A Research of the Demographic and Cultural Factors That Influence the Silence Theory

Since the spiral of silence theory has received a great deal of attention within theoretical and empirical work conducted years ago (Noelle-Neumann, 1974; Taylor, 1982; Salon & Gild, 1993; Noelle-Neumann, 1993), and this study will be executed to understand the extent to which the spiral of silence theory is relevant today. The aim of this study is to examine the role that demographic and cultural variables play in the ability of individuals to express themselves when confronted with the possibility of isolation or violating perceptions of dominant climate and opinion.

Since a number of different variables have been articulated in relation to culture, this study will test whether the spiral of silence very is relevant from the dimensions of individualism and collectivism (Hofstede, 2003) and how this may affect their motives of individuals to express their opinion. Other studies have examined this issue in relation to US and Taiwanese cultures, so the existence of other research: able a basis for further analysis and insight. The aim will be executed by having UK and Chinese students from the UK University allow a quantitative survey.

In attempting to draw out why the work is important, there are several inferences that can be offered. Focusing on the cultural differences and other variables pertained to demographics are considered to be an important research goal to achieve because, as the work of Scheufle and Moy (2000) pointed out in their critical review of the concept, although there are a number of studies on the spiral of violence, most of these separate from employing inconsistent definitions and conceptualizations, and also failed to acknowledge the culturally related variables that may influence how opinion perceptions influence individuals to speak.

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As the introduction suggests, this study will investigate the spiral of silence theory and how it pertains to cultural variables, which is thought to help in adding to the perspective of whether the spiral of silence theory is still relevant today and, if so, how. Scheufle and Moy (2000) review was important in in pointing out the deficiencies with the current research on the issue at their time of writing, noting that culture was not a large issue of concern. There have been some empirical tests executed by other researchers which serve as the point in which to guide the methodology and to infer from points about the findings, e.g. Huang (2005). However, apart from these studies, gaining access or finding any other titles that address the issue of culture and the spell of silence theory to determine relevance do not appear to have received a great deal of attention by scholars.

The theory that will be relied upon is, on the one hand, the spiral of silence theory. The theory was originally articulated by Nolle-Neumann in the early 1970s (Noelle-Neumann, 1974) and is promised under the assumption that people are always aware of the individuals around them and the opinions that they have (West & Turner, 2007). It is as a result of this awareness that the spiral of silence model assumes that individuals will adjust their opinions and behaviours for fear of having a different perspective than what is held by the norm (Donsbach& Traugott, 2007).

In other words, the perception that an individual has about a certain climate rather than the actual climate that exists will influence the propensity of an individual to express their opinion. The spiral of silence theory also introduces the idea about a fear of isolation (Miller, 2004). The theory of isolation is based on the assumption that if an individual deviates from the norms of the crew here she may experience isolation from that group and may even be ostracized. It is as a result of this understanding that leads to the belief that individuals who may be in fear of isolating themselves will act in a manner where they will not express their opinion (West & Turner, 2007).

Apart from relying on the spiral of silence itself, another theory that will berelied upon is the theoretical idea of individualism and collectivism as it pertains to culture. The idea that there is an individualistic and collectivist dimension of culture was found in the IBM studies conducted by Hofstede (2003), researcher within the field of business and management studies. Since this time, the individualistic and collectivist dimension of culture has been reported on by a number of writers and included within their theoretical constructs.

Although culture itself is a highly subjective concept, it nevertheless has been investigated a number of occasions using the same framework of Hofstede (2003) and ever since the studies of Taylor in the 18th century culture has served as a phenomenon in which generates a great deal of academic and practical interest (Hammond, 1993). As Jones (2007) indicates, 'Hofstede's work on culture is the most widely cited in existence'. These two theories will serve as the basis upon which to determine the relevance and roll the spiral of silence theory may play today.

The method that will be used to execute this analysis is a close ended survey question. It is worthy to note, before going any further than detail with the research methodology, that how to explore the issue of spiral of silence theory has been debated greatly in terms of the methodology, and there is not a consistent approach or a single best method. However, by creating a close ended questionnaire that the participants fill out, it will be possible to guage how the dependent and independent variables interact with one another, thereby enabling the key research questions to be achieved. Also, since variables are being measured, it seems justifiable to employee a research methodology, specifically the quantitative research, that enables such measurement to take place.

The materials that will mainly be used our academic resources and scholarly material gain from libraries and databases. However, it will also be necessary to gain access to the students themselves. This will be executed through a convenience sampling whereby of the UK and Chinese citizens will be approached and asked if they want to participate in a survey for a summit of the dissertation requirement.

Since there are participants in the study this does bring about ethical issues. Addressing these must be considered. First, can sample the gain since the individual's approach will be informed about what the city is being executed for and why they are being asked to participate. The participants will be informed that they do not have to participate they do not want to and will also be so that the city can stop at any time. The information gathered from them will be kept confidential. No personal information apart from age and gender will be sought. In addition, the participants will be told how the data will be handled, which once they finish out the survey they will be given back to me and once the surveys have been completed for the day they will be secured in a lock box that nobody also have access to a part from myself.

Overall, this work is being executed to determine the relevance of these spiral of silence theories today. What is expected to come out of this research is to not just only determine the relevance but also to determine the role that culture may play. Since there are different dimensions of culture, this study will focus on two, being individualism and collectivism. It is also thought that the research will reveal implications for further work that might be useful in conducting in the future.

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