Conducting the Study - Research Findings

Conducting Your Own Study

Sample of findings in Table Format

From Milburn, T. (2000). Enacting "Puerto Rican time" in the United States. In M. J. Collier (Ed.). Constituting Cultural Difference through Discourse, The International and Intercultural Communication Annual (Volume 23). Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.

Two types of time	"American"	"Puerto Rican"
Character	Static/definitive	Fluid/flexible
Features of Events	Boundary Marker which signifies beginnings and endings. "on time"	Socializer. "people time" "social hour"
Rules	Time Markers regulate events. Participants act with this awareness and schedule events to occur within specific timeframes.	Both "Puerto Rican" and "American time" exist. Participants are aware of the differences and (when instructed or when context calls for it – business on "American time," socializing on "Puerto Rican time") move from one into the other.
Normative force	Medium normative force. Can be broken. "Should" be "on time."	Low normative force because the boundaries can never be broken - always in flux. Should know when to orient to each sense of time.
Goals	Ensures that activities do not fall outside their discrete boundaries so that other activities can take place.	To be with others.
Constructs Identities	Creates people (identities) that act in segmented slots. Each action is compartmentalized. "Few minutes" to speak. "Short, sweet and to the point."	Time is like a sea into and out of which people and actions flow. The mere happening of it is important. Creates people who value relationships irrespective of "time" constraints.
Socialization	Measured by a clock.	Not measured, just is.