Tp Student Conformity Research

The decisions that individuals make everyday are subjected to the social norms of the groups they belong in. Reviewing the social norms of students in Temasek Polytechnic (TP) through participant observation and in-depth interview; will be beneficial in explaining the extent of conformity in TP students. They will conform to society and be pressured to display inappropriate social behaviors to foster a sense of belonging in the group. Hence, the behaviors they choose to display in school and not in any other setting is highly subjected by the social norms of TP students.

Social norms serve as one of the foundations of social order that will ensure people behave in ways that the society deems appropriate. Generally, regardless of whether it

The individual was specifically chosen to identify and discuss certain social norms that can only be found in TP as they have yet to be fully accustomed to the school. Comparisons of social norms can then be made between her previous school and TP easily. The individual should be someone who uses colloquial Singaporean English (Singlish), enabling her to foster a sense of belonging with her peers in school to be involved in the social group.

The whole interview consists of open ended and probing questions (descriptive, structural, contrast) to explore the point of view, feelings and perspectives of a TP student. An introduction along with the purpose of the interview will be made to the interviewee first to obtain permission to begin voice recording the responses given. After the introduction, the interview will begin with 4 open ended questions and probing questions will be formed from those questions. Acknowledgement was made to commend on the time and effort the interviewee spent for this interview. The interview went smoothly except when question 7 was asked, where the interviewee was unable to comprehend the question and I was taken aback. However, I manage to regain my composure and provided her with several examples (Guion, Diehl & McDonald,

Through the observation logs, students are seen to be inconsiderate towards their peers when “some of the students were talking loudly amongst themselves during the lesson”. Students are also very blunt when they speak to their friends stating that “we should also avoid eating food that are fried so that we can be slim and that will help us to get a boyfriend”. Such comments on their weight is extremely rude and disrespectful as this may be a sensitive subject for some individuals. During the in-depth interview, “a few students that was seated separately around the class was using their mobile phones” and “some of the students were talking loudly amongst themselves during the lesson”. Such behaviours that are blatantly portrayed is intolerable in a classroom setting as those individuals disregard the effect of such acts on their peers and teachers. The peers and teacher in the class failed to voice out their opinions on such acts verbally and these behaviours are inappropriate because they affect the mood of others as they will feel offended and distraught. The evidence acquired proved that inappropriate behaviours are displayed by students in TP repeatedly and such behaviours affects others significantly. However, most of the other party that was affected does not express their inner feelings and this caused the individual to underestimate the impact of their