Norway

Report of focus group research for the Wise project

For us it was easier to do this research as a questionnaire, mostly because we ran out of days to finish before the deadline agreed upon in the project.

The research was done in the period may 4. – may. 15. 2009 in two of the VoPro adult education centres. Our main informants were 83 immigrants from 24 countries and 11 teachers/staff people from the centres.

We had one form to fill in for each of the two informant groups. (see appendix )

 

1. Result of the questionnaire for immigrants:

What we know about the people who answered:
83 immigrants from all over the world, but unfortunately none from the Baltic countries!
Countries represented:
Thailand 14, Burma 12, Poland 9, Pakistan 8, Iraq 5, Sri Lanka 4, Tsjetjenia 4, Somalia 3, Philipinnes 3, Iran 2, India 2, Brasil 2, USA 1, Russia 1, China 1, Congo 1, Afghanistan 1, Cuba 1, Turkey 1, Kosovo 1, The Netherlands 1, Rwanda 1, Ghana 1 and Indonesia 1.
Gender:
64 women and 19 men
Age:
Oldest 55 years and youngest 17. Average age all: 32 years.
Residence time in Norway:
Longest time in Norway was 22 years, the shortest 5 month.
Average: 2,9  years

 

These were the answers to my questions:

Question 1. How soon did you understand the local culture (Set a mark/ X)

Answer:

5 - Soon 

36 - After a few months   

28 - After 1 year    

29 -T here is much I still don`t understand

My comments:

 It takes some time to understand local culture, but a majority feels they understand it after some months – 1 year. Many answering “There is much a still don`t understand”  also said that they understood the culture after a few months/1 year.

 

Question 2. What have you showed/displayed of your own culture in your new society?
Answer:
43 - Clothes 

59 - Food 

23 - Religion 

26 - Song/music 

8- Art

My comments:

Majority for food and clothes, very few for art. Obvious?

 

Question 3. Do you think Norwegians are interested in your culture?
Answer:
60 - Yes 

34 - No

My comments:

41% thinks that Norwegians are not interested in their culture. But still a nice majority who means we are interested.

 

Question 4. If they are interested, which sides of your culture?
Answer:
24 - Clothes 

58 - Food 

26 - Religion 

32 - Song/music 

20 - Art

My comments:

Maybe we should have had more alternatives? Food is the number one choice....

 

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