is not a solid European management style.

To sum up, in order to achieve a really community and an European managerial style, it is important to leave behind things that influence in a bad way the "forward steps" given so far.

2. Question: It is known that there is an obstacle called Turkey for the EU. What kind of obstacle is it?

3. Answer: Many people say that the problem has its roots in the cultural issue, especially in the religion one. Most of the population in turkey is musulms, so for countries as France and Holland it is terrible to allow islamic people to enter so freely to the rest of the european countries, and that is the point, the turkey´s entrance means to allow around 7o millions of poor people in the big nations, also it is said that , it would represent higher costs for the countries which give financial assistance to smaller ones . On the other hand, others who are in favor, say that turkey might be a strategic point for containing the islamic spread. Points in favor and against. It is pretty obvious that this controversy is going to last for long, while the obligations for Turkey as the Chipre issue are accomplished.

SOURCE:

• Europe´s presentation.
• www.bbc.com.uk

Middle East ( lesson April 9th)

At his time, The middle East, The Arab World and Israel are studied. I am not going to talk about the Israel part, since i do consider that with the before entry (conference by a Israel person) is enough about the Israel´s conflict. So, lets start with The middle East.

1. What did I learn?

The MIDDLE EAST. It is considered as conflict zone, this does not have got clear frontiers and it does content territories which belong to both continents Africa and Asia. It is relevant to say that Middle East is also the heart of the tree most important religions: Islam, Christianity and Judaism.

Talking economically, this region has got an economy in which there is space for very poor nations as: Gaza and Yemen to those which are pretty rich as: UAE and Saudi Arabia. Nevertheless, during the last year, all the nations from the Middle East had such a positive economic growth.

Now, lets move on to the ARAB WORLD. This expression is used to identify the arab speaking countries, which go from the Atlantic ocean at the west to the Arabian sea at he east.

The Arab world counts on 22 countries and a integrated community of 325 million people. Some of the countries are: Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, Yemen.

On the other hand, nowadays there are three points that help to definy an Arab:

*Genealogical : The ancestors
*Linguistical : Language
* Political : The ideology they follow.

The Arab world is very dinamic refering to the economy, it has got the two-fifth of the gross domestic product and three-fifth of the trade of the wider Muslim world. The Arab states are mainly developing economies, and it could have presented an important grow due to its two resources: Oil and Gas. In Asia the arab world is the 11th largest economy.

Finally, the part of interest, business in the Middle East, is managed by the following aspects:

• Lot of stereotypes and myths
  Islam
  Muslims pray 5 times a day, Friday.
  Ramadan, Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha
  Asalamu alaykum and wa alaykum salam
  Handshakes
  

And about the behaviour, it is important to keep in mind:

• Gender
  Introduced to a female
  Profesional and business goes together
  Wasta, favor are never forgotten.
  Word means honor
  Creating the relationships
  Meetings are circular
  Punctuality is expected

2. Question: Despite of the conflict, is the Middle East still of the United States´interests?

3. Answer:Yes, it was, it is and it will be, especially cities as: Bagdad, Mosul and Basora, since they are militar strategic points for United States and also because of being oil centers. United States is concerned about its oil supply but also in the spread of the islam. Unfortunately United States has got always a war, a militar answer to its concerns.

SOURCES:

• Middle East Presentation.
• http://www.elcorresponsal.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=4054

Conference: Israelian Arabian Conflict ( 7th April)

In this lesson, we did have a conference which was headed by a person who comes from Israel and has lived the conflict closer.

1. What did I learn?

Israel is a country of the middle east, it is considered a strategic point due to its petroleum and coal resources. it is a small country, actually Colombia is bigger 52 times, so we can imagine how small is its territory. We are talking about a 7 millions population which 78 percent are jewish, 16.1 percent musulmans, 2.1 percent are cristians, among others. Its main cities are: Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. Israel has got a Parliament Democracy, elections are run every 4 years, there are political parties form right and left wing which at the end of the day those parties has got a central view since they are not well defined, the parliament is called Knéset. There is a primer minister who belongs to the biggest political party. Also there is a president, the current primer minister is Ehud Olmert and the president is Shimon Peres.

The education is such an important issue in Israel; it is an obligation to go to school to those children from 5 years old to 18 years old. It is a prohibiton to hire children to work, unless the job is a summer season one. After 18 years old, everyone is taken to the army, regardless whether women or men. After 21 age, it is forced people to practice the war in the army, most people is dedicated still to this kind of taks.

Moving to other perspective, Israel has got the 4 seasons, which is appropriate for the agriculture sector. There is a great water scarcity, unemployment is another issue, there is 8 to 9 percent and the minimum salary is around USD 1000 . The government gives salaries for nine months if the person has not got a job.

Culturally, Israel is a immigrants country, there are several culures, the official languages are Arabic and Hebreo but english is well understood in many cities; they have got 2 calendars, the gregorian one and the jewish , the lattest is a moon calendar.

THE CONFLICT

Until 1916 Israel was part of the otoman imperialism, after France and Great Britain divided the half the zone. Sinai was french and palestina and Jordania, english.

In 1947, the UN carried out the partition plan which result was 2 territories: Israelians and Arabians.

In 1948 there was an independency war, Israelians Vs Arabians in order to take lands.

The six days war, Israel attacked Egypt, conquering the Sinai peninsula until the Suez Chanel, also Cisjordania and West Jerusalem. Nowadays, israelians troops presence remain in those territories. Moreover, troops from United States went in order to stop the conflict in the zone.

The rebel group Hammas is which wants to establish a Islamic state is hte Palestinian zone. It has been declarade as a terrorist group by the UN, UE, USA, Japan, Canada and Australia.

At the end of the conference we did see a documental which showed off the reality, the cruel reality and the violence experienced in that zone of middle east tension. I must say that i did not stand the images of that document, they were very cold, unfortunatelly we are talking about a reality.

2. Question: Could the Islam and West be compatible someday?

3. Answer: The conflict comes from the arabian invasion to the Iberic peninsula at the beggining of S. VIII. Facts such as the 9/11 attacks, makes think a rebirth of past conflicts. At the same time, the irak invasion and the palestian- israelian conflict open fear about the old rivalries between west and the islamic world.

4. Sources:

• Conference by a Israelian person: Palestian - israelian conflict.
• http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/spanish/forums/newsid_3202000/3202447.stm

Africa (March 31st lesson)

Africa. I am pretty interested in this continent. I do think that Africa is such a rich continent but unfortunately, its people are the poorest in the world. This presentation gave us an idea of what really happens in this continent about the wealth distribution.

1. What did I learn?

First of all it is important to give and idea about Africa´s geography. Africa is the second-largest continent in land area, after Asia. Moreover, representatives landscapes such as: the largest desert in the world, called Sahara, the longest river in the world, which is the Nile river, the highest mountain and the world’s highest free standing mountain rise which is Kilimanjaro, and in this continent are located forty six countries and there will be fifty three including all the island groups. Besides, it is important to not forget that, Africa is the most polyglot continent in the world. In which there are four major language families native to Africa: The Afro-Asiatic, The Nilo-Saharan, The Niger-Congo and The Khoisan.

About the African colonization, the expeditions began in 1800, it was mainly characterized by diseases and hostile natives but at the same time, development of guns and medicine started to appeared. In great part, the reasons why this territory was colonized were searching for new raw materials and ego issues of the potencies of that time. So with those expeditions, the european influence started to spread off around the world. Unfortunatelly, situations as: starvation, mutilation, beatings, murders, and other brutalities and and specially slavery began to take space for africans.

Two potential countries has such a important presence in Africa: The British and french. THus, there were two types of governments a direct rule from france and an indirect from the british. For instance, Great Britain ruled South Africa and Egypt, from that, the english influence in that zone. And, Tunisia with France, leaving as well the french influence overthere.

On the other hand, there was as well a decolonization process. From that, independents movements, high class leaders, a socialist model and leaders for a lot of time emerged. Unfortunatelly, consequences such as negatives effects in the Economy, so the life quality was affected as well, poor democracies, emerge of rebel groups, the traffic of resources, especially diamonds got stronger. That is why it is easier to see this country as one of the poorest and corrupt in the world.

Economically talking, The african population is mostly rural, it has got rich sources of rare and precious minerals as diamonds, also it has extensive oil and gas deposits and last, but not least important, the huge potential for hydroelectric power production, which has not been well developed yet.

About doing business in Africa, aspects such as: handshake, names, titles are consideres as important and it is good to keep in mind the business attire which is conservative. Besides, business meetings can be held over lunch or dinner in a good restaurant; gift giving is not the norm in business and it is important to be careful in talking about social taboos.

Also, it is important to be aware of the main problems in this continent; which are tropical diseases, the slave trade which comes form ages ago, but nowadays it is not so remarkable but still exits, the corruption from the governments, human rights violations, the negative effects of colonialism, analphabetism and tribal and military conflict.

But..the question remained: WHY IS AFRICA STILL SO POOR?

The main reason is corruption, the wealth is not well distributed by the government and the presence of western people exploiting minearal and other resources headed to traffic.

It is worth talking about the International help, which is headed to promote democracies, dustainable development, trade and environmental care and help is arrived to: natural disasters, drought, famine and know how.

2. Question: AIDS as the main disease that affects the African continent, why does it persist on that territory?

3. Answer: The AIDS disease, attacks stronger in zones where the misery is deep and generalized, where there is not medical attention, where there are lots of people who are starving, and who are victims of desnutrition. AIDS attacks more where men leave their homes in the countryside in order to look for jobs in the cities; zones where young women do not want to have sexual relations with protection. All these conditions are given in Africa. In some countries, especially Uganda and Senegal, it has been possible to struggle against AIDS with certain progress, but there is still a lot of to do .

That is why, it is so important to attract the attention from the international community about this issue, little by little the african governments and worldwide started to be aware of the magnitude of this tragedy. But, unfortunatelly there must die millions of people before this issue had been overcome!

Sources:

• Nohora Escobar and Juan Jaime Castaño´s presentation
• http://www.bbc.co.uk/spanish/especiales/sidaafrica/overview.shtml

Research methods ( April 2nd lesson)

1. What did I learn?

In this lesson, research methods were explained in order to do a great final report.

First of all, there is the main difference between investigation and research. Most people in order to refer to research they say or we say INVESTIGATION, that is such a mistake since the lattest looks for the truth and it is mainly used by police departments, while research refers more to cientific processes, it has an academic framework and knowledge identification.

Due to the nature of the final report, we are going to focus on the RESEARCH itself.

There are primary and secondary research, the first ones are those which are new to everyone and the second is new for the person doing the research but not necessary to the rest of people. The secondary research is well known as the "desk research" which implies the exploration of database and the analysis of that data.

TYPES OF RESEARCH: Qualitative and Quantitative. The first one is about features, or a word description about a data meanwhile, quantitative one requires the use of numbers especially in a statistic field.

Moving forward the topic, we do reach the concept of EPISTEMOLOGY, which at the same time, has got two aspects: Empiricism and Rationalism. The empiricism is the knowledge as a product of sensory perception, on the contrary, rationalism see knowledge as a product of rational reflection.

On the other hand, the concept of POSITIVISM comes up., It describes the phenoemna that people experience, always under the cause and effect laws. POST POSITIVISM is critical realism and brings the concept of triangualtion, which in researching talking is asking for something with three different methods, that can provide a wider perception about a specific point.

Moreover, there are two concepts very important to bear in mind. DEDUCTIVE AND INDUCTIVE APPROACHES. The first one, goes from general to specific data; in contrast inductive goes from specific to general, both of them give a particular way reaching a topic.

About Searching literature as a support of the research as a whole, the literature should provide explanations of:

• The problem
• The approach used
• the results
• the background of the approach

And should answer the following questions: What you search?, What you search for? and how you search it?

About the selection of a suitable topic, it should be one which data can be collected and analyzed, something reachable. On the other hand, The types of research desing to used, should selected by keeping in mind the question: How are you going to collect the data?, since there are several ways of collecting (interviews, surveys and so on) it is relevant in order to run a successful researching process.

In order to go deeper about the data collection, it can be carried out by:

• Reports,
• Observation (direct or indirect), which implies the content analysis, basic tabulation (coding, verbatims), discourse analysis (who says what, about what, to whom, in what format), a knowledge representation which is well known among students as a concept graphic or concept map, or statistics; the lattest makes reference to the quantitive research,
• or by a Interview, which is an interaction, an exchange of information which results might help a lot with the research process.

2. Question: which types of studies approaches can be used in cross-cultural research methods?

3. Answer: Quantitatives and Qualitatives.

Quantitative Approaches:

• – Descriptive studies focus on describing phenomena in a specific sample of people, or describing differences between two or more specific samples of people
– Inferential studies study specific samples of people in order to understand how phenomena operate in large groups of individuals
In cross-cultural research, descriptive studies are generally not too interesting because you find many differences. So what? What does it mean? You need inferential studies and models to answer these more important or challenging questions.
• Emic vs. etic
– Cross-cultural models tend to have one of two emphases. Emic models view behavior as culture-specific; behavior must be understood in the context of a particular culture but Etic models view behavior as universal; behavior must be understood in comparison to behavior in other cultures. So, three approaches (or combinations) are possible:
– Subjective single-culture
– Objective single-culture
– Objective cross-cultural

On the other hand, the quantitative objects of Study could be:
• Construct (hypothetical): a phenomenon that is important for the understanding of human behavior which cannot be directly observed.
• Universe: set of conditions for observation or items of measurement, usually indicated by the hypothetical construct
• Populations: larger groups of people that are the ultimate object of interest

About the Scope of Study they can be:
• Limited: Cross-cultural research should be limited to verifying the validity of standard or indigenous psychological constructs
• Broad: Cross-cultural research should view culture itself as a relevant psychological construct and attempt to build models that use it as a variable.

Qualitative Approaches:

– Grounded theory: It is a systematic qualitative research methodology in the social sciences emphasizing generation of theory from data in the process of conducting research.
– Ethnography: Which specifies mainly interviewing and participanting of an observation
– Analysis of visual and material culture: Documentaries, visual reports.
– Phenomenological analysis: This method looks for gaining an insight into how an individual perceives a phenomenon. The researchers can gather qualitative data from the individual. The responses given are then intrepreted by the researcher to extract topics, ideas, opinions relevant.
– Hermeneutic analysis: Which consists on narrative analysis and life history.

To sum up, form these two methods a culture can be analyzed correctly, without leaving important data behind.

SOURCES:

• María Alejandra González´s Presentation
• Nelson, M. James. Department of Psychology. Valparaiso University