John Hustedt and Dr. Ralph Brown, Sociology
Over the past twenty years, motorcycles have proliferated across Southeast Asia (Hsu, 2003). Consequently, I wanted to examine some of the social consequences of this heavy adoption of motorcycles specifically in Vietnam. I examined the reasons people have begun to purchase motorcycles at an increasing rate, and some of the ways in which motorcycles affect their daily lives. Additionally, I examined the various elements of Vietnamese families’ transportation strategies; for example, at what point do they purchase an additional motorcycle or switch to a car or opt for more public transportation? I also looked at what effect those choices have on the suburbanization and development of the country.
While traveling in Vietnam I collected data from the national library originating from the National Institute of Statistics in Vietnam, illustrating there has been a dramatic increase in motorcycle sales and ownership for the past twenty years; this increase is larger than the increase in population over the same period of time. In addition to confirming the increasing trend, the data shows that the number of motorcycles in the country has more than quadrupled in the past 10 years specifically. Consequently, the number of motorcycles is growing independent of increases in the population; thus we can conclude one of two things: the proportion of the population who has access to a motorcycle continues to grow, or, those who already or traditionally had access to them continue to disproportionately add more motorcycles to their possession.
Because of the paucity of secondary data, I personally conducted interviews with families while in Vietnam to find out what factors influence them in purchasing different types of transportation. I am still working on statistical analysis and am now writing the final report which will be published as my honors thesis. Preliminary results from the interviews I conducted in summer of 2005 show that families choose to buy more motorcycles versus a car due to the fact that cars are heavily taxed. Therefore, it is a very small portion of the population that can afford to purchase a car. It appears that, similar to the rise of suburbia in the United States, motorcycles have allowed families to take up residence further outside of the city where they can find cheaper housing, while still being able to gain employment in the city. Thus motorcycles much more than cars appear to be contributing to a wave of suburbanization and the social changes associated with it in Southeast Asian cities.
I encountered several obstacles when doing my research. The biggest problem I found was getting access to government materials. It took a great amount of time to get the government officials to give me the data I needed, and when I received them they were given only in the native language. The government was very concerned with what material was given out, and how that specific material would be used. Luckily, I spoke the language and was able to translate the sections relevant to the research. I also found that some of the questions I asked were difficult to grasp or could not be answered due to social or cultural differences. For example, most people didn’t have access to credit when purchasing a vehicle, and therefore my questions regarding monthly payments and interest rates were largely dismissed by the participants when I interviewed them.
Much of what has been written about the social changes due to motorcycles in Southeast Asia has focused on issues such as road accessibility and the increasing incidence of traffic violations and accidents. Thus, there is a need for a much more comprehensive analysis of the impact of motorcycles in Southeast Asia and Vietnam than currently exists. The time I was able to spend in Vietnam was limited, and therefore I was unable to complete a long-term project that could contribute significantly to the exploration of this problem. Through my contacts that I met by way of my mentored learning I was able to receive an invitation to return this summer after graduation to continue looking at this problem in greater depth as a research assistant at the state sponsored Institute of Sociology in Hanoi. My research there will clearly not be an all-inclusive study, but it can make the clarion call for such a study and contribute another piece to a larger mosaic. The majority of my further research will be focused on face-to-face interviews as they are comparatively more effective in Southeast Asia than surveys. I will take a sample of households in different districts throughout Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, and their suburbs. The sample will take into consideration distance from main city-center or other commercial/administrative areas in the city and also social economic status. When finished conducting the interviews I will analyze the data looking for any correlations between the variables identified and government policies.
The Institute of Sociology publishes a journal, and I will submit my findings to be published in this as well other journals in both Vietnam and America. The hope is that this research will help provide a better understanding of the role motorcycles play in shaping the society and economy of Vietnam specifically and Southeast Asia generally, as well as the effect new motorcycle policies will have on family’s preferences. This study will help me gain practical experience which allows the ability to integrate my undergraduate study of sociology with future graduate study in public policy and law not only by providing an opportunity to test my skills learned in the classroom, but also by helping me identify how certain policies can affect individual and societal preferences which can be brought into my future studies of policy. My mentored learning experience provided the emotional and financial support I needed to succeed, and I will be forever grateful for the opportunity I had to be part of this program.