: An exploration of social institutions, socialisation and society.
Introduction
Background
A social institution can be defined as a humanly devised structure of rules and norms that shape and constrain individual behaviour (North, 1991). Carrying out various functions, social institutions impact societal members’ lives in both visible and invisible ways. Meanwhile, socialisation is a significant process that is implemented by a social institution, which helps individuals master society’s norms, values, and beliefs and thus become real members of a particular society (Cormdal, 2006). This research aims to explore the impact of three typical social institutions, namely the family, the (mass) media and education, on individuals in different life stages and their utilities in terms of conducting socialisation.
Research Methods
The research triangulated distinct methods and data types to enhance the validity, reliability and representativeness of data. Both quantitative and qualitative data were obtained to vary the perspectives on the research subject, respectively, yielded by employing questionnaires and conducting interviews.
The questionnaires were distributed online via Wenjuanxing, and 35 valid completed forms were collected. The interviews were also conducted online via WeChat; 5 participants of distinct ages provided solid and valid responses. The negative impacts of the observer effect and interviewer effect were minimised due to the absence of the researcher when participants were filling out the forms and answering the questions, enhancing the validity of data to a further extent.
Question Design
Questionnaire
Sixteen questions, including 4 multiple choice questions, 4 judgement questions, 7 scaling questions and 1 free responding question, were compiled into the final questionnaire. Initially, 20 questions were designed. After evaluating the weights of different types of questions and the difficulties of answering them, 4 questions were abandoned, and some of them were modified for interview.
The final questionnaire ensured that both quantitative data (through MCQs, judgement questions and scaling questions) and qualitative data (through FRQs) could be obtained. Questions were designed to discover the impact of the family, the media and the education system on an individual’s different life stages. Therefore, the researcher focused on three dimensions of their impacts on MCQs: 1. Ways of interacting with different people; 2. Behaviour in different situations and social contexts; 3.Attitudes and values towards certain things. The participants were also allowed to type and submit their interpretations if they considered the given options vague.
Judgement questions were used to determine the utilities of functions of different institutions from the participant’s perspective. For instance, participants were asked to evaluate the statement ‘You believe that the media has indeed enriched your life and helped you a lot.’ by answering ‘Yes’ or ‘No’. In this way, the participants’ attitudes towards those agencies of socialisation could be observed clearly.
In terms of scaling questions, they were divided into two parts. One part examined the impacts of institutions on participants, which asked them to rate from 1-5 about an institution’s impact on them. Another part, from an opposite perspective, asked the respondents about to what extent they could influence the ways of how those agencies were operated.
The only free-responding question asked the participant to give opinions on this statement: ‘People can’t leave any system, and that by leaving the system, they are simply entering a different one. ‘This allowed participants to express their views on these social institutions and also helped the researcher to verify their previous responses with the help of the answers in this question.
Interview
Compared to the questionnaire, the interview’s question set was designed as simple as possible. 9 questions were asked:
1. If you could change one thing about your home, parents and family, what would it be?
2. If you could change one thing about your school, what would it be?
3. What do you think is the most efficient way for you to get information？
4. How do you feel about the idea that people can’t leave any system, and that by leaving the system they are simply entering a different one.
5. When you were a child, how was your relationship with your family?
6. What about now?
7. Did you like school and why?
8. What about now?
9. What role does the media play in your life?
Among them, question 1, 5 and 6 focused on the family, question 2, 7 and 8 concentrated on education, while question 3 and 9 aimed to discover the impacts of the media. Question 4 reappeared in the interview, and questions about different organisations were alternated to minimise the biases in respondents’ answers.
Notably, during the interviews, respondents review their perceptions of a particular social institution at different stages of their lives and are allowed to express the changes they would like to see made to it. Despite the length of their answers, the qualitative data made the study more accurate and reliable.
Results Analysis
The Family
The family can be defined as ‘a group of persons united by the ties of marriage, blood, or adoption, constituting a single household and interacting with each other in their respective social positions, usually those of spouses, parents, children, and siblings’ (Barnard, 2023). It is the most significant agency that conducts primary socialisation, where children absorb the most fundamental norms, values and beliefs of society.
Among 35 participants, over 50% (19 individuals) considered family as the most influential social institution in their life. This is an expected outcome, especially in a place like China, where family and clan ties are highly valued.
从小到大，影响您最深的是Things which have influenced you most since you were a child are: [单选题]
| 选项 | 小计 | 比例 |
| 您的父母和家人your parents and family | 19 | 54.29% |
| 您在学校的同学，老师，和朋友your classmates, teachers, and friends at school | 6 | 17.14% |
| 您阅读的报刊，了解的新闻，熟知的社交媒体the newspapers & magazines you read, the news you know, the social media you are familiar with | 10 | 28.57% |
| 本题有效填写人次 | 35 |
Participants’ answers to the following questions also verified the significance of the family in their life courses. The family not only shapes one’s behavioural patterns but also builds up their attitudes towards the world, which are mainly determined by primary socialisation. Interestingly, although 16 respondents grew up in a family that was not traditionally defined as “normal”, most of them did not consider other agencies of socialisation to be more important. This brings us to another aspect of socialisation: as it is itself a product of social construction, the process of socialisation varies across different sub-systems.
您从小生活在一个完整（拥有父母与其他家庭成员），功能正常（没有或很少出现家庭暴力，争吵的情况）的家庭中You grew up in an intact (with parents and other family members), well-functioning family (no or little domestic violence, arguments). [单选题]
| 选项 | 小计 | 比例 |
| 是yes | 19 | 54.29% |
| 否no | 16 | 45.71% |
| 本题有效填写人次 | 35 |
家庭对您的影响表现在The influence of family on you is shown in: [多选题]
| 选项 | 小计 | 比例 |
| 面对不同人时交往的方式ways of interacting with different people | 23 | 65.71% |
| 面对不同情境时表现的行为behaviour in different situations and social contexts | 28 | 80% |
| 对待事情的态度和价值观attitudes and values towards certain things | 30 | 85.71% |
| 其他other | 1 | 2.86% |
| 本题有效填写人次 | 35 |
The next question demonstrated the impact of the family as an institution on individuals of different ages. During the participants’ childhood, the importance of the family was 4.11/5, while in adulthood, the importance of the family diminished to 3.31/5. As stated earlier, during an individual’s childhood, they have been living in and dependent on their family, and the family has largely undertaken socialisation. As one grows older, the influence of the family is diminished by the inclusion of social institutions such as schools, peer groups, and the media.
在您的童年时期，家庭对您的影响有多大（例如，在做重要决定时是否需要考虑家庭或询问家人的意见等）How much influence your family had on you during your childhood (e.g. did you need to consider your family or ask for their opinion when making important decisions, etc.)? [量表题]
本题平均分 Average：4.11
| 选项 | 小计 | 比例 |
| 1 | 1 | 2.86% |
| 2 | 1 | 2.86% |
| 3 | 5 | 14.29% |
| 4 | 14 | 40% |
| 5 | 14 | 40% |
| 本题有效填写人次 | 35 |
在您的青年/成年时期，家庭对您的影响又有多大（例如，在做重要决定时是否需要考虑家庭或询问家人的意见等）How much influence did your family have on you in your youth/adulthood (e.g. did you need to consider your family or ask for their opinion when making important decisions, etc.)? [量表题]
本题平均分 Average：3.31
| 选项 | 小计 | 比例 |
| 1 | 1 | 2.86% |
| 2 | 3 | 8.57% |
| 3 | 17 | 48.57% |
| 4 | 12 | 34.29% |
| 5 | 2 | 5.71% |
| 本题有效填写人次 | 35 |
In the interviews, respondents were slightly more ambivalent about family. Some interviewees had a happy family in their childhood but became less close to their family as they grew older; some were the exact opposite. However, one interviewee mentioned the gender division of labour between his parents when communicating with their children:
‘I am close to my mother and willing to share the minutiae of my life with her; I have respect and fear for my father and generally only discuss serious and decent topics with him, such as how my grades are going and whether I care about my elders.’
Even though this situation had changed, according to the interviewee, but it can still be identified that as the basic unit of society, families constitute the social order and system together – for instance, patriarchy in this case.
The (Mass) Media
It can be argued that the mass media is the most important agency of socialisation in the modern epoch as it is interconnected with nearly all other institutions. It is defined as the ‘media technologies used to disseminate information to a wide audience’ (SendPulse, n.d.). Among the three institutions examined, the media was in the second place when talking about their significance. Notably, almost all respondents (85%) felt that the media shaped their values. This gives us a glimpse of the use of the media as an ideological state apparatus.
媒体对您的影响表现在The influence of media on you is shown in: [多选题]
| 选项 | 小计 | 比例 |
| 面对不同人时交往的方式ways of interacting with different people | 14 | 40% |
| 面对不同情境时表现的行为behaviour in different situations and social contexts | 14 | 40% |
| 对待事情的态度和价值观attitudes and values towards certain things | 30 | 85.71% |
| 其他other | 3 | 8.57% |
| 本题有效填写人次 | 35 |
Ideological state apparatus is a concept suggested by French philosopher Louis Althusser. Althusser considered the media as an important agency for transforming the ideology created by the ruling class – which is the bourgeoisie in the Marxist sense (Althusser, 1970). By converting the ideology of the ruling class into different forms of media, such as books, TV shows, films, advertisements and other products, the ruled individuals unconsciously and passively accept these ideas and provide the basis for the smooth functioning of the entire social system. Although participants did think they were able to choose the media content they would like to be exposed to (3.77/5), the range of choices is still limited and narrow due to the arguable censorship system in China.
多大程度上，您可以自由选择自己想要接触的媒体和信息The extent to which you are free to choose the media and information you want to be exposed to? [量表题]
本题平均分：3.77
| 选项 | 小计 | 比例 |
| 1 | 0 | 0% |
| 2 | 2 | 5.71% |
| 3 | 11 | 31.43% |
| 4 | 15 | 42.86% |
| 5 | 7 | 20% |
| 本题有效填写人次 | 35 |
Besides, nearly 95% of respondents thought media enriched their life and helped them a lot. In the process of being immersed in the media content, secondary socialisation emerges invisibly. More importantly, according to the statistics generated, the media seemed to permeate the lives of individuals. No matter how the life stage has changed, individuals believe that they have been impacted by the media throughout.
您认为媒体的确丰富了您的生活，帮助了您很多You believe that the media has indeed enriched your life and helped you a lot. [单选题]
| 选项 | 小计 | 比例 |
| 是yes | 33 | 94.29% |
| 否no | 2 | 5.71% |
| 本题有效填写人次 | 35 |
Most of the interviewees narrowed down the range of ‘media’ to ‘social media’, but some of them also examined the impacts of books, movies and other ‘media’ in a broad sense. In terms of social media, some of them related that ‘I think I would describe the media’s place in my life as a “bridge”. Firstly, the media is one of the main ways that I learn about the world, and I can quickly find out what is going on in the world through various media; secondly, the media provides a way to communicate across physical distances; and thirdly, the media also provides more diverse ways to solve problems (academic, psychological stress, entertainment, etc.).’； speaking of other mediums, an interviewee thought that ‘The media gives me an objective view of the world, and I often use it for learning purposes, such as reading a book, watching film reviews, enjoying music, and more specialised theoretical studies. Social media is more of a leisure time activity for me.’.
Education
Education, being viewed primarily as ‘a process that occurs during educational events such as schooling, teaching, and learning’ (Curtis et al., 2013), is the institution that impacted participants the least based on the results (only nearly 17% participants considered the school the most important agency).
从小到大，影响您最深的是Things which have influenced you most since you were a child are: [单选题]
| 选项 | 小计 | 比例 |
| 您的父母和家人your parents and family | 19 | 54.29% |
| 您在学校的同学，老师，和朋友your classmates, teachers, and friends at school | 6 | 17.14% |
| 您阅读的报刊，了解的新闻，熟知的社交媒体the newspapers & magazines you read, the news you know, the social media you are familiar with | 10 | 28.57% |
| 本题有效填写人次 | 35 |
Nonetheless, the school still impacts individuals in a wide range of aspects. Two participants who filled in the blank in the ‘other’ section had passive attitudes towards school. One stated that school could only impart ‘knowledge’ while the other used words involving ‘fear’ and ‘victim’ when describing it. And that may be the explanation for why nearly 63% of respondents to the question below said they did not enjoy school.
学校对您的影响表现在The influence of school on you is shown in: [多选题]
| 选项 | 小计 | 比例 |
| 面对不同人时交往的方式ways of interacting with different people | 20 | 57.14% |
| 面对不同情境时表现的行为behaviour in different situations and social contexts | 21 | 60% |
| 对待事情的态度和价值观attitudes and values towards certain things | 18 | 51.43% |
| 其他other | 2 | 5.71% |
| 本题有效填写人次 | 35 |
For those participants who enjoyed school, being involved in social activities in school and interacting with their peers were the factors that drove them. The participants who disliked school, on the other hand, thought that the curriculum and teachers were terrible, and some of them also mentioned more macro issues such as the systematic regulations and the management.
如果不是，为什么呢If not, why？ [多选题]
| 选项 | 小计 | 比例 |
| 在学校中您的朋友和同学待您很差your friends and classmates treated you badly at school | 9 | 25.71% |
| 学校的课程设计很无趣the school curriculum was boring | 18 | 51.43% |
| 您的老师糟糕透了your teachers were bad | 15 | 42.86% |
| 其他 | 5 | 14.29% |
| (空) | 7 | 20% |
| 本题有效填写人次 | 35 |
The negative perception towards the management system and the ways the school is operated is illustrated in the following question. Most participants reckoned that they could not have any or only had little influence on their school (1.71/5). The interviewees also expressed their dissatisfaction with the school system and management. Some of them hoped that ‘Schools would actually listen to students and make changes.’; some of them ‘hope that schools can give more personalised choices in the management of their students, offering more options for different individuals with different characteristics and abandoning rigidity’.
多大程度上，您的行为可以影响您学校的运行方式The extent to which your behaviour can affect the way your school is run? [量表题]
本题平均分 Average：1.71
| 选项 | 小计 | 比例 |
| 1 | 17 | 48.57% |
| 2 | 14 | 40% |
| 3 | 2 | 5.71% |
| 4 | 1 | 2.86% |
| 5 | 1 | 2.86% |
| 本题有效填写人次 | 35 |
Therefore, as an agency of secondary socialisation, the school may not have enough effects, as we inferred. However, it seems slightly paradoxical due to the fact that participants admitted the influence of school and education in distinct aspects. Perhaps this phenomenon can be convincingly explained from a structural-functionalist perspective. Although individuals are trapped in the system and try to express their resistance and dissatisfaction in a variety of ways, society continues to manipulate them in a top-down manner and instil a dominant culture.
Conclusion & Reflection
To sum up, in this three-day study, three important social institutions -the (mass) media, education, and the family – were carefully and meticulously examined. The researcher examined the role they play at different stages of an individual’s life and their efficiency in the function of socialisation.
However, due to the rush of time and lack of experience, there are still many issues waiting to be solved. For instance, in the design of the questionnaire, the presentation of the questions created ambiguity and prevented the intended results from being obtained. In defining “school”, the researcher focussed on the other individuals within it rather than on the way the school functions as a system itself. In addition, due to technological constraints, the graphs and charts in the study were relatively homogeneous, and some of the data collected needed to be used judiciously. We hope that these issues can be gradually improved in future studies.
Oumeng ‘Lochill’ Luo
October 3rd, 2023
Bibliography
Althusser, Louis (1970). “Idéologie et appareils idéologiques d’État (Notes pour une recherche)”. La Pensée (151)
Barnard, A. John (2023, September 11). family. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/topic/family-kinship
Cromdal, Jakob (2006). “Socialization”. In K. Brown (ed.). Encyclopedia of language and linguistics. North-Holland: Elsevier. pp. 462–66.
Curtis, Will; Ward, Stephen; Sharp, John; Hankin, Les (6 December 2013). “1. What is education?”. Education Studies: An Issue Based Approach. Learning Matters.
North, Douglass C. 1991. “Institutions.” Journal of Economic Perspectives, 5 (1): 97-112.
SendPulse. (n.d.). SendPulse. https://sendpulse.com/support/glossary/mass-media
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