Results and Conclusion

Fourteen people participated in m survey that I had posted on SurveyMonkey.com.  Out of those fourteen participants eight were female and five were male and one chose to omit from answering the question.  Ten of the participants were Caucasian, one was African American, one was East Asian and two people did not answer the question.  The majority of the participants were in the age range from 18-20 years old, two were in the age range from 21-23 years old and one decided to not answer.

            One of the questions I asked in my survey was: “what are your opinions of interracial relationships.”  I was surprised to find out that all of the answers were positive ones.  Most people said that you cannot help who you love as long as you are happy, and that should be the only thing that matters.  Other people said that they were okay with them and some people just stated that interracial relationships do not bother them. 

            The second question that I asked was a multiple choice question asking the participants if “they would ever be involved in an interracial relationship.”  Five people answered yes that they would be involved in an interracial relationship.  One person selected no they would not be involved in an interracial relationship and seven people selected that they were neutral, that they did not care either way.

            The third question asked why they chose the answer from the previous questions.  Many people said that they would not have a problem being involved in an interracial relationship as long as they felt strongly about the person.  Some other people said that they are not sure if they would ever be involved in an interracial relationship, but they are keeping their options open.  Someone wrote that “[they] have seen interracial relationships work, but [they] have never had a strong personal connection to anyone of a differing race since people of the same race tend to stick together, especially in diverse college settings.”  There were three people to skip this question.

            Question number four and five dealt with whether their friends and family would support them if they were involved in an interracial relationship.  Seven people said that their family would support them.  They said that their family just wants to see them happy and that is all that matters.  One person said their family would not support them, “no if ands or buts about it.”  However five people said that they were not sure what their parents would do.  One person said that their family might support them, but they were not sure because they grew up in a small predominately white community.  One person decided not to answer the question.  As far as friends supporting them if they were in an interracial relationship ten people said that yes, their friends would support them and back them up.  Two people said that they were not sure how their friends would react.  One person went on to say that they feel their friends at college would be more supportive of their decision, than their friends at home.  Two people did not answer the question.

            The sixth question that I asked was a yes/no question.  I asked the participants if they know someone who has ever been involved in an interracial relationship.  Thirteen of the people that answered the question answered yes, that they did or do know someone who has been in an interracial relationship.  The final question I asked the participants was if they felt the “stigma” towards interracial couples has changed in the past ten years.  Ten people answered yes, that they do believe the “stigma” towards interracial couples has changed.  One person answered no, that they do not think it has changed.  Two people selected the answer no comment, and one person skipped the question.

            After looking through the survey and reading all the participants answer’s I have to say I am surprised by the positive outcome from it.  I was expecting to have more negative comments towards interracial dating than what I got.  Two of the questions that had me the most shocked with their outcome was the one about how the participant’s families would feel and the one where I asked if anyone knows someone who is involved or has been involved in an interracial relationship.  I was quite surprised that mostly everyone’s parents would be open and supportive to their child being involved in an interracial relationship.  I was also surprised that out of the thirteen people that had answered the final question on whether they have ever known someone who has been in an interracial relationship all answered yes.  I was expecting to get a few yes’ but not all.  It has just come to show that interracial couples are becoming more and more a part of the “norm”.

            Some limitations that I think affected the outcome of my research was I did not get as many participants to take my survey as I would have liked.  I ideally would have liked to have more participant’s involved so I could get more opinions about the topic.  Another limitation that I feel affected my research was the time limit.  If I had more time to conduct my survey than I could have gotten more people to participate other than the people in my English class.

            After doing this project I have learned so much about interracial relationships and peoples’ perceptions about them.  I feel that I am now more comfortable when telling people that I am in an interracial relationship because even though they might judge me I know that it is what makes me happy that matter, not what other people think.  I believe that in the years to come interracial relationship will become even more accepted than they ever have been before.  I really believe that the younger generations is the reason why this change is coming about.  They are more accepting of things that are different from the “norm”.  They are more open to new things.

Reference Page

Bischoff, R.J. (2005). Inter-culture and inter-racial relationships: the implications of the research on practice. Journal of Couple and Relationship Therapy, 4(4), Retrieved from http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=12&hid=3&sid=29cfa715-5839-4c31-9521-86bcb275e03d%40sessionmgr4&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=a9h&AN=20218590 doi: 10.1300/J398v04n0405

Buffington, C., Hemphill, G., Knox, D., & Zusman, M.E. (2000). Interracial dating attitudes among college students. College Student Journal, 34(1), Retrieved from http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=5&hid=3&sid=29cfa715-5839-4c31-9521-86bcb275e03d%40sessionmgr4&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=a9h&AN=3024748

Bratter, J.L., & King, R.L. (2008). “but will it last”: marital instability among interracial and same-race couples. Family Relations, 57(2), Retrieved from http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=11&hid=3&sid=29cfa715-5839-4c31-9521-86bcb275e03d%40sessionmgr4&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=a9h&AN=31481625 doi: 10.1111/j.1741-3729.2008.00491.x

Firebaugh, S., & Firmin, M.W. (2008). Historical analysis of college campus interracial dating. College Student Journal, 42(3), Retrieved from http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=1&hid=3&sid=7dedcf12-0492-4137-a23b-03aa60101768%40sessionmgr4&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=a9h&AN=34262666

Foeman, A., & Nance, T. (2002). Building new cultures, reframing old images: success stratgies of interracial couples. Howard Journal of Communications, 13(3), Retrieved from http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=10&hid=3&sid=29cfa715-5839-4c31-9521-86bcb275e03d%40sessionmgr4&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=a9h&AN=7494361#db=a9h&AN=7494361 doi: 10.1080/10646170290109716