Qualitative Data Analysis

Introduction

Culture and religion play a significant role in people’s behavioural patterns in their daily lives. Various surveys have been conducted to analyze the effect of religion on people coming from strict cultural values and religion. This essay presents the qualitative data analysis of interviews conducted with people regarding strict religion and strict culture.

Deductive code is used to design the research questions and the interview. Open-ended questions are included in the interview. The prime focus of the interview is on the effect of strict religion and authoritarian culture on people. The research questions of this study revolve around the emotions of people as the result of strict religious norms and cultural values.

Research Questions

1. In what ways do strict religion and culture affect people’s emotions?
2. What are the side effects of strict religion and authoritarian culture over the behavioural patterns of people living in such authoritarian cultures?
3. How do strict religion and culture incite negative mental health in individuals?
4. What type of changes do people want in such an oppressive culture and religion?

Interview Procedures:

The interview is specifically designed to answer the above-mentioned research questions. The interview was conducted through face-to-face interaction with the participants in the class. The respective interview questions are based on people coming from strict religions and cultures. Furthermore, these questions are centred on the effect of strict religion and culture on the emotions of people living in such strict cultures. The interview questions are qualitative in nature. Therefore, the subjects answering these questions were able to give their personal views openly.

The interviews were conducted with students in the class. The interview was conducted in a class setting. The interview is conducted with three students. The sample size is small and restricted to the class. I asked the questions from participants in a traditional way of conducting the interview. It comprised 11 open-ended questions.

The procedure for conducting this interview is based on two steps. In the first step, the interview participants were briefed about the purpose of the research. They were given a brief overview of the role of strict cultural values and strict religious norms upon people. After the briefing, permissions were obtained from the participants to record their interviews. When the participants gave permission, I started the interview by asking basic questions about their religion and culture. I concluded the interview by questioning their views on making amends to their religion and culture. After concluding the interviews, I transcribed the interview recordings. In conclusion, I can say that the interviews with the participants went well.

Interpretation

The interviews went smoothly, as expected. There were no complications in the interviews because all the participants did not belong to any strict religion and/ or culture. The responses from these interviews were quite the same except for some responses, which are explained below.

Participant (A) (Brendon) did not belong to any culture or strict religion. Therefore, he did not have any significant views related to strict religion or culture. However, upon asking about the most oppressive aspect of religion/ culture, Brendon answered, “I guess North American culture, it can be like pretty judging… sometimes towards like other cultures”.

Participant (B) Arriene is an Anglican Christian. She comes from a family associated with strict cultural and religious values. Christian religion and culture play a significant role in her life. When Arie was asked about the most oppressive aspect of her culture/ religion, she answered: “I think the most oppressive aspect of my religion is probably views on the LGBTQ culture because I am a part of it. As a bisexual, I felt that was a big shock that I had to go through”. She viewed that her religion should exercise acceptance. According to her, Christians and Jews can be very strict and very old.

Though Brendon does not belong to any culture or religion, he faces issues with the judgment of other cultures. Religion and culture play a significant role in Arie’s bisexual life. Upon asking about the changes they wanted in their culture/ religion, both participants wanted their culture/ religion to exercise acceptance towards other cultures/ religions and modern views. After analyzing both interviews, it can be stated that religion and culture play a significant role in people’s everyday lives and behavioural patterns.

Problems/Limitations Of The Research

The expected responses came from the interviews because most of the students in the class were white. These participants are not affected by religion and/ or culture. However, the biggest limitation of this research is that all the participants in the interview are white. All the students in the class are white. The problem with this conducted research is that none of the participants belonged to a strict culture and/ or religion. These students (participants of the interview) are not affected by their culture and/ or religion. Therefore, we could not get the actual response to the questions asked in the interview. If any of the participants belonged to a strict religion and culture, then our research could have gotten a variety of responses and authentic views on the negative impact of strict religion and culture on people.

An Appendix

Interview Guide:

• Interview with students of the class
• Deductive code used for research questions
• Strict religion and culture oppressing people have already been deduced while designing the research questions and interviews.
• Interview questions are designed according to the research questions.
• 11 Open-ended questions related to proving the effect of strict culture and religion on people

Conclusion

Strict religion and authoritarian culture have an immense effect on people living in such cultures. However, the participants of this interview are not religious and do not belong to any strict culture. In a nutshell, based on the three interviews that have been conducted in the class, no one is religious and does not belong to any strict culture. Therefore, culture and religion do not affect them.