impact of western culture

8/13/2019 Impact of Western Culture

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/impact-of-western-culture 1/27

TERM-PAPER

RESEARCH REPORT

ON

IMPACT OF WESTERN CULTURE ON INDIAN CULTURE

SUBJECT- RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Submitted to

Dr.B.L.Bajpai

HOD

DBA, University of Lucknow

Submitted by

Saba Kazmi

MBA 2nd

Sem.

2008-2010



INTRODUCTION

As our lives become more and more materialistic, we are loosing our identity. The roots to whichwe are joined are loosing their hold, with the change in attitude and perception towards living.Western and Indian cultures are diametrically opposed. The reason for this is that Western cultureis based on the principles of materialism, whereas Indian culture is based on the tenets and

principles of spiritualism. Materialism stands for worldly possessions, wealth, canons ofeconomics, material gains etc., whereas spiritualism stands for moral values, ethics, scruples,virtues and the power to distinguish between right and wrong, between good and evil, betweencorrect and incorrect etc. It is essential to have material possessions in this world. It is a source ofsustenance.

Indian Culture, which is one of the oldest & richest cultures, is now days posing a serious threatas Western culture is establishing its strong base in India and slowly and gradually wiping the

Indian culture. It had already made its presence in Metro’s & is now slowly heading towardsother parts of India.

Westernization has greatly affected our traditions, customs, our family and our respect and love

for others. The concept of joint families is vastly decreasing every one wants to remain alooffrom others. No body now bother about others and only cares about himself which is totallycontradictory to our Indian culture which teaches to be a part of each other Joy’s and Sorrows to

celebrate the moments together and share the grief together. Slowly all our values for which Indiahas the pride is vanishing & Western culture is taking its place. People are blindly following theWestern culture without knowing its consequences.

The Western influence of materialism seems to have infiltrated into our family system, especially

in the urban areas. A generation gap is often mentioned by the younger generation while referringto the older generation. They do not realize that the older generation is a generation ahead. Now

people are so engrossed in making money that all else is secondary. Joint family tradition; one of

the biggest assets of India is now vanishing. Nuclear families are taking place of many years' old

values. The older generation is referred to as the past; little realizing that there is no futurewithout a past. The younger generation wants freedom without any responsibility along with it.Youth of today is more interested in their privacy rather than enjoying their lives with others.Individualization has broken up the joint family system, paving way for the youth to fall prey to

drug addiction. This stage is the most vulnerable period of life where the youth need guidance,counseling, education and care by parents.

Parents feel proud in giving the Western values to their children. Children are brought up in thisatmosphere. They are thus kept miles away from Indian culture. There is no harm in giving the

knowledge of other cultures and traditions as Indians have made their presence in every part ofworld and it is very necessary that we should have knowledge of their culture, traditions and their

language. We should do but to the limit, which is really needed, and also take care that our new

sprouts are well versed with Indian culture and its values. It is the responsibility of parents toinherit the same and for this it is very necessary that parents should also be well versed withIndian culture and traditions.

We need wealth to make our lives comfortable and to improve our quality of living, but at thesame time we must remember that in the process of acquiring the above, we must never lose our

power of distinguishing right from wrong, well from evil, and must allow the ecclesiastical to ruleover the material. They have no time to meet their fellow brethren, but they have time to visittheir psychiatrists in search of mental peace and satisfaction. From the west some people come to



India and head for the Himalayas in search of spiritual gurus to attain solace. As yet Indianculture has held its own, but the Western influence of materialism is distorting the fabric of our

culture, which is spiritualism.

Indians in their mind consider themselves second rate, which leads their assimilation process intothe west quicker. The complex that Indians have of the west is not constricted to one area and can

be seen throughout their daily lives and in their Physic. A good example of this is the subject ofarranged marriage. Traditionally this is the only way Indians use to get married. This systemworks due to the fact that the bride and groom would have faith in the decision of their parents.Yet now days some youngsters prefer to go and find love marriages even though they know therisk of break ups and divorces. Due to the complex they have picked up from Western influencesthey would rather run the risk of disgrace than do the traditional ways.

Though there are also some positive impacts like-emphasis on development, attention to

improved infrastructure, efficiency, management, improved educational systems, sincere effortsto reduce the margin between the poor and the rich, sincere efforts to improve lifestyles of the

marginalized, poor, disadvantaged sectors of society, sincere efforts to reduce the plague of India'corruption', etc. So, everything encompasses both positive and negative aspects. The Western

culture major influences the youth. Youth is that time of life when people are mostimpressionable as Ill as productive. So whatever decisions they take or the attitudes they adopthave far reaching consequences on their future life. The grass is always greener on the other side

and the inaccessible things are always sweet. West is so alluring to everyone due to this reasononly. On the positive side it has many practices and much knowledge, which are required to beadopted so that they can become acquainted with the changing scenario of world. In the lop side

they can suffer if they cross their limits just for aping the west. Adopting the good practices ofany culture is fruitful but abandoning the culture is a pitfall, which costs in the long run.

I feel that no doubt the Western culture is versatile and has taught us to be self-independent butthis does not mean that we will forget our age-old culture and blindly follow it. Thus I realized

that these aspects should be explored to find out what the real changes are that affect our age old

but rich traditions. Also I felt that there is a need to analyze the causes behind these changes.These changes can be both social as well as behavioral.



LITERATURE REVIEW

For the exploratory study, I have taken reference from the research article of FULBRIGHT titled

“The Modem and the Mango Tree: Assessing Adolescent’s Cultural Identity Development

in India”.

The article’s review is as under: -

“The study was focused upon traditional vs. modern cultural identity orientation amongadolescents in urban areas of India. Their study was based upon the common notion given byadults of India that Young People nowadays are losing their traditi onal values. It captured upon

various facets of the Indian youth population pertaining to their daily routines, viz., their foodhabits, language, mode of entertainment, physical appearance, etc., and also pertaining to social

and religious habits of them. One of the highlighted point in this article was that identity of Indian youth’s is more impressionable; they are more open to try new technology, food, music,

clothes etc. it also stated in its discussion that Indian youth is though adopting the modern valuesbut also conserving the traditional ones. Hence, they are practicing a blend of both the values.

On gender wise basis, it concluded that both male and female are almost similarly traditional,but males have more of modern cultural orientation than females.“

With the study of this article, I was able to decide upon the research objectives of my researchstudy, which is titled “To study the impact of western culture on Indian culture”. After goingthrough this article, I decided that upon which particular habits and traits of Indian population I

am going to study. I was able to understand the deep roots of western culture on the Indian population and how has these western values made an impact upon them.

I used this article in my exploratory study so as to able to jot down and understand what all can bemy research objectives upon which my study is going to be based.

RESEARCH PROBLEM AND OBJECTIVES

Management Questions

1. Are Indians losing their traditional values in modern India?

2. Do Indians perceive adoption of Western values as an option of upliftment of Indian

society?

Research Objective

To study the perception of Indians towards Western culture and the impact of Western culture onIndian culture. My study will be based on these categories, namely, the family structure and

lifestyle, their workplace and their social life.

Research Questions

1. Is status important for Indians nowadays?

2. Is coeducation decreasing the gender biasness?



3. Is empowerment of media responsible for changing outlook of Indians?

4. Do urge for freedom results in increasing nuclear families?

5. Are people influenced by Western lifestyle? Does it results in Brain drain?

6. Is love marriage an impact of modern orientation?

7. Has global advertising resulted in increased awareness of fashion and apparels?

8. Do modern values result in low association of Indians with their religious and spiritual practices?

9. Has Westernization lead to commercialization of everything?

10. Are extra-marital affairs and live-in relationships an impact of Western culture?

11. Are increasing instances of divorce an impact of Western culture?

RESEARCH PLAN

Research Design

1- Exploratory:

Exploratory research is an initial research, which is conducted to clarify and define the

basic nature of a problem.

I conducted this research in order to clarify my problem which was quite ambiguous in

nature with several dimensions. Through this, I got information which was used not only

for analyzing the real situation but also uncovering the various factors influencing the

situation.

I used Secondary Literature for getting a thorough understanding of the problem

undertaken. This literature helped us not only in defining my research objectives but alsoframing my further course of action.

2- Descriptive:

Descriptive Research is specifically used to describe the characteristics of a population. I

used this research to determine the answers of my research questions. It generally follows

the exploratory research, because exploratory research gives the understanding of the

nature of the problem while descriptive helps in defining the reason behind these

changes.

I used Survey (Questionnaire) method of Descriptive Research to gather data from the

sample.

Sampling Plan

1. Target Population:

Elements – Population lying between 16-70 years of age.



Extent – Lucknow and Delhi.

Time – 2009

2. Sampling frame: My sampling frame comprises of:

People who go to multiplex.

Students

Housing Colonies

Old age homes

3. Sampling Design: The target population is been categorized on the basis of:

Age

Education.

I used Quota Sampling because my population was infinite and the probability of selection of

each sample unit was not equal.

Quota Sampling is a non-probability sampling procedure that ensures that certain characteristics

of a population sample will be represented to the exact extent that the investigator desires. The

purpose of this technique is to ensure that the various sub-groups in a population are represented

on pertinent sample characteristics.

4. Sample Size: The sample size has been decided to be 400 by the researchers.

Questionnaire Formulation

Measurement of Scales

In measurement of scales I use to measure a variable so that variable can be quantified instatistical as well as mathematical terms. I have used ordinal scaling (non-metric) and intervalscaling (metric) in my questionnaire.

Ordinal Scaling is a scale that arranges objects or alternatives according to their magnitudes. I

have used ordinal scaling in my questionnaire while measuring mode of entertainment basedupon ranking. An ordinal scale is a measurement scale that assigns values to objects based on

their ranking with respect to one another. The intervals between adjacent scale values areindeterminate.

Interval Scaling is a scale that not only arranges objects or alternatives according to theirmagnitudes but also distinguishes this ordered arrangement in units of equal intervals. An interval

scale is a measurement scale in which a certain distance along the scale means the same thing nomatter where on the scale you are, but where "0" on the scale does not represent the absence of



the thing being measured. I have used interval scaling in my questionnaire to measure upon thevarious facets of the Indian population.

Scaling Techniques

These techniques are the tools which I use to bi-furcate the population in sub-groups so that my

analysis can be quantified. I have used rank order (comparative scaling) and likert scale (non-comparative itemized) in my questionnaire.

Rank Order is a scale that measures attitudes that asks respondents to rank a concept incomparison to each other.

Likert Scale is a measure of attitudes design to allow respondents to indicate how strongly theyagree or disagree with carefully constructed statements that range from very positive to very

negative toward an attitudinal object.

Reliability

Reliability Statistics

Cronbach's

Alpha N of Items

.373 35

Reliability is the degree to which measure are free from error and yield consistent results. Itreveals the imperfections in the measuring process such as when a respondent misunderstands aquestion it results in a low reliability.Reliability is necessary condition for validity but a data, which is reliable, may not necessarily be

valid.

Validity

Case Processing Summary

N %

Cases Valid 400 87.0Excluded (a)

60 13.0

Total 460 100.0

It is the ability of a scale to measure what it is intended to measure. If the intention of the

researcher is not supported by the tools he use, then the validity of the data collected is low. Ihave used content validity which is an agreement that a scale logically appears to reflect

accurately what it purports to measure.

DATA ANALYSIS



The data analysis is divided in two phases-each phase represents one management objective. The

analysis is done stepwise on the questions asked in the questionnaire and these questions are

further divided in these objectives that how the data collected through these questions give the

interpretation for my management objective.

1- Are Indians losing their traditional values in modern India? Family Orientation

Qualification * Family Cross tabulationCount

Family Total

Qualification Joint Nuclear

Girlfriend/Boyfriend/Fiance/Fia

ncee Alone

Less than

8th

18 28 17 17 80

SSC 31 27 17 18 93HSC 11 16 24 18 69Graduate 12 15 16 14 57

Postgraduate

10 13 14 14 51

Professional

10 15 13 12 50

Total 92 114 101 93 400

Family

ObservedN

ExpectedN Residual

Joint 92 100.0 -8.0

Nuclear 114 100.0 14.0

Girlfriend/Boyfriend/Fiance/Fiancee

101 100.0 1.0

Alone 93 100.0 -7.0

Total 400

Test Statistics

Family

Chi-Square (a)

3.100

Df 3 Asymp.Sig.

.376



Greeting Elders and Parents

Age * Greeting Cross-tabulation

Count

Age

Greeting Total

Namaste Hi/HelloDo NotGreet

<=18 42 36 24 102

19-30

28 41 27 96

31-45

43 28 33 104

>=46 44 31 23 98Total 157 136 107 400

Greeting

ObservedN

ExpectedN Residual

Namaste 157 133.3 23.7

Hi/Hello 136 133.3 2.7

Do NotGreet

107 133.3 -26.3

Total 400

Test Statistics

Greeting

Chi-Square(a)

9.455

Df 2

Asymp.Sig.

.009

Mode Of Entertainment

Age * Family gathering Cross-tabulation

Count

Family gathering

Age1st

Preferred2nd

Preferred3rd

Preferred4th

Preferred5th

PreferredLeast

Preferred Total

<=18 37 22 12 17 8 6 10

19-30 36 26 10 14 7 3 9



31-45 34 24 11 20 12 3 10

>=46 39 19 12 16 5 7 9

Total 146 91 45 67 32 19 40

Age * social gathering Cross tabulation

Count

Social gathering Total

Age1st

Preferred2nd

Preferred3rd

Preferred4th

Preferred5th

PreferredLeast

Preferred

<=18 9 18 12 23 22 18 10

19-30

4 17 6 23 17 29 9

31-45

7 15 8 26 23 25 10

>=46 12 9 14 23 20 20 9

Total 32 59 40 95 82 92 40

Age * movie with family Cross-tabulation

Count

Movie with family Total

Age1st

preferred2nd

preferred3rd

preferred4th

preferred5th

preferredLeast

preferred

<=18 11 17 27 28 10 9 102

19-30

8 10 32 25 15 6 96

31-45

9 14 30 19 18 14 104

>=46 5 18 23 29 10 13 98

Total 33 59 112 101 53 42 400

Age * movie with friends Cross-tabulation

Count

Movie with friends Total

Age1st

Preferred2nd

Preferred3rd

Preferred4th

Preferred5th

PreferredLeast

Preferred

<=18 27 18 22 23 9 3 102

19- 25 16 27 11 12 5 96



30

31-45

21 25 29 15 10 4 104

>=46 24 21 27 14 10 2 98Total 97 80 105 63 41 14 400

Age * spending time with girlfriend Or boyfriend Or fiancé OR fiancée Cross-tabulation

Count

Spending time with girlfriend OR boyfriend OR fiancé OR fiancée Total

Age1st

Preferred2nd

Preferred3rd

Preferred4th

Preferred5th

PreferredLeast

Preferred

<=18 5 19 13 3 24 38 102

19-30

8 19 10 12 18 29 96

31-45

14 21 13 16 13 27 104

>=46 7 21 14 7 15 34 98Total 34 80 50 38 70 128 400

Age * web-surfing Cross-tabulation

Count

Web-surfing Total

Age1st

preferred2nd

preferred3rd

preferred4th

preferred5th

preferredLeast

preferred

<=18 12 10 16 8 28 28 102

19-30

15 10 12 11 25 23 96

31-45

20 8 14 8 23 31 104

>=46 12 11 9 9 35 22 98Total 59 39 51 36 111 104 400

Ranks

Age NMeanRank

Family Gathering <=18 102 203.0019-30

96 191.60

31-45

104 210.06

>=46 98 196.48



Total 400

Social Gathering <=18 102 186.13

19-30

96 215.98

31-45

104 207.75

>=46 98 192.59Total 400

Movie With Family <=18 102 187.68

19-30

96 199.48

31-45

104 207.92

>=46 98 206.97

Total 400

Movie With Friends <=18 102 201.51

19-

30

96 202.59

31-45

104 202.70

>=46 98 195.07

Total 400Spending Time WithGirlfriend OrBoyfriend Or FiancéOr Fiancée

<=18

102 219.16

19-30

96 199.85

31-

45

104 180.12

>=46 98 203.35Total

400

Web-surfing <=18 102 205.69

19-30

96 193.86

31-45

104 198.60

>=46 98 203.62Total 400

Test Statistics(a,b)

FamilyGathering

SocialGathering

Movie WithFamily

Movie WithFriends

SpendingTime With

Girlfriend OrBoyfriend Or

Fiancé OrWeb-

surfing



Fiancée

Chi-Square

1.550 4.333 2.093 .307 6.262 .651

Df 3 3 3 3 3 3 Asymp.Sig.

.671 .228 .553 .959 .100 .885

a Kruskal Wallis Testb Grouping Variable: Age

Grooming of Children

Qualification * Children Get Better Grooming In Joint-Families Than Nuclear-

Families Cross-tabulation

Count

Children Get Better Grooming In Joint Families ThanNuclear Families Total

QualificationStronglydisagree Disagree

Can’t

say AgreeStronglyagree

Less than8th

13 15 22 16 14 80

SSC 15 15 17 20 26 93

HSC 10 15 13 17 14 69

Graduate 6 11 15 18 7 57Postgraduate

8 13 8 11 11 51

Professional 6 13 11 4 16 50

Total 58 82 86 86 88 400

Advice of Older People Should Be Considered While Taking Decisions

Age * Advice Of Older People Of Family Should Be Considered While TakingDecision Cross-tabulation

Count Advice Of Older People Of Family Should Be Considered

While Taking Decision Total

AgeStronglydisagree Disagree

Can’t

say Agree Strongly agree

<=18 14 21 18 31 18 102

19-30

17 15 16 29 19 96



31-45

10 14 20 33 27 104

>=46 13 19 15 31 20 98

Total 54 69 69 124 84 400

Visiting Religious Places Helps in Knowing Religion Better

Qualification * Visiting Religious Places Helps In Knowing Religion BetterCross-tabulation

Count

Visiting Religious Places Helps In Knowing ReligionBetter Total

Qualification Stronglydisagree DisagreeCan’t

say Agree Stronglyagree

Less than8th 18 13 7 20 22 80

SSC 19 13 14 23 24 93

HSC 16 15 11 13 14 69

Graduate 11 5 7 18 16 57

Postgraduate

10 5 5 18 13 51

Professional

5 9 8 12 16 50

Total 79 60 52 104 105 400

Younger Generation is More Aware Than Older Generation

Qualification * Younger Generation More Aware Than Old GenerationCross-tabulation

Count

Younger Generation More Aware Than Old Generation Total

Qualification Strongly

disagree Disagree Cant say agree

Strongly

agree

Strongly

disagreeLess than8th

17 7 20 25 11 80

SSC 13 16 20 32 12 93

HSC 12 10 11 28 8 69

Graduate 9 9 12 19 8 57

Postgraduate

5 8 14 17 7 51



Professional

9 3 11 20 7 50

Total 65 53 88 141 53 400

2- Do Indians perceive adoption of Western values as an option of upliftment of

Indian society?

Inter-caste Marriage

Age * inter-caste marriage Cross-tabulation

Count

Inter-caste marriage Total

Age Yes NoCan’t

say Yes

<=18 46 33 23 10219-30

35 33 28 96

31-45

25 50 29 104

>=46 30 29 39 98

Total 136 145 119 400

Love Marriage is Better than Arranged Marriage

Age * Love Marriage Is Better Than Arranged Marriage Cross-tabulation

Count

Love Marriage Is Better Than Arranged Marriage Total


Can’t

say AgreeStrongly

agree

<=18 8 18 17 28 31 102

19-30

16 17 16 25 22 96

31-45

18 16 18 23 29 104

>=46 20 19 12 22 25 98

Total 62 70 63 98 107 400

Qualification * Love Marriage Is Better Than Arranged Marriage Cross-tabulation

Count

Love Marriage Is Better Than Arranged Marriage Total




Can’t

say AgreeStrongly

agree

Less than8th

13 16 12 19 20 80

SSC 12 20 11 22 28 93

HSC 9 7 12 21 20 69

Graduate 8 12 10 11 16 57Postgraduate

7 6 9 15 14 51

Professional

13 9 9 10 9 50

Total 62 70 63 98 107 400

Live-In Relations Make Marriage Successful

Age * Live In Make Marriage Successful Cross-tabulation

Count

Live In Make Marriage Successful Total


Can’t

say AgreeStrongly

agree

<=18 24 28 12 23 15 10219-30

27 23 12 15 19 96

31-

45

18 32 19 18 17 104

>=46 28 15 14 29 12 98

Total 97 98 57 85 63 400

Qualification * Live In Make Marriage Successful Cross-tabulation

Count

Live In Make Marriage Successful Total


Can’t

say AgreeStrongly

agree

Less than8th 17 19 8 20 16 80

SSC 19 22 18 20 14 93

HSC 17 21 9 14 8 69

Graduate 17 11 8 9 12 57

Postgraduate

11 15 9 7 9 51

Professional

16 10 5 15 4 50



Total 97 98 57 85 63 400

Sex Education Should be made Mandatory in Schools

Age * Sex Education Should Be Mandatory In Schools Cross-tabulation

Count

Sex Education Should Be Mandatory In Schools Total


Can’t

say AgreeStrongly

agree

<=18 13 13 24 26 26 102

19-30

17 13 14 24 28 96

31-45

11 18 23 20 32 104

>=46 10 21 18 19 30 98

Total 51 65 79 89 116 400

Qualification * Sex Education Should Be Mandatory In Schools Cross-tabulation

Count

Sex Education Should Be Mandatory In Schools Total


Can’t

say AgreeStrongly

agree

Less than8th

15 14 14 15 22 80

SSC 14 9 19 27 24 93HSC 7 9 18 12 23 69Graduate 6 11 10 13 17 57

Postgraduate

4 12 7 9 19 51

Professional

5 10 11 13 11 50

Total 51 65 79 89 116 400

English Speaking is a Mark of Superiority

Qualification * Speaking In English Is A Mark Of Superiority Cross-tabulation

Count



Speaking In English Is A Mark Of Superiority Total


Can’t

say AgreeStrongly

agree

Less than8th

17 17 16 23 7 80

SSC 14 30 15 22 12 93HSC 8 14 12 21 14 69Graduate 9 12 11 14 11 57

Postgraduate

6 6 14 14 11 51

Professional

10 12 7 9 12 50

Total 64 91 75 103 67 400

Co- Education Removes Disparity Among Boys and Girls

Qualification * Co-Education Reduces Disparity Among Boys And GirlsCross-tabulation

Count

Co-Education Reduces Disparity Among Boys & Girls Total


Can’t

say AgreeStrongly

agree

Less than8th

18 13 13 19 17 80

SSC 13 12 18 26 24 93

HSC 15 8 14 12 20 69

Graduate 9 5 12 17 14 57

Postgraduate

12 9 1 13 16 51

Professional

12 9 9 11 9 50

Total 79 56 67 98 100 400

INTERPRETATION



Like my data analysis, my interpretation is also divided in two phases in accordance to themanagement objectives undertaken.

1-My first management objective was “Are Indians losing their traditional values in modern

India”, so I are now dividing my research questions accordingly.

Family Orientation

The chi-square test shows Asymp. Sig. to be .376 which is more than .05.Thus the null hypothesisis true in this case, which is:

Ho: p1=p2=p3=p4=p5 (proportion of all the options are equal)

Thus, the analysis on the sample shows that the family orientation of people is same for all theoptions. The proportion of living in a joint family is same as living in a nuclear family.The crosstab analysis reveals that keeping education in mind, other than SSC all the samples

prefer living in nuclear family, though the reasons may be different. For less than 8th, SSC and

HSC it could be because of their low income, thus supporting a joint family is not feasible. Whilefor more educated people it could be preference for independence. Altogether, people prefernuclear families nowadays, irrespective of their education.

Greeting

The crosstab analysis on the sample shows that people falling under age group of 19-30myears

least prefer “Namaste”: my traditional form of greeting elders. Other then the number of peopledoing namaste is highest as per my study. Thus generally age doesn’t impact greeting pattern.

The chi-square analysis shows that people still prefer “namaste” over other of greeting elders.The proportion of “namaste” is higher than the other. This shows that we are still living up with

our tradition of greeting elders in that manner.


As per my analysis, the age group falling under <18 years of age prefers inter-caste marriages themost. This may be because of their less age, they are most pertinent to Western influence.

Though, this influence is positive, as thinking over and above the caste factor is good for theIndian society. So, this influence is positive. While in the age group of 31-45 years the people

prefer in-caste marriage to inter-caste marriage. Their state of mind follows the traditional form

of marriage.Other than age, if I focus on education, I can say that the sample comprising of adolescents

prefers inter-caste marriage over in caste marriage. While the grown ups do not look the positiveaspect. Still, I can say that the next generation thinking is changing.

Though overall, the people not preferring inter-caste marriages are more than people going for it.Thus again, the impact of Western culture is not on all the age groups. I don’t think in thisdirection that is over and above my rigid case system.

Mode Of Entertainment

Nowadays also, people prefer spending time with family and family gathering to other modes ofentertainment. In the research, a sample of 146 people out of the sample size of 400 people gave

“family gathering” as their first preference. Thus I can interpret that we follow our traditions and



are still bounded to our roots. Also the least first preference is given to “social gathering”, whichmean that people prefer spending time with their families but their degree of social interaction has

declined. This is not in alignment my tradition of living together.

Grooming of Children:

The result of this analysis shows that people of all educational backgrounds have the beliefthat grooming of children in joint families is better than in nuclear families. Though, as the

sample moves towards people of professional background they give preference to nuclearfamilies only. As they give less importance to proximity of children to their grandparents.

Advice of Older People Should Be Considered While Taking Decisions:

Irrespective of the age groups in which the sample is falling they constitute agree that theadvice of older people should be taken while taking decisions. As their experience may help

in taking more appropriate and logical decisions. Thus, I can interpret that in this regard theWestern culture has not influenced our tradition of taking advices of our elders.

Visiting Religious Places Helps in Knowing Religion Better:

In my research work I observed and concluded that all people believe in the fact that going toreligious places help in understanding the religion better. This thinking pattern was evident in

people who are having various levels of qualifications. However I observed that as the people become more and more qualified that is, they get higher and professional education this belief becomes less strong. Thus, I can interpret that Western culture has not impacted the present

society and people do believe that going to religious places help in understanding our religion better.

Younger Generation is More Aware Than Older Generation

In this scenario I observed that just a quarter of my sample believed that still the oldergeneration is more aware. The majority constituting of about fifty percent agreed to the fact

that today’s youth is more aware and informed. This means that we are loosing our traditionalapproach that our forefathers and elders were more informed and aware. I believe that whenwe are stepping out of our homes we are getting more realistic experiences.

2- Do Indians perceive adoption of Western values as an option of upliftment of

Indian society?


According to my analysis I interpret that the sample size belonging to age group ofadolescents and young generation support inter-caste marriage. While the people who are ofmiddle age and more than that believe in the fact that inter-caste marriage is not appropriate

for my Indian society.On the basis of education it can be said that education does not influence the mindset of

people regarding the support of inter-caste marriage, as the proportion of non-supporters is



still high. As people get more and more qualified they get more confused about the concept ofinter-caste marriage.

Love Marriage is Better than Arranged Marriage

In my research work I observed that the people prefer love marriage over arranged

marriages. This thinking pattern of the sample remains no matter what thequalification level of a person is. The result shows that we are influenced from the

Western culture as our Indian culture does not support the same.I also observed that this thinking is also evident across people of all age groups.The people who belong to middle age and older than that there thinking pattern hasalso changed with the passage of time.

Live-In Relations Make Marriage Successful

The research works shows that though we have advanced in our beliefs and attitude towards

our culture but still the society has not become so much open to the concept of living inrelations. This was evident from the fact that majority of my sample disagreed on the concept

of going for living in to make understanding between two partners better.This societal process is not affected even by the education and movement towards higher and

professional qualification.

Sex Education Should be made Mandatory in Schools

The education process in our country is becoming more open and that is why in my study I got

responses in favor of including sex education in schools. The topic, which was considered, banned to be discussed in open should now be included in the curriculum so as to make the next

generation more aware and secure.

This openness in the society is marketable through all the age groups of our society which meansthat the importance of this topic is realized even by the older generation.

English Speaking is a Mark of Superiority

The importance of this global language is now very well realized in my society as well. Thisthinking pattern of sample were evident from there responses I received. People agreed to the factthat speaking in this tongue creates an influence over the other party and provides an edge to

them. Thus, I can conclude that Westernization has impacted the society and people thoughcomfortable in their mother tongue prefer speaking in English.

Co- Education Removes Disparity Among Boys and Girls

As the educated population is increasing in India, the people highly support the education of girlsalong with boys. Thus, the concept of co-education is highly welcomed. Though this is an affectof Western culture on our society but this is positive in the sense that it provides an opportunityfor both the sexes to develop a sense of belief and respect towards each other.



DISCUSSION

After going through all this research, I interpreted my results on various dimensions. Be it family

orientation, or be it their choice about the marriage preference. Also I studied upon their food habitsand all. Below I present, my interpretation of the research solution that I have shown in theinterpretation section.

The solution showed that the habit of greeting our elders by saying Namaste etc. is

getting depleted in the adolescents and youth. Though the overall analysis showed thatstill a major chunk of our population greets their elders in the traditional form only, but

the results are alarming. This young generation, who is not willing to adapt to thetradition of India, will teach the same to the next generation. We might be looking on to

the extinct of the Namaste etc. culture.

Long time back, the inter-caste marriage was considered as a taboo or as a sin in India.

But my results showed that the Indians are opening up their mindset in this area. I sawthat not much people of my age, i.e. youth, are infancy to inter-caste marriage. They arevery much in favor of this. Though the older generation still has certain grudges to this

idea but that does not mean I have to look down the barrel. The young guns are ready tothis change and I can be hopeful of this getting carried through coming generations.Hence, I can see a positive impact of Western culture here.

It has been a culture of India that we are very much attached to our family and we are

proud of this too. The study also revealed the same. But another alarming fact was thattheir interest in getting connected with society has declined tremendously. No more dothey prefer a social gathering for a change in their daily routine. They are much occupied

with the issues of their own. This is in high contrast to my traditions.

Also if I focus upon grooming of children, and the importance of the older people infamily the results are disappointing. The decline in the joint family culture which is againan effect of Western influence, has led to the decline in the importance of older peopletoo. Old persons who were considered as a real asset of the family, don’t even exist in the

nuclear family. The professional life is taking over the Indian traditions. And with this,apparently the grooming of children will also have an effect. Children does not get the

same attention and grooming in the nuclear family as they get in the joint family.

Some time back, we cannot even think of getting indulged in a love affair and finallygetting it resulted into a love marriage. But this has caught a wave now. People are moreopen and find no problem in love marriage. Even live-in relationships are no more an

infancy. I can’t conclude it in concrete terms that whether it is good or bad for our society but this has showed an effect on my culture for sure.



Sex education which has almost become a necessity nowadays, considering the ill effects

in the society, has came into existence just because of this Western culture. So I can see a positive impact here.

The Western culture has also made an impact on my education system. Co-education and

sex education are into existence because of the Western culture and they are for the goodreasons too.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. BUSINESS RESEARCH METHODS - William G. Zikmund

.



2. RESEARCH ARTICLE by FULBRIGHT titled “The Modem and the Mango Tree:

Assessing Adolescent’s Cultural Identity Development in India”

APPENDIX

Demographics



12.50%

12.75%

14.25%

17.25%

23.25%

20.00%

Professional

Postgraduate

Graduate

HSC

SSC

Less than 8th

Qualification

24.50%

26.00% 24.00%

25.50%

>=46

31-45

19-30

<=18

Age

24.00%

28.50%

23.25%

24.25%

>5lakh

3lakh-5lakh

1lakh-3lakh

<1lakh

Income

QUESTIONNAIRE

Demography

Age (in years) <=18 ____ 19-30 ____ 31-45 ____ >=46 ____

Qualification Less than 8th class ____ SSC ____ HSC ____



Graduate ____ Post-Graduate ____ Professional ____

Annual Household Income (Rs.) Less than 1 Lac ____ 1 Lac - 3 Lacs ____3 Lacs - 5 Lacs ____ 5 Lacs and above ____

Please answer the following questions :-

I am a/an

Student ____Businessman / Businesswoman ____

Working Professional ____

Service Personnel ____

Retired / Pensioner ____

Others ____ (Please Specify _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _)

I live (in a/an)

Joint Family ____

Nuclear Family ____

With my girlfriend/boyfriend/fiancé/fiancée ____

Alone ____ I like/liked reading

Amar Chitra Katha ____

Panchtantra ____

Jaatak Kathayein

Archies ____

Spider-Man ____

Others ____ (Please Specify _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ )

I greet persons elder to me by saying

Namaste ____

Hi/Hello ____

Do not greet at all ____

I find (Indian Classical/Western) dance form more entertaining. (Tick any one)

I married/may marry with a person of another caste/religion/country. (Yes/No/Can’t Say)

Rank the following mode of entertainment in order of ymy preference (1 st rank to Most

Preferred and so on)

Family Gathering ____

Social Gathering ____Movie with family ____

Movie with friends ____

Spending time with girlfriend/boyfriend ____

Web Surfing ____

Please tick mark the appropriate box after reading the statement

S.

No.

Queries StronglyDisagre

e

Disagree

Can’tSay

Agree Strongly

Agree

impact of western culture

Documents