Interpersonal Interview Paper

Interpersonal Interview Paper

This paper will be based on an interview you conduct with someone who is outside of your ‘culture’ and with whom you are relatively unfamiliar. If you need guidance identifying someone, I am happy to help.

The goal of your paper is to interview an individual who is outside of your ‘culture’. This could be someone from a different ethnicity, religious background, gender, age, etc. It would also be preferable if you were relatively unfamiliar with the individual. The paper should be 5 to 7 double-spaced typed pages (1 inch margins) and must cover the points outlined below. Basic college writing standards must be met. The paper should follow APA formatting standards, so if you are unfamiliar please consult this website: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/

PAPER Requirements: cover all of the points outlined below in a well-written format, including correct grammar, spelling and punctuation.

1. Begin with an introductory paragraph that briefly describes the individual you will be discussing. Give me as much background as I need to understand the cultural aspect you are analyzing.

2. At the end of your introductory paragraph, state your thesis (what you will be covering in your paper), and connect it to an idea relevant to cross-cultural psychology.

3. In the body of your paper, be sure that you discuss in detail the responses from your interviewee and how they relate to various concepts/theories from cross-cultural psychology. If you are unsure where to start, look at some of the readings/activities we have done from guidance. Further, you should contrast the interviewee’s experience from your own and in detail connect that to cross-cultural psychology. At least 2 outside sources (including articles, websites, etc.) should be utilized.

4. Your paper should end with a concluding paragraph. In this paragraph, return to your thesis and summarize your paper. In addition, be sure to explain what you learned from the experience and how it has shaped your understanding of cross-cultural psychology.

5. Proofread your paper carefully and read it out loud. There should be no slang (i.e., “hung out,” “pissed off”), and eliminate all contractions by writing out the full words (i.e., “don’t” should be “do not”). As you read out loud you will pick up mistakes in grammar and punctuation.

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Tips for Interpersonal Interview Paper

Things you may want to cover:

– Identify whether of not the individual’s culture is a traditional or nontraditional culture and provide specific information that supports your argument.

– The paper could examine the concepts of power distance, uncertainty orientation, and collectivism/individualism paradigms. When describing these concepts, please provide specific examples from the person you interview.

-Here are some tips on questions to ask to help you write your paper:

• Do a profile of the person with their cultural identity and how they define themselves. Get an idea of what they do, why they do it – kind of a basic overview or snapshot of their life.

• Ask about traditions, customs and practices o Ask about examples of traditions and customs, what it was like growing up with them o If applicable, ask about how the traditions they observe or practice fall into place on a traditional/nontraditional scale – for example there could be a difference as to how things in the USA are celebrated versus their cultural origin

• Learn about the power distance, uncertainty orientation, and collectivism/individualism paradigms by asking about how their families are set up and the dynamics, how people interact with each other, class systems, etc. (refer to The Hofstede Dimensions)

• Another facet of the paper is to ”examine one other concept either motivation for behavior or the socialization process for that particular individual”

o Basically try to get some insight as to how people socialize within this culture or what motivates their behavior, as far as their career/personal aspirations go or even principles they base their actions on (as a culture and at their individual level), by asking for examples

· Examples are definitely key so make sure you have plenty to work from when interviewing your person, even if you get too many you can trim out extra information when writing your paper. Also remember these tips are just tips not necessarily a checklist, and even though they definitely help you fulfill the paper requirements you can still be creative.

-If you have any questions or concerns – feel free to email me!

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