White Privilege Essay Example for Free

washrag Privilege EssayIntroduction Research Question Do individuals in the midwestern United States experience the affects of discolor favor? During this investigation I seek to explore the differences in privilege that males and females, of different incline and ethnic backgrounds, experiences in their daily lives. My fellow Sociology of Race and morals classmates and I will conduct Peggy McIntoshs White Privilege survey, in hopes to find any differences in privilege felt by individuals of varying season, gender, race or class membership.My hypothesis is According to Peggy McIntoshs White Privilege survey, she suggests that white people are let with what she describes as an invisible package of honorary assets, which I (Peggy McIntosh) can count on cashing in each day, but about which I was meant to remain oblivious. White privilege is like an invisible weightless knapsack of special provisions maps, passports, code books, visas, clothes, tools, and blank checks (McInt osh, 1988).I suggest that with the changing of times, and ever growing equality that this distinct idea of white privilege is no longer prevalent. I retrieve that, McIntoshs view of white privilege is no longer applicable in todays midwestern society and culture. I hypothesize that age will nominate more of an effect on responses to the survey than that of gender or race. I predict that junior people (below 20) are at a greater risk of tactual sensationing disadvantaged.For my second hypothesis, I suggest that over all(prenominal) people in the Midwest feel privileged versus not. I believe this because I feel that the social stratification in the US, especially in the Midwest, has declined creating a more equal milieu for all. selective information Collection I will receive my info though the use of Peggy McIntoshs White Privilege survey. First I will government issue the survey, while recording my answers, and then give the survey to ten early(a) individuals, recording th eir answers in the same format.My fellow classmates will do the same, then all of the information will be then collected and charted accordingly into cross-tabulation tables. Each survey participant will be asked to rate their responses on a 1-4 measure 1 = powerfully Agree, 2 = Agree, 3 = Disagree and 4= Strongly Disagree. The date responses can than be interpreted as answers of Strongly Agree, and Agree indicating a greater response of privilege which McIntosh believes suggests members in a majority group.The info will then be organized into cross-tabulation tables. Each table will select only two variables one independent variable (gender, age, race, member of the class or not) and one dependent variable (each statement from the survey). After collecting the data a few changes were made age was recoded into groups of ages, while to a fault recoding all responses of Disagree and Strongly Disagree into one value for each variable, both(prenominal) to make analysis easier. Rac e was also recoded into White and All other Races to expedite analysis.Also the ethnicity variable responses were found to be unreliable, so that variable was remove before running the data. When reading a cross-tabulation table it is important to remember that in order to interpret the data response, you must look for the differences in the percentages of responses not in the difference in the number of responses. Also, the needed information is, if the independent variable (gender, age, race or class membership) seems to make a difference in how a person responds to the dependent variable (the questions).After all the data has been gathered and charted, I will then compare the findings to my hypothesis. In order to exhibit whether my hypothesis is true or false I will evaluate the cross tables of age, gender, race and class completed from the collected data. Exploring the Data Younger ages (less than 20) have a larger affect than old age in spirit underprivileged. After analy zing the data, I believe my hypothesis that the ages 18-19 feel underprivileged as compared to the older ages, was correct. This is represented in the findings, that of theten questions surveyed, exactly one half the questions (five of ten) the age group 18-19 had the highest disagreement percentage compared to the other age groups. No other age group had close to the equivalent outcomes, the closest age group being groups 24-34 and 45-50 both with two. The findings show that in one half of all situations this age group is presented with, they feel as though they are underprivileged as compared to other age groups, but by examining just the 18-19 age group or age as a whole, the majority feel as though the Agree they are privileged.This finding is universal through all independent variables. opus comparing all independent variables, of the 10 survey scenarios no matter what the independent variable is 70% of the time the participants feel they Agree to being privileged. Exploring D ata westerners overall feel privileged versus underprivileged no matter the independent factor. After analyzing the cross-tabulations, I feel as though my hypothesis about the Midwestern society is spot on.The data shows that across any independent factor (age, gender, race and lass membership) a large majority of the participants surveyed feel as though they Agree to being privileged. This is an overwhelming statistic that is constant throughout all independent variables of the ten surveyed scenarios people agree 70% of the time to feeling privileged. In only, one scenario do people as a whole feel as though they are underprivileged. Overall Analysis and Personal Findings I found the collective results very interesting, especially in the age category.I thought it was interesting that older adults feel less privileged more than or equal to that of middle aged adults. I had assumed, that in our society much like that of the Native American societies that respect and privilege comes with age. I found the data surprising that the age group that tended to feel or so privileged was ages 20-21. In four of the ten scenarios, the 20-21 year olds surveyed felt the most privileged or Strongly Agreed to the situation as compared to all other age groups.I did not expect this, as the previous age group had felt the most underprivileged in half of the scenarios, and in only an addition 1-2 years, the surveyed participant went from feeling the most underprivileged to the most privileged. I had guessed that the feeling of privilege would piecemeal increase with age groups, leaving the oldest age group (50 and older) with the highest feeling of privilege. I thought this, not only because society often deems wisdom with age, but also because the older participants surveyed may have grown up in a more dominant white privilege society, and those same feelings and thought processes would still be relevant to the way they feel they fit in society.All in all, I found very intere sting facts from the data collected in every category. Things that I had thought would hold true, often did not. Such as, when considering the independent variable of gender, I assumed that women would primarily feel as though they were underprivileged as compared to men, but the data shows other wise. From this survey, men felt more underprivileged as compared to their female counterparts 100% of the time. Another fact that I found ball over was that when considering race as the independent variable.My hypothesis that white privilege was no long prevalent in the Midwest was incorrect. Participants of the Other race felt underprivileged in half of the scenarios, and the other half they only Agreed to feeling privileged. As compared to their White counterparts, feeling privileged 100% of the time. I do believe that in the Midwest, things are moving close to equality as this is seen in at least half or more of the situations both the White and Other race group feel as though they Agr ee to being privileged.No one group stands out as Strongly Agreeing to be privileged for the majority. This tells us, that although there are still instances of white privilege, the Midwestern society is moving away from that and more towards social equality. Works Cited McIntosh, Peggy. Daily effects of white privilege. White Privilege Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack. Wellesley College Center for Research on Women, 1988. Tues. 19 Feb 2013. .