Field Observation
The purpose of this exercise if for you to observe ONE social setting to begin to detect patterns in human behavior ? observance of norms and potentially behaviors that deviate from the norm.
For HW1: Without any prep work, you will need to go to ONE public place and observe the people for 1 hour in a particular social setting. Note people?s behavior, their demeanor, their reactions/interactions to/with each other.
Here are the steps:
1) Choose the social setting in which will be conducting non-participant observation. This should be a public place such as a park, mall, restaurant, church, coffee shop, etc.
2) For your inductive approach, you will simply choose a time and location where you are going to conduct your observations
3) Go to the specified location and proceed with your observations. You must be a keen social observer; a ?peeping Tom? in the sociological sense. Take handwritten (recommended) and/or mental notes of:
-details about your chosen location (time of day, lighting, furniture, plants, sounds, temperature, smell, vibe/energy, etc)
-the people around you, not only their behavior but general information about their sociodemographic characteristics (age, race/ethnicity, gender, SES, etc);
-your thoughts and feelings while making observations.
4) When you have returned from you observation, type up your notes. Review your notes for patterns in behavior, socio-demographic characteristics, etc.
5) Write-up your observations using ?thick description? of the location (i.e. building you were in (what is the architecture like), descriptions of people there (in terms of socio-demographic characteristics: age, race/ethnicity, gender, socio-economic status), sounds, smells, temperature, time of day and week, etc);
6) Discuss trends and patterns of behavior that you noticed in your observation. What is a possible sociological/theoretical explanation for the trends you observed? Analyze your observations using a minimum of 4 sociological and one theory.