Phenomenology is the study of how people give meaning to their conscious experiences in their everyday lives and what and how a person experiences them. While ethnomethodology examines the methods that individuals use to create meaning in their daily interaction in their social world. Moreover, cross-cultural research is the systematic comparison of different cultures that aims to understand the variations of human behaviour. In conducting cross-cultural research, it is important to learn the ways of your subjects through their understanding. Phenomenology and ethnomethodology are significant tools in doing so. It allows researchers to have in-depth knowledge about their subject. They will study the patterns of life of the people, in other words, the people’s culture. Not only will they start to view things from their subject’s perspective, but they will also apprehend the behaviour, belief systems, interaction, and their responses through the viewpoint of the natives. Furthermore, they will be able to properly distinguish between distinct cultures and provide appropriate data. Hence, the results and findings of their research will be accurate, credible, and unbiased.
Relational and descriptive types of research questions are what these two perspectives can address. Relational is designed to look at the relationships between two or more variables, while descriptive is set to describe what is going on or what exists (Trochim, 2021). Since phenomenology and ethnomethodology tackle how individuals make sense of their everyday circumstances, it would be done through a descriptive analysis of the subject matter. Therefore, it will provide focal concepts about the study. Also, gaining this context will make it easier to compare it to other subjects (or in this case cultures). Thus, this is where relational and descriptive research questions appear.
Meanwhile, a causal type of research question is what I see as something incompatible with these perspectives since the aim of this type is to determine the causes or effects to the outcome of one or more variables. Because causal research issues seek to determine treatment targets, determine the cause that increases the chance of developing a disease or injury, or predict the outcome to people who are receiving one treatment over another (Kamper,2020). I do not think this type of research question can be addressed by the two perspectives.
Social constructs are built upon what people perceive and encounter. These constructs are categorized, then embedded in society. Several social constructs are different in every society. Such examples include race and gender.
In the Philippine society, we have several annotations about different races. Let’s say a white person, we Filipinos identify them as someone who is liberated, wears skimpy clothes, loves to sunbathe, and speaks in a frankly direct and vulgar manner (these are just some of the examples). Many of us when we see them do these things we say it’s okay because they are ‘foreigners’, and that they act that way because it is their culture. Then, for instance, a Filipino behaves that way almost every member in a
Filipino society will give unsolicited comments about how they should not act that way and that it is just for westerners to do it. We have always claimed that we are a conservative country, hence if we Filipinos act in such ways then we are seen in our community as somebody who is trying to be a white person/foreigner. We perceive white people as such because these are what we have seen and experienced when we interact with them or just by observing them. Their behavior is not common in our country, specifically back then, that is why we conclude that those types of actions are done by westerners. These are then contrived and immersed in our society.
Nonetheless, it is also the same thing with gender. Filipino women, several years ago, are contrived as individuals who are not equal to men. Since women back then would only end up getting married and taking care of their family the majority of them were not given the chance to get proper education, voting rights, or a part of the society. Thus, women are expected to be quiet, sophisticated, inferior to men, conservative, and should always serve their husbands. As time passed by women started questioning this setup and fought against it, then society stapled these women with the statement “that is not how a lady should act”. Fast forward to where we are today, women are given the rights that I have mentioned earlier however, there are still expectations that are still evident. Some of the social constructs for Filipino women are behaving feminine and delicate, dress in a girly but conservative manner, aren’t loud and noisy, always clean and neat, etc. If those things that I previously mentioned are done in the complete opposite by girls then they are labeled with “you’re acting like a man”, “women don’t act that way”, or “you don’t act like a girl”.
Again, all of these social constructs are driven by what we have primarily seen, experienced, and what society instructed us to believe in. Hence, we usually read behaviours through our belief system. Leading us today evaluate other people according to what we personally hold on to. We often forget that we are different from one another that’s why we fail to recognize and respect these differences. However, this can still be fixed by accepting that not everyone has the same ideals as you.