A Nation of Emotion by Kleenex - Article Example

A Nation of Emotion by Kleenex The research report, Britain: A Nation of Emotion?, is commissioned by Kleenex ® and is prepared by Zoe Khor and Dr. Peter Marsh. As the name suggests, the research basically looks into the present emotional state of the Britons, especially the expression of their emotions. The research paper states clearly that it is an attempt to answer many questions that are raised regarding the emotional state of the Britons; whether they are openly expressive or not, whether they fee comfortable about being able to “emote” (as the research paper puts it) freely or when others do, if they think their generation is better at being emotionally expressive etc. Though the report does not categorically answer each and ever question that are raised by it, however, it lays to rest some of the confusions/misconceptions regarding the “emoting” of the Britons. This report is skilfully written and the arguments that are used are very well put, however, it is noted that the topic of this report is not that contentious to begin with. There are no differing views, as such, possible to this report. It is not a double-ended question that this report is attempting to answer, but it merely puts forward questions regarding the emotional status of the Britons and then answers those in the light of the results of the research carried out. The research report is targeted at all Britons, and intends to improve our familiarity and perception concerning our emotional state. The language used is pretty simple and easy to understand, and does not require any specialised knowledge in any field to comprehend. It is a good read for anyone who is curious about the matter. Therefore, it is safe to assume that the targeted audience of this research paper is not merely sociologists or other specialised professionals. The report is mainly concerned with its own findings and is focused on those only. There has been little use of past research, with the only other research paper that is mentioned being research conducted by SIRC in 2004, The Kleenex for Men Crying Game Report: A study of men and Crying. Other than this fairly recent report, there has been no use of any research papers and/or reports in this document. The findings of this research themselves are the main topic for discussion. The report is quite well written and the results are presented in a very systematic yet interesting way. Graph figures are used to display the findings of the research. As emotional behaviour is often considered to be different in both the sexes, therefore, these figures are often displayed with findings for both males and females separate. However, as the differences in emotional behaviour is not limited to differences in sex only, but also depends on your parentage, particular culture, age etc., therefore, separate findings have also been displayed for different age groups and different areas of Britain. These graphs are easy to understand and even display results of a single percentile where applicable. The aforementioned division of the subjects based on their gender, age and locality is quite helpful in understanding the dynamics of British emotions and “emoting”. The personal experiences of some of the subjects have been shared with the readers in this report. The anecdotes being well placed and effective in making the reader better understand the premise they are based on, as well as give an insight into what the Britons feel exactly about a certain issue, and how they deal with their emotional issues on an individual level as well. Furthermore, some theories that have been presented by experts in this field, i.e. the emotional status of the Britons, have been presented in the report as well; however, this is quite sporadically done with these theories being used only to get a case in point. These references that have been used are helpful in supporting their arguments, however, no theories have been presented, and then rebutted, that raise any questions against the foundation of the report. No theories and/or research has been quoted that disagrees with the report, though, as stated earlier, perhaps as the topic of the research is not contentious, hence, there are no such theories and/or research present. The findings of the research are logically put together and it is interesting to see that these findings, to a certain degree, affirm the stereotypes that Britons have held for a long time; it is observed that women are more emotionally capable of “letting it out” by crying/weeping than men are, and that both the genders like to “let it out” with their partner more than anyone else. However, some of the stereotypes have been shown to hold no ground; the research shows that it is mostly those belonging to a younger age-group (18-29 years) who are more like to be grumpy than those who are above 50, opposite to what the traditional “grumpy old men” theory suggests. An interesting thing about this report is that the examples etc. used to illustrate the research are common enough for any Briton to identify with. Most of the Britons grew up listening to Winnie the Pooh’s stories and watching Winnie and his friends on the television; the illustrations given by the authors of Eeyore (for emotionally introverted people) and Tigger (for those who wear their emotions on their sleeve) are very successful in making the readers realise just what exactly the authors are describing the Britons to be on an emotional plane. The report, though well organised and well put, does not rely on other research as much as a research report should. Only the findings of this research have been put forward as evidence, without any proof from outside sources, or evidence from other research. The little to no use of outside sources in this report gives the impression that the research is subjective in its approach, without being so in actuality. It would have rendered this report more valuable if outside sources were frequently used to give evidence in support of the findings. Another area where this report is lacking is that it leaves no room for further research and does not raise any questions for future research and/or discussion. The report merely lays down its own findings and even the conclusion does not call for further research. The topic was not dealt with exhaustively in this report, therefore, it would have been better if it proposed further areas of research in this regard. However, in conclusion, the report effectively captures the true emotional state of Britons and there “emoting” (or lack thereof) is also high lighted quite admirably in this regard. The report does indeed answer most of the questions that were asked in the beginning and by the end of it, although some of the questions are left unanswered and nothing is suggested to get them answered, the reader feels that the report is successful in relaying to him/her the emotional trends of the Britons today, something the report sought to do in the first place. Read More