From: rajib.k.doogar.1@nd.edu (Rajib K. Doogar)
Subject: Re: What do American students think of India/Indians ?
Organization: University of Notre Dame
Date: Mon, 23 Nov 1992 20:39:20 GMT

In article <1992Nov23.193719.15789@seas.smu.edu> krishna@seas.smu.edu (Sanjay Krishna) writes:
>From: krishna@seas.smu.edu (Sanjay Krishna)
>Subject: What do American students think of India/Indians ?
>Date: Mon, 23 Nov 1992 19:37:19 GMT


>These are the results of a survey I circulated in the class for which I 
am a>TA. The class consists of three sections of 15 students each. Most of 
the >students were told that this was for the Inter-cultural Resource Centre 
and >were asked to be sincere. ( Actually it was me that wanted to hear 
American>opinions from American minds and not through some one else's 
interpretation >of their opinion).                                         

>                   Survey about India/Indians 

> I   Do you perceive India as a        
>   a) starving third world country dependent on foriegn aid. 
>   b) third world country with a large agricultural and industrial base but
>              over-burdened with a large population.  
>   c) country of snake charmers, tigers, elephants, palaces and Maharajas.

> Results - a) 13  
>           b) 24
>           c) 7   

> II  Judging by the Indians/ Asian Indian American students that you have met, 
>        would you consider them to be         
>   a) nerds/geeks.
>   b) regular, nice but boring.
>   c) party people and fun loving. 

> Results - a) 25
>           b) 17
>           c) 2

> III   As an American who is not of Asian Indian descent, would you prefer that 
>   a)  Asian Indian Americans retain their culture and identity.
>   b)   Merge with the American mainstream.    

> Results - a) 10 
>           b) 15
>  Both - an overwhelming 33. 

> IV   Were you aware of the existence of an  Indian Student Association at SMU ? 
>   a) Yes
>   b)  No
> 
> Results - a) 17
>           b) 28

>I was encouraged by the majority that had the correct view of India. However
>the fact that nearly half of them have misconceptions makes me wonder if the
>way we Indians/Indian Americans have gone about dissemenating information is 
>correct or we need to change it. 

>Question # 2 - Almost all the students that chose the option b) Nice, serious
>but boring, scored out boring and wrote smart and intelligent. In effect, they
>made up for the lapse I committed. The perception of nerd/geek is consistent
>with the image they have of other Asian Americans. It was heartening however
>that 5 of the students said they were just regular students and/or they hate
>to generalize about any group of students. 

>Question # 3 - Perhaps the most controversial. Many said there is no such thing
>as " American mainstream". But they all agreed that greater interaction was 
>essential among different race groups and a common platform be reached. 

>Question # 4 - this has nothing to do with this newsgroup. But believe me 
>SMU has an ISA that is most active and is the most visible, others ( except
>for ABS ( Assoc of Black Students), CHAS ( Hispanic), Alpha Phi Alpha ( the 
>African- American fraternity) ) would have done worse.  

>Sanjay. 

You do know that if your university has a human subjects control, you're in 
deep trouble since you cannot decieve your students about the purpose of the 
study.  Its unethical and it causes problems for those of us who want to use 
student subjects for "more" responsible purposes than to satisfy somebody's 
shrivelled self-image.  better to give it as a quiz or a exam question but i 
guess that would be hard to sell to the prof... anyway, sorry to be a party-
pooper but this is a classic case of loose cannons who don't know what they 
are doing...  didn't anyone tell you about demand effects?  your results 
mean absolutely nothing in scientific terms and need not have any congruence 
with your students' true beliefs because you didn't control for these 
effects.. so learn before you test willya?  regards... rajib doogar