Naturalistic Observation Assignment
For this assignment you are to perform and write up a brief naturalistic observation. Follow the guidelines below:
1) Develop a hypothesis which relates to a human behavior which you believe might be tested by observing people, undisturbed, in a natural setting. You may want to develop your hypothesis in conjunction with your choice of subject and setting. Thus, if you plan to observe waiters serving in a diner, try to make a generalized prediction about the behavior you expect to see and what you believe it reveals about the behavior of waiters (e.g. waiters will pay more attention to opposite-sex patrons than same-sex patrons). Then,
2) choose a person and a setting for the observation. You are to spend approximately five to ten minutes watching and making a detailed record of a naive subject, gathering data which will "begin" to test your hypothesis. Plan your observational "method" to be sure you are not "discovered" (so that the "naturalistic" quality of the observation is not lost). Take notes on everything you can observe about the subject (environment and surroundings, physical appearance and dress, and all behaviors, especially those relevant to your hypothesis). After you have finished,
3) write a short report of your observation (about 3 neatly handwritten pages or word-processed equivalent). Try to be as objective as possible, but feel free to make well-reasoned inferences about what you have seen. If you feel that your personal opinions or other subjective comments are helpful in understanding the observation, you may include them. But be sure to explain which of your comments are objective and which are subjective.
Your report should be written in prose and include the following:
i) a title,
ii) an introduction which tells what the observation is about. You could explain how you came up with your hypothesis, why you chose the particular setting and subject to test it, and what you believe the significance of the hypothesis is,
iii) a description of the procedures you used,
iv) a detailed account of the subject and of the behaviors you observed,
v) a discussion of any conclusions you can draw from the observation about your hypothesis, your subject and/or the behaviors you observed, and
vi) an evaluation (or critique) of your observation, mentioning any problem areas where you feel you could have improved your results. You could for example explain any flaws in your "method" which led to inaccurate data.
Attach your notes (step 2 above) to the back of your report (step 3) and turn your completed observation in! See me if you have any questions or need help developing an idea or presenting your findings.
|
|
