I. Purpose of Project: When completing the field study, it is essential to remember that the ultimate purpose of this class is for you to acquire a basic understanding of the dynamics of culture, an appreciation of the psychological issues of culture, and develop underlying skills in observation and assessment of human interaction. This written assignment is intended to test your understanding of important concepts and discover how to sharpen your intellectual skills of analysis, synthesis, evaluation, and application.

II. Clarification of Structure and Elements Required: For this assignment, you need to conduct in-person interviews with someone who is part of a non traditional culture or religion in this country and/or a person who is an immigrant to this country. You must be able to discuss level of acculturation into mainstream society as it relates to the person’s experience past and present. This will impact your choice of possible interviewees.

You will analyze the answers to questions you will construct paying special attention to what you have learned over this semester regarding the social experience of culture. Similar to the element in the Travelog, you will need to specifically address how the interviewee’s experiences as an immigrant in this culture impacted/impacts his/her psyche and those in his/her family. Here are some suggestions:

In other words, when you see a certain behavior what does it tell you about that person's integration with native and/or adopted culture? What does it tell you about that person's level of development? What psychological issues are represented? What form of cognitive functioning does it demonstrate? Remember that an elder's abilities – both physical and cognitive – evolve over a span of time. Does what you're observing represent an appropriate level of functioning for a person of this age? Is there evidence of the principles of positive aging? You should select your interviewee and then compose questions that will allow you to gather enough information to answer these questions as accurately and substantively as possible in a an essay style presentation which discusses your findings based on the interview you conducted. A couple of suggestions on what to avoid: Unless it is essential to setting the scene for what you observe, describing what you observed, or explaining the theoretical connection – leave it out. Also, this is a project where you connect theory, research, and field observations – make no statements that you cannot support by either theoretical or research evidence. This is not a venue to repeat unsubstantiated stereotypes (e.g. Asians are good at math, women are emotional, gay people have better style, etc.) There are some culturally based social standards which are important to include and acknowledge, but always in the context of providing supporting unbiased empirical data as a foundation for that generalization.

You are not being asked to diagnose any disabilities or psychopathology. However, in many service professions, part of your job is to assess the abilities and performance of your clients and that does often include suggesting reasons for any observed deficits. Again, your assignment here isn't to diagnose any potential mental illness (that would be the job of a psychologist) but to examine and discuss behavioral/academic/social evidence of the individual’s level of acculturation.