Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
Table 1.
Background information of the subjects (N = 14) in Japan. The numbers after the
country name indicate the years the person has lived abroad.
Nationality
Experience abroad
Age group
Gender
Catalan
No
20-24
F
Danish
Belgium (20), Japan (1)
20-24
M
Swedish
US (2), France (1), Spain, Uganda,
Brazil
25-44
M
Canadian
US, France, Japan
45-65
M
Moroccan
No
25-44
F
Uzbek
No
20-24
F
Filipino
US (4)
20-24
F
Filipino
US (10)
45-65
F
Korean
No
20-24
M
Chinese
No
20-24
M
Chinese
No (English teacher)
25-44
F
Japanese
US (1)
25-44
F
Japanese
No (work with foreigners)
25-44
F
Japanese
No
20-24
M
general. However, as the aim was to explore and verify the previously presented
hypothesis of the differences in interpretation between Eastern and Western cultures
rather than to conduct quantitative study of the interpretation of the shoulder shrug,
there was no rigorous effort to get a statistically balances sample of subjects.
Moreover, the setup of the experiment also supported subjective case studies rather
than quantitative experiments. The interviews aimed at collecting data of the subjects'
own view of the video clip: how they would interpret the particular gesturing and how
they would express hesitation themselves. In the multicultural context of exchange
students and researchers, the subjects are of course already used to very international
communication, and their own cultural context is in the background. Although the
interviews of the video clip were not conducted in void, they were conducted in the
context which allowed the subjects' interpretation not only of the hesitation and
uncertainty presented in the video clip but also of how hesitation and uncertainty are
expressed in their own culture, their views being filtered through their own exposure
and readiness to admit various differences in intercultural communication.
The setup of the interview study was fairly straightforward. The purpose of the
study was first explained to the subjects together with some background of the
cultural differences in the interpretation of gestures. In most cases this prompted
enthusiastic presentation of the subjects' own experiences and observations of the
cultural differences that they have noticed in their own interactions. The subjects were
then shown the video clip and they were encouraged to express their observations and
opinions of the clip. If they had not noticed the particular shoulder shrug, their
attention was drawn to it by verbally describing what the person does. They could see
the video as many times as they wanted, and usually 2-3 was enough.
