Norms are the specific cultural expectations for how to behave in a given situation. They are the agreed-upon expectations and rules by which the members of a culture behave. Norms vary from culture to culture, so some things that are considered norms in one culture may not be in another culture. For example, in America it is a norm to maintain direct eye contact when talking with others and it is often considered rude if you do not look at the person you are speaking with. Some example of norms includes Folkways, often referred to as "customs." They are standards of behavior that are socially approved but not morally significant. They are norms for everyday behavior that people follow for the sake of tradition or convenience. Breaking a folkway …show more content…
However, in the shopping mall people tend to exhibit similar behaviors for they have to follow certain procedures before they enter the venue. Sitting at the entrance of a shopping mall gives one the opportunity to study shoppers from different ethnicities while learning what they know about shopping ethics. Notably, shoppers know what they need as they enter any mall. Understandably, terrorism has been on the rise over the years and almost all mall managers take security seriously. As I sat at the mall’s entrance, I noticed that stereotyping is rife because of the way the security officers treated some shoppers with contempt while others had easy access without much scrutiny. …show more content…
At the same time, ethnocentrism was rampant in the mall as most of the shoppers believed that their culture was ideal while other peoples’ culture was not important. Majority of people practice ethnocentrism unconsciously for they believe that every other person must follow their ways. Sitting outside a shopping mall presents an opportune moment for a researcher or observer to study people attitudes towards others from other cultures without their knowledge. Since the studies the shoppers without their knowledge, they behave in the expected ways thus providing the researcher with a chance to understand cultural ethnography that we display