research paper

Afet Najafli
Instructor: Alla Savelyeva
Writing and Information Literacy II
Section G
Outline
26.04.2014
Introduction
Over the last decade there is a stereotype in Azerbaijan that men spend their leisure time outside home, playing domino in chaihonas or playing football whereas women spend their free time staying at home and watching soap operas. But time passes and everything changes. Even though there are researches related to spending leisure time in western countries, USA, and some other countries, however no such kind of research have been conducted in Azerbaijan. So, the main purpose of this research is to discover what the way of spending leisure time of 18-20 years old boys and girls in Azerbaijan is, and what the differences are. One of the researchers who studied the topic of gender differences in spending leisure time are Marina Videnović, Jelena Pešić and Dijana Plut. In their research called «Young People’s Leisure Time: Gender Differences» authors claim that males have more free time than females because males do not do housework and do not look after their children. As most of the people do not have children at the age of 18-20, this study tried to identify other reasons of the differences in Azerbaijan. The gap of the research is that no research in this topic have been done before in Azerbaijan, moreover the studies of foreign authors are related to people with different cultures and religions, so we cannot apply them to Azerbaijanis. For instance, in western countries or USA girls do not have as much restrictions as most of the azerbaijani girls have. For example, most of the Azerbaijani 18-20 years old girls are not allowed to go to clubs or pubs at night with their friends, whereas most of the girls of western countries go to clubs and pubs. This paper examined what is the role of gender in spending leisure time among young people of age 18 to 20. Specifically, it focused on differences between genders: how they spend it, where they spend it, and whether they are satisfied with their leisure time or not. The main purpose in conducting this study was to determine how gender affects leisure time spending among students and whether traditional leisure time spending still perseveres among them. This study attempted to answer this question:
What are the differences between males and females of age 18 to 20 in spending leisure time in urban Azerbaijan? Moreover, research tried to answer such questions as: Which gender has more leisure time and whether they are satisfied with their leisure time or not? Analysis consisted of data collected through interviews. According to my own experience men are tend to have more leisure time than women, and are more satisfied with their leisure time. The paper was expected to have the same results. Another expectation was that men spend more of their leisure time outside home, whereas women spend most of their leisure time at home. The last expectation is that women in Azerbaijan have more restrictions in spending leisure time than men. Method As method was used qualitative technique trough interviewing. The interviews consisted of 10 open-ended questions related to leisure time. (Appendix 1). Both genders had the same questions in order to compare differences. The main purpose of interviews was to collect data and to find out the differences in the way of spending leisure time, quantity of leisure time each gender has, and the rate of satisfaction with it. Ten young students were interviewed; all of them were the students of the ADA University, bachelor degrees. Five of the students were males, and five were females. As there was limited time and there are few foreign students at ADA, all of the responders were Azerbaijanis. Interviews were conducted on the second floor of the Student Center of the ADA University. Representatives were satisfied with conditions, and they seemed frank, because questions were appropriate, only related to spending of leisure time, and easy to answer. First limitation of the research is limited time. Only 2 to 3 weeks were given to conduct it. The second limitation is that only ten students of the ADA University were interviewed, so the research cannot be applied to all young generation of Azerbaijan.

Results Free time One of the main questions of the research was that how much free time do both genders have? The answers could be such as one to three hours, three to five, more than five and etc.
After collecting the data, the research found out that males have more free time than females. The main reason for that was that boys spend less time doing homework and almost no time for housework, whereas girls study harder and also do housework. So, the hypothesis regarding the free time was approved.

How much of leisure time do you have during the weekdays per day? (table 1)

Table 1 Satisfaction rate One of the important factors in differences between males and females in leisure time is the rate of satisfaction. So, in order to know it, responders were asked the question whether they are satisfied with their leisure time or not. According to the answers 4 out of 5 girls were unsatisfied with their leisure time. The main reason for that were restrictions. Meanwhile, all 5 male responders were satisfied. (Table 2, Table 3)

Are you satisfied with your leisure time?
Table 2 (Girls)

Table 3 (Boys)

Thus, the hypothesis that males are more likely to be satisfied with their leisure time than girls was approved. The way of spending leisure time

There is a stereotype in Azerbaijan that women have to spend most of their leisure time at home, whereas men spend most of their leisure time outdoor, playing football or playing domino and other games with their friends in chaihonas. Therefore, in order to find answers, participants of interviews were asked where they spend their leisure time (table 4). According to results of interviews, there is not a big difference between males and females in spending their leisure time. Where do you usually spend your leisure time?
Table 4

Thus, as it is drawn in the table ,4 out of 5 males and 3 out of 5 females spend their leisure time outdoors. According to the results, hypothesis regarding the way of spending leisure time was only partly approved because the difference is little. Discussion The issue of which gender has more time leisure is controversial, and has been discussed in many papers before. In this paper, the results showed that males have more free time than females. The main reason for that is the fact that boys are less responsible than girls, so they spend less time studying, which in turn brings them more time for leisure. Another reason is that boys almost do not do any housework, except taking out the rash; whereas girls do housework, at least, by helping their mothers. This issue has also been examined in the research of Mattingly, M. J., & Bianchi, S. M: « Gender Differences in the Quantity and Quality of Free Time: The U.S. Experience». These authors also came to conclusion that women have less time than men because of household duties and also child care. The same tendency can be applied to Azerbaijanis; girls could have more time if they would not been participated in household duties. Satisfaction rate is also one of the important factors in this research paper. The difference in the satisfaction rate of girls and boy of Azerbaijan is pretty visible. The main reason that all boys and only 1 girl out of 5 were satisfied with their leisure time is traditions and mentality; girls are not allowed to go outside alone for a long time, or to go outside at night, for instance, to club. Also, according to interviews all girls mentioned that they are not allowed to go to the regions of Azerbaijan or foreign country alone, whereas none of the interviewed boys mentioned such problem. Conclusion The research paper found out that there exist gender differences among young generation of Azerbaijan. Males are likely to have more free time than females. Another conclusion is that males are much more satisfied with their leisure time than females. And the last but not least is that males spend more of their time outside, whereas females indoors, however the difference is not huge. Therefore, in order to get rid of such inequalities in Azerbaijan could be organized some programs. Although the questions and answers of interviews provided very useful data, this research cannot be generalized because only limited quantity of students of one university were interviewed. Moreover, several aspects such as foreigners in Azerbaijan and the way of their spending leisure time were not considered. This paper can be used as a basis to further broader research.

Appendix 1
1. How much free time do you have during workdays?
2. How much free time do you have during weekend?
3. How do you spend your weekend?
4. How much time do you spend for homework?
5. Do you do any household duties?
6. What kind of housework do you do?
7. Where do you mostly spend your leisure time?
8. What type of activities do you do during your leisure time?
9. Are you allowed to leave the city with your friends?
10. Are you satisfied with your leisure time?

References:
Mattingly, M. J. & Bianchi S. M., (2003). Gender Differences in the Quantity and Quality of Free Time: The U.S. Experience. Social Forces. 81 (), pp.999-1030. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/3598184 .

Videnović, M., Pešić, J., & Plut, D, (2010). Young People’s Leisure Time: Gender Differences. Journal Psihologija. 43 (2). DOI:10.2298/PSI1002199V

References: Mattingly, M. J. & Bianchi S. M., (2003). Gender Differences in the Quantity and Quality of Free Time: The U.S. Experience. Social Forces. 81 (), pp.999-1030. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/3598184 . Videnović, M., Pešić, J., & Plut, D, (2010). Young People’s Leisure Time: Gender Differences. Journal Psihologija. 43 (2). DOI:10.2298/PSI1002199V