“Is there a “Real” Californian

Amidst a sea of tanned old English font tattoos, beach cruisers, and surf bums, stand the highly recognizable tourists, seemingly unable to blend in with the locals of Pacific Beach in San Diego.  With a short visit to the West coast, a tourist to this area might return with tales regaling the homogeneous “surfer-dude” culture of California.  Deluded by a very specific sample and under-generalized, to say the least, this touting traveler has formed an oversimplification of a large and proportionately diverse state.  While an amateur may make these generalizations in haste, employing a scientific approach to find out who Californians really “are”, might allow for a more substantial and unbiased conclusion.

Section I:  Introduction

A small sample group of twenty individuals picked to represent the culture of California, have been asked a series of questions to help determine one specific characteristic of the group; their levels of creativity, in an effort to compose an accurate generalization.  This sample group, consisting of eleven women and nine men was given a series of questions in a survey format leading respondents to inadvertently provide answers which could give insight into how creative they really are.  The subjects were chosen for their varying ages from eighteen years old to over forty, and their differing residency history, from less than two years to over twelve years in the state of California.  Of course with such a diverse group, many of the answers to many of the questions encompass a wide range.  Asking a number of specific questions about characteristics of creativity, however, will hopefully provide more encompassing generalizations from which inferences can be made.

Section II: Data Presentationa

According to the field data, an overwhelming majority consisting of eighteen of the twenty individuals from the sample group admit to regularly employing different methods of inspiration from a variety of mediums such as movies, traveling, visiting museums, or interacting with diverse groups of people.  This specific question seeks to grasp the group’s ability to drown pride and accept potentially conflicting ideas.  While a unanimous agreement may be found, it is certainly not typical and there do tend to be rifts amongst the group on other questions.

The group was also asked about their sensitivity to an environment that is aesthetically pleasing.  Eleven members, consisting of more than half of the group, agree that they possess a high degree of aesthetic sensitivity, while the other nine members either disagree or are not sure.

In an attempt to gauge the subjects’ desires for creative outlets, they were asked if they felt that they would become overly enthusiastic on occasion.  Again, half of the group did admit to doing so thus acknowledging a strong internal desire for outward expression, which is often regardless of what would otherwise be deemed inappropriate.

Section III: Interpretation and Analysis

Reflecting on the data that was collected regarding a desire for outside inspiration, it seems that an open-mind would be a major characteristic of a creative person.  This data seeks to represent that a large majority of people will actively seek outside inspiration as opposed to working off of pre-existing thoughts and ideas.  This sort of open-mindedness is a key aspect to a creative personality.  That being said, we can deduce that ninety percent of this sample group can be described as embodying attributes of an unprejudiced society.  This is very promising data.

The data collected regarding sensitivity for aesthetics shows that only half of the population would regard themselves as affected with the issue.   This shows that because there are distinct differences in concern for environmental appearances, that a demand for a compromise between the two groups must be met.  It would follow that, again, a majority of Californians would have to have an open-mind in order to cooperate and respect each other’s varying opinions.

Concerning the subjects’ propensity to disregard acceptable behavior and allow for a lavish misuse of enthusiasm, the data again shows a split amongst the group.  While half of the group does indeed admit to releasing their inhibitions and allow for their creative energy to flow freely, it can be discerned that a compromise must again be made in order for these polar personalities to get along.  We can generalize, that again, the sample group shows strong qualities in its abilities for acceptance and compromise

It seems that where Californians are generally subject to wide variations of thoughts, and personality types, there seems to be an appropriate amount of open-mindedness fortunately allowing for the peaceful coexistence and productive cooperation of the citizens of California.  An obvious outside example of this type of meshing of citizenry is California’s Republican governor embracing a mutually respective relationship with his majority of Democratic populace.  Through the carefully collected data we can generalize the state of California as consisting of a highly tolerant and open-minded citizen-base.

References

Tsou, Jean. (2008).  Raw Data: How Creative Are You?

U.S. Census Bureau.  State and County QucikFacts: California