Interview of Persons within Different Age Brackets - Essay Example

Interview of Persons within Different Age Brackets Student inserts His/Her Name Here Lecturer Inserts Student Grade 10th June 2011. Introduction Age and beliefs have been a question that has long been explored by people of different age groups and professional out to research the trends which are exhibited among different age groups. People in different age groups have different have different ways in which they live and express themselves through language, social interactions and behaviour. Several researchers and scientists have researched on the topic of belief systems and most of them have summed up that a belief systems are usually adopted early in one’s life. Most researchers also concurred that some belief systems are built and changed by life experiences. Even though people have different belief systems they can be able to understand each other through resonance and learning the how and why belief systems work in different age groups. Literature Review The art of thinking and perception are mainly interconnected with belief systems. Belief systems are made up of certain thoughts, ideas and notions in which people use most of the in their lives. Belief systems many a times influence the behaviour and thoughts in decisions or acts in which a person undertakes in his/her life. Many people have different beliefs on age and this usually depends on the stage of life where a person is at. This essay is going to investigate the beliefs of three individuals with different ages. The three people are aged 25yrs, 47yrs and 64 yrs old, all the three people had a different opinion of life and their opinions were extracted and analysed. Language and aging are related in the fact that age affects a person’s ability to communicate due to increased difficulty in understanding the spoken language (Furnham, 2008). Several theories have been advanced to explain the differences in beliefs held by different people of different ages on their belief on ageing. Due to the similarities in their opinions and perception on different issues at certain stages of life, people in the same age groups tend to have the same belief systems. Past studies conducted on ageing and belief systems have established that an individual’s beliefs are inculcated at very young ages and in most instances before the age of 12 (Bandura, 1997). Research has shown that many belief systems are developed when people undergo certain experiences in life. The youngest interviewee in this case study being the 25 yr old was interviewed on education, relationships and career life while the 47 yr old interviewee was interviewed on family life, marriage and children (Zastrow, 2009). The last person to be interviewed was 67 yr old person who was interviewed on health, spirituality, life fulfilment and age. The interview’s scope was defined to focus on the important aspects of the interviewee’s lives. The interview The interview was conducted through oral and written questions however they the questions covered important aspects of their lives. The first to be interviewed was a 25 year old male by the name of Moses and he was questioned on education, relationships and career life. The young person was questioned on his views on education, the importance of education and how his peers think of education. His views on education were that education should be enriched to accommodate the talents and skills of different students within the education system and the curriculum to be changed to accommodate needs of all students (Andersen, 2007). According to the interviewee, his peers are of the view that the education curriculum should be changed to from the traditional learning style of concentrating on reading/studying books. He is of the view of that the education system should be designed to also cater for special needs of other students (Collins-Mayo, 2010). On the issue of relationships, Moses was of the view of that relationships are based on friendship and that relationships are meant for having fun and sharing experiences. According to Moses, most young people have sexual relationships based on their needs at that time and thus they do not few relationships as a long plan due to the dynamics in the society. The second interviewee was a 47 yr woman by the name of Michelle who has been married for a period of 16 yrs. During the interview she was probed on the issues to deal with family life, marriage and children. She talked on her focus being mainly on her family and how she values being a mother and having to contribute immensely towards her children and husband. On family life, Michelle talks of many challenges and many of her concentrate on building their families and life mainly revolves around their families (Sigel, 2002). Another aspect of the life that Michelle was interviewed was on marriage and according to her marriages is supposed to be built on trust and that is a viewed shared by many of her peers. The upbringing of children in a morally upright manner and teaching them life’s values was another aspect of life that the age group between 40 and 60 yr olds focus on. According to Michelle most of her peers mainly talked and focussed on their children as they grow old and move out of their lives (Baldwin, 2003). The last person to be interviewed was an old man by the name of Brain who is of 67 yrs old and was living with his old wife. Brian was questioned on aspects of life such as health since this is what most people in his age group mainly focussed on. For instance, old people believe in healthy eating as a means of keeping their bodies in shape. Old people due to their life experiences they tend to be more spiritual and reconnect with their spiritual beliefs. On the aspect of life’s fulfilment, Brian talked of him being satisfied with life but wanted to do more on life, a view he talked of being shared by his other peers. According to Brian, old people belief that they are not old and should be viewed normal as other people in the society (Bruce, 2005). Though he talked of age affecting their lives as documented by Richard Hogg in his book of how language is affected by age. All the three interviewees were also questioned on aspects that affect them in all age groups such as religion and political views. All the three of them had different views on these topics and they also concurred to the fact that even their peers have different views on these topics. Belief systems rely on norms, life experiences and social interactions which help to build the thoughts and mindset of people leading to emergence of belief systems (Burris, 2001). Methodology The study on the beliefs of the three individuals targeted in this research was conducted through interviews. Each of the three individuals was taken through oral and written interview on specific questions in order to establish their belief systems. According to the way the questions were answered, they were marked against some criteria to determine the belief systems held by the different people (Rokeach, 2008). The three of interviewed individuals were in different phases of life and therefore the interview questions narrowed down on the specific stage of life they currently were at. The method used in interviewing the three persons mirrored on the aspect of selecting a few individuals who represent a subset of the whole since belief systems are built from cultural, religious or social norms (Bausch, 2004). As a result of this, the belief systems held by any of the three interviewees reflects a facet of the belief systems held in the society today. The methodology used in gathering information as it concerns belief systems followed the approach of Wikan’s resonance theory which talks of the ability to agree amongst people with different belief systems. The methodology deployed in the taking of the interview involved selecting some aspects of life which are taken as variables and measured against response from the interviewees. Decisions made by the three interviewees show a trend and consistency in the way they conducted their interviews (Lubell, 2003). In order to come up with accurate and consistent results in the process of gathering information, the technique of triangulation was used. Using this technique, interviews were conducted using several methods which include interviews in the form of audio recording, speech writing and structured interview by use of questionnaires. This method was chosen due to the accuracy and validity of the method in obtaining and analysing the results. In the interview process, most of the results obtained focussed on values of love, respect of culture, family relationships and life. These values were identified by the three interviewees and thus it concluded the fact that belief systems affect all age groups in the society. Findings/Discussion The study on beliefs systems was designed to demystify the question of belief systems and how belief systems work within the different age groups. From the interview conducted on the three individuals, we notice that the three of them have many beliefs but most of their beliefs are mainly focussed on the way they have lived their lives or socialised with other people. From the interviews conducted on the three individuals, we see that the first interviewee’s beliefs are heavily influenced by the people around him especially his parents (Crabb, 2007). According to Sara Harkness in her book, she explains parents as self-constructing individuals who influence how their children behave and eventually lead to constructed belief systems. She further explains that parenting is a form of conduct influenced by cultural communication between parents and other social institutions or persons. This affirms the fact that parents and people of the same age group do influence one another in shaping their belief systems (Franuik, 2002). As a result from the results, it is true to conclude that parents within the age brackets of 40-60 yrs.’ old worry and think about their families. From the results obtained in the interview, we were able to establish that belief systems are inspired by influences and norms as traditionally practiced in the society (Eddy, 2004). Religion, marriage or relationships as dealt with in life are the main important aspects that affect the life of an individual. The study language and its effects have a connection with the way people relate and the way they build up their beliefs (Volf, 2001). Languages offer the opportunity to study of culture and creates environment upon which people can understand themselves easily. From the interview conducted most of the interviewees identified religion, cultural identity and relationships within the family and friends as important values that needed to be treasured (Sara, 2006). The differences in belief systems result from different cultural and social interactions amongst people and in order to bridge the problems of understanding among people with different belief systems, communication is necessary. For better communication, resonance is an important factor in trying to make the people understand one another and to socially coexist easily within the society (Bradbury, 2001). Many researchers have concluded that resonance is important in bridging the societal divide created by differences in belief systems since it is not possible to share experiences with all the people all the time. Another important solution to be used in creating understanding between people with different belief systems is by a technique referred to as learning to attend (Richman, 2002). This technique emphasizes on using one’s will to engage in the activities and events of other people so that we can share with them some of their practices. This helps in removing the preconception or notion of people being different, culture and resonance can be categorised as complimentary aspects that need to be used in bridging cultural divide created by belief systems. Conclusion Belief systems have been there since time in memorial and they acted as a guide towards which a person behaved or acted in some situations. People in different age groups perceive life in many ways and belief systems have a role to play in which they make decisions or interactions in life. Belief systems though being different and being influenced by culture and differ between different cultural environments; these beliefs derive their existence from life experiences. The difference in beliefs many a times becomes a hindrance to communication and language acuity since people intentions are easily misconstrued by the different belief systems. References Andersen, M. and Taylor, F., 2007. Sociology: understanding a diverse society. Savannah, GA: Cengage Learning. Baldwin, M. W., 2003. Relational schemas and the processing of social information. Psychological Bulletin, 112, 461-484. Bandura, A., 1997. Social learning theory. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall. Bausch, K., 2004. The emerging consensus in social systems theory. A Review of General Semantics, 61(1), pp. 63-68. Bradbury, T. N. and Fincham, F. D., 2001. Assessing dysfunctional cognition in marriage: A reconsideration of the relationship belief inventory. Psychological Assessment, 5, 92-101. Bruce, B., 2005. Belief systems and language understanding. Los Angeles, CA: Bolt, Beranek and Newman. Burris, H., 2001. Old people's attitudes toward other age groups' beliefs and opinions about the aged. Boston, MA: University Microfilms. Collins-Mayo, S. and Dandelion, P., 2010. Religion and Youth. Chicago, IL: Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. Crabb, A. and Linton, J., 2007. A Qualitative Study of Recovering and Nonrecovering Substance Abuse. Journal of Addictions & Offender Counseling, 28(1), pp. 40-46. Eddy, B., 2004. On Belief Systems. Counselor’s Journal, 61(1), pp. 62-67. Franuik, R., Cohen, D. and Pomerantz, E. M., 2002. Implicit theories of relationships: Implications for relationship satisfaction and longevity. Personal Relationships, 9, 345-367. Furnham, A., 2008. Personality and intelligence at work: exploring and explaining individual differences at work. London: Routledge. Littell, E. and Littell, R., 2005. The living age. Detroit, MI: The University of Michigan. Lubell, M., 2003. Collaborative Institutions, Belief-systems, and Perceived Policy Effectiveness. Political Research Quarterly, 56(1), pp.24-29. Richman, D., 2002. Working Together: Belief Systems of Individuals and Organizations. Journal of Cognitive Psychotherapy, 6(1), pp. 38-44. Rokeach, M., 2008. Beliefs, attitudes, and values. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Sara, H. and Charles, M., 2006. Super Parents' cultural belief systems: their origins, expressions, and consequences. New York, NY: Guilford Press. Sigel, I., McGillicuddy-De Lisi, A. and Goodnow, J., 2002. Parental belief systems: the psychological consequences for children. Atlanta, GA: Routledge. Volf, M. and Bass, D., 2001. Practicing theology: beliefs and practices in Christian life. Berlin: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. Zastrow, C. and Kirst-Ashman, K., 2009. Understanding Human Behavior and the Social Environment. Washington: Cengage Learning. Read More

Research has shown that many belief systems are developed when people undergo certain experiences in life. The youngest interviewee in this case study being the 25 yr old was interviewed on education, relationships and career life while the 47 yr old interviewee was interviewed on family life, marriage and children (Zastrow, 2009). The last person to be interviewed was 67 yr old person who was interviewed on health, spirituality, life fulfilment and age. The interview’s scope was defined to focus on the important aspects of the interviewee’s lives.

The interview The interview was conducted through oral and written questions however they the questions covered important aspects of their lives. The first to be interviewed was a 25 year old male by the name of Moses and he was questioned on education, relationships and career life. The young person was questioned on his views on education, the importance of education and how his peers think of education. His views on education were that education should be enriched to accommodate the talents and skills of different students within the education system and the curriculum to be changed to accommodate needs of all students (Andersen, 2007).

According to the interviewee, his peers are of the view that the education curriculum should be changed to from the traditional learning style of concentrating on reading/studying books. He is of the view of that the education system should be designed to also cater for special needs of other students (Collins-Mayo, 2010). On the issue of relationships, Moses was of the view of that relationships are based on friendship and that relationships are meant for having fun and sharing experiences. According to Moses, most young people have sexual relationships based on their needs at that time and thus they do not few relationships as a long plan due to the dynamics in the society.

The second interviewee was a 47 yr woman by the name of Michelle who has been married for a period of 16 yrs. During the interview she was probed on the issues to deal with family life, marriage and children. She talked on her focus being mainly on her family and how she values being a mother and having to contribute immensely towards her children and husband. On family life, Michelle talks of many challenges and many of her concentrate on building their families and life mainly revolves around their families (Sigel, 2002).

Another aspect of the life that Michelle was interviewed was on marriage and according to her marriages is supposed to be built on trust and that is a viewed shared by many of her peers. The upbringing of children in a morally upright manner and teaching them life’s values was another aspect of life that the age group between 40 and 60 yr olds focus on. According to Michelle most of her peers mainly talked and focussed on their children as they grow old and move out of their lives (Baldwin, 2003).

The last person to be interviewed was an old man by the name of Brain who is of 67 yrs old and was living with his old wife. Brian was questioned on aspects of life such as health since this is what most people in his age group mainly focussed on. For instance, old people believe in healthy eating as a means of keeping their bodies in shape. Old people due to their life experiences they tend to be more spiritual and reconnect with their spiritual beliefs. On the aspect of life’s fulfilment, Brian talked of him being satisfied with life but wanted to do more on life, a view he talked of being shared by his other peers.

According to Brian, old people belief that they are not old and should be viewed normal as other people in the society (Bruce, 2005). Though he talked of age affecting their lives as documented by Richard Hogg in his book of how language is affected by age. All the three interviewees were also questioned on aspects that affect them in all age groups such as religion and political views. All the three of them had different views on these topics and they also concurred to the fact that even their peers have different views on these topics.

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