request to complete a religious survey

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All:

 

 

 

Appreciate if you can take the time to help my son

with this survey.

 

 

 

Thanks

 

 

 

Sridhar Padaki

 

 

 

==========================================================================

 

 

 

Hi, this is Amit, Shridar Padaki's son. I am a student

at Penn State University. I've sent out this email

because I feel all of you may be able to help me with

a project I am currently working on. The project is

for a religious anthropology class, and it deals with

the relationship between immigration and

religion-specifically, I would like to ask some

questions about how Indian immigrants adapt to their

new society, with a focus on religion.

 

 

 

If for any reason, any question makes you

uncomfortable, I apologize in advance. My purpose is

not to embarrass people, or show things in awkward

lights-I am simply asking a few simple questions in

the attempt to understand how people have taken on or

altered both Indian and American lifestyles. If you do

not like a question, feel free to disregard it-I'm

grateful you're doing this for me at all.

 

 

 

Please keep in mind, my questions are derived from my

own experience as a second generation immigrant. I

have not created any questions as 'test' questions,

and I have not created any questions for the express

purpose of annoying. These are all serious and

possibly relevant questions.

 

 

 

Also, if you feel the need to, leave this anonymous-

just pass it along back through my dad. I will take

surveys with both names and no names. My email, if you

want to reply directly to me, is asp153

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Question Set 1- General Background:

 

 

 

1) How long have you lived in the United States?

 

 

 

2) Did you ever attend an American School?

 

 

 

3) Have you ever worked in the US?

 

 

 

4) How long have you spent either in school or

working in the US?

 

 

 

5) Are you a Hindu?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Question Set 2- Religious Practice Survey

 

 

 

1) Do you worship at home (pooja, etc.)? How often?

 

 

 

2) Do you worship in an Indian language?

 

 

 

3) Have you ever worshiped in English?

 

 

 

4) How often do you attend temples?

 

 

 

5) How often do you attend Hindu religious functions

in other people's residences (Satsang)?

 

 

 

6) Have you ever attended another religion's function

(Mass, Synagogue, Mosque, etc)?

 

 

 

7) Do you think these answers would be different if

you lived in India?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Question Set 3- Culture

 

 

 

1) Do you feel you understand American culture?

 

 

 

2) Do you appreciate..

 

 

 

a. American movies?

 

 

 

b. American sports {football, baseball, etc}?

 

 

 

c. American music {rock, rap, etc}?

 

 

 

d. American TV?

 

 

 

e. American food?

 

 

 

f. American politics?

 

 

 

i. What is your party affiliation, if any?

 

 

 

3) Do you have 'American' friends? How many?

 

 

 

4) How comfortable are you to open conversation with

a stranger.

 

 

 

a. If he/she is Indian?

 

 

 

b. If he/she is American?

 

 

 

5) Do you understand Western (Christian/ Jewish/

Islamic) religion?

 

 

 

6) Do you tolerate Western religion?

 

 

 

7) Do followers of Western religion receive benefits

in the afterlife?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Question Set 4- Children- To be answered either by or

for your children

 

 

 

1) Do your children feel they understand American

culture?

 

 

 

2) Do you appreciate..

 

 

 

a. American movies?

 

 

 

b. American sports {football, baseball, etc}?

 

 

 

c. American music {rock, rap, etc}?

 

 

 

d. American TV?

 

 

 

e. American food?

 

 

 

f. American politics?

 

 

 

i. What is your party affiliation, if any?

 

 

 

3) Do your children have 'American' friends? How

many?

 

 

 

4) How comfortable are your children to open

conversation with a stranger.

 

 

 

a. If he/she is Indian?

 

 

 

b. If he/she is American?

 

 

 

5) Do they understand Western (Christian/ Jewish/

Islamic) religion?

 

 

 

6) Do they tolerate Western religion?

 

 

 

7) Do your children have many 'Indian' friends?

 

 

 

8) Do they speak your native language fluently?

 

 

 

9) If not, do they have any understanding of the

language?

 

 

 

10) Can they write the language?

 

 

 

11) Do they understand Hindu religion?

 

 

 

12) If your child is older, do you expect your child

to marry a Hindu?

 

 

 

13) If your child is older, does he/she plan to marry

a Hindu?

 

 

 

14) What special activities do you (parent) plan for

the kids to help spread the culture? {Bal Vihar}

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Open-Ended Question:

 

 

 

 

 

How is your experience of Hinduism in America

different from your experience in India?

 

 

Are there any specifics that are obviously different?

 

 

Is the philosophy different?

 

 

Is the practice different?

 

 

Is the culture different?

 

 

How has society altered your own image of yourself and

your children?

 

 

Please touch on these, or anything you feel is

relevant-

 

 

 

 

 

 

**If you think you would like to talk to me at length

on these issues, in a 10-20 minute phone interview,

please let me know in your email. I am also looking

for volunteers who can talk to me on topics of their

choosing. I would appreciate if all email responses

were sent by Saturday 3/26.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks in advance for choosing to answer this survey!

 

 

 

Amit

 

 

 

My eMail id: asp153

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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