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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences
The Challenges And Limitations Of Conducting Research Among The Old Order Amish, Jerry Savells, Thomas Foster
The Challenges And Limitations Of Conducting Research Among The Old Order Amish, Jerry Savells, Thomas Foster
Explorations in Ethnic Studies
The Old Order or "horse and buggy" Amish have been a part of American society for more than two centuries. Today, some 95,000 Amish persons reside in over twenty states, a Canadian province, and two countries in Latin America. Although variations exist in the social values and behavioral practices within different Amish communities (or church districts), they have basically resisted the acculturation process that would reinforce and promote a standard of living and lifestyle embraced by most of the non-Amish in the U.S.
Critique [Of The Challenges And Limitations Of Conducting Research Among The Old Order Amish By Jerry Savells And Thomas Foster], David Gradwohl
Critique [Of The Challenges And Limitations Of Conducting Research Among The Old Order Amish By Jerry Savells And Thomas Foster], David Gradwohl
Explorations in Ethnic Studies
The fact that the Old Order Amish have resisted acculturation processes in the United States is not startling news. The generally successful persistence of many aspects of traditional Amish culture as islands within the mainstream of American society has been well-articulated in general studies by John Hostetler and others. It is also documented in more specific community studies, for example the work of Elmer and Dorothy Schwieder at Kalona, Iowa, published in 1975 -- a source not cited in the above article, although that community was also among the individual Old Order Amish groups studied by Savells and Foster. Similarly, …
Critique [Of The Challenges And Limitations Of Conducting Research Among The Old Order Amish By Jerry Savells And Thomas Foster], Louise Mayo
Explorations in Ethnic Studies
This article, by Jerry Savells and Thomas Foster may well be useful for researchers attempting studies of groups living voluntarily outside of the "mainstream" of American society. To a non-specialist like this historian, however, the article is ultimately frustrating.
Critique [Of The Challenges And Limitations Of Conducting Research Among The Old Order Amish By Jerry Savells And Thomas Foster], Margaret Laughlin
Critique [Of The Challenges And Limitations Of Conducting Research Among The Old Order Amish By Jerry Savells And Thomas Foster], Margaret Laughlin
Explorations in Ethnic Studies
Savells and Foster in individual settings and circumstances have conducted research among members of the Old Order Amish using interviews and questionnaire surveys. While they report their efforts in one paper, this reviewer suspects each author had very different purposes in mind as he conducted his individual ethnographic research project. Savells's and Foster's research may have generated new information, but this information needs to be linked with earlier research findings which in turn can be used to create new knowledge. The theoretical framework from which each worked is not clear, although both authors do attempt to place their findings within …