PURPOSE: The purpose of this two-step exercise is for you to conduct inductive

SOCIOLOGY
331

RESEARCH METHODS

HW2:
FIELD OBSERVATION ASSIGNMENT (25 points):

Due
no later than 11:55p ET on Sunday of Week 5 – submit using link in Sakai AND
using www.turnitin.com

PURPOSE: The purpose of this two-step exercise is for you to conduct
inductive and deductive research using qualitative methods.

Note: it is important that you conduct the observations as
two distinct events during this class; ‘recalling’ past observations is not the
same as purposefully observing your surroundings from a sociological
perspective, and applying two different types of reasoning to one observation
will not be ‘truthful’ or successful.

The purpose of this exercise if for you to observe ONE social
setting or social artifact to begin to detect patterns in human behavior
– observance of norms and potentially behaviors that deviate from the
norm. This week’s exercise includes two
parts. First, without any prep work, you will need to go to ONE
public
place (or conduct content analysis with your social artifact) and observe the
people/artifact for 25 minutes. Social Setting: Note people’s behavior, their
demeanor, their reactions/interactions to/with each other. Social artifact: from second to second (for
TV), or page to page (for print), Note themes, sounds (i.. music), texture of
page (i.e. ads in magazine), etc.

Second,
you will develop a research design with research problem, hypothesis and
operational definitions for variables; then you will conduct another 25 minutes of observations.

PART 1

1)
Choose
whether or not you will be conducting non-participant observation in a social
setting, or content analysis of a social artifact

a.
Social
setting: this should be a public place such as a park, mall, restaurant, etc.

b.
Social
artifact: this may be ads in a particular magazine; one television show, a
time-block of commercials, etc.

2)
For your
inductive approach, you will simply choose a time and location/artifact for
where you are going to conduct your observations

3)

a.
Social Setting: Go to the specified location and
proceed with your observations.

i.
You must be a keen social observer; a ‘peeping Tom’ in
the sociological sense. Take handwritten
(recommended) and/or mental notes of:

1. details
about your chosen location (time of day, lighting, furniture, plants, sounds,
temperature, smell, vibe/energy, etc)

2. the
people around you, not only their behavior but general information about their
sociodemographic characteristics (age, race/ethnicity, gender, SES, etc);

3. your
thoughts and feelings while making observations

1. Social Artifact: At a specified
   time (i.e. when a particular show is), carefully observe your social
   artifact

i.
Content analysis provides a sustained, systematic way to
observe and measure the portrayal of that reality, as opposed to the quick,
impressionistic way that we normally read consume media. Take handwritten notes of:

1. Details
about the setting in the images you see (lighting, furniture, background,
vibe/energy portrayed); if audio-visual (note sounds such as pitch of voice,
music, etc)

2. Note
details about the people portrayed, not only their behavior but general
information about their sociodemographic characteristics (age, race/ethnicity,
gender, SES, sexuality);

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) Analyze
trends you identified in your observations/content analysis. What is a possible sociological/theoretical
explanation for the trends you observed?
This is best done by using sources to provide credibility to your
analyses.

PART 2

7)
Based on your
initial observations and written analyses, develop a specific research
problem/question to be further investigated (i.e. the variation in behavior of
males versus females when entering a store with a glass store front)

8)
Identify the key variables you are going to be
investigating, and develop an operational definition for each of them. (this should include at least two variables,
but not more than four). Your operational definitions will help to provide
parameters for how record variations in your observations.

9)
Write a hypothesis for what you expect to observe in
your second round of observations.

10) Repeat
observations/content analysis

a.
Social Setting – this should be done at the SAME social
setting at approximately the same time of day (if you can do this one week
later on the same day, it would be great!)

b.
Social Artifact – this should be done at the same time
(if commercial block), or with the same show, or with a different issue of the
same magazine , etc.

11) When you
have returned from you observation, type up your notes. Review your notes for patterns in behavior,
socio-demographic characteristics, etc. AND how they corresponded with your
expectations/hypothesis

12) Describe
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);

13) Analyze your observations in terms of
how they supported/did not support your hypothesis.

14) What
is a possible sociological/theoretical explanation for the trends you
observed? This is best done by using
sources to provide credibility to your analyses.

15) Discuss the differences between your
inductive observations and your deductive observations. How did the way you were observing
change? How did what you observed
change?

16) Briefly describe your thoughts/feelings
in the two steps. Did you prefer one
approach to the other? Why/why not?

Grading Rubric

CATEGORY	Outstanding	Above Average	Average	Below Average	Unacceptable
Completed both steps	2 pts	1.6	1.4	1.2	0-1
Observation Description	Provided thick description of observations/content analysis with a lot of detail about social setting and socio-demographic characteristics of people observed (5 pts)	Needed some elaboration on either social setting or socio-demographic characteristics of people observed (4 pts)	Need significantly more detail about social setting or socio-demographic characteristics observed; or some elaboration on both. (3.5 pts)	Summary of observations lacks detail overall. (3pt)	No summary of norm breaking behavior included (0-2 pts)
Research Problem/Question	Clearly identified a specific, measurable research problem. (3 pts)	Clearly identified research problem. (2.5 pts)	Identified a research problem; it needs some refining/specification. (2 pts)	Research problem unclear, not easily measured. (1.5 pts)	Research problem not specified or very unclear (0-1 pts)
Variables identified and operationalized	Clearly identified and operationalized 2+ variables that are clearly used in the research problem (3 pts)	Clearly identified and operationalized 2 variables that are clearly used in the research problem. (2.5 pts)	Identified and operationalized 2 variables that are from the research problem (2 pts)	Missing one variable or operationalization; or variables not clearly associated with/from research problem (1.5 pts)	Variables incorrect; missing operationalizations; variables unrelated to research problem (0-1 pts)
Hypothesis	Succinct hypothesis predicts relationship between two+ variables, based on research problem; in statement form. (2 pts)	(1.6 pts)	Hypothesis not in statement form; needs to more clearly specify ‘relationship’ between two variables. (1.4 pts)	Hypothesis unclear; does not specify relationship. (1.2)	Hypothesis not related or missing (0-1pts)
Analysis	Clearly applied relevant sociological theory(ies) to analysis of observations/content analysis. (5 pts)	(4 pts)	Need to more clearly use sociological theoy(ies) to analyze observations/content analysis (3.5 pts)	Analysis based entirely on opinion, or application to theory unclear. (3 pts)	Did not apply sociological theory to analysis. (0-2 pts)
Reflection	Included discussion of your experience of the situation (1pts)	(.8)	Need to elaborate on your experience of the situation (.7 pt)	(.6)	No discussion of your experience of the situation (0-.5 pts)
Compared Inductive to Deductive Approach	Thoughtful discussion about differences between the two approaches; clearly illustrate understanding of the two approaches. (3pts)	Needed some elaboration in discussiong. (2.5 pts)	Need significant elaboration about differences between two approaches. (2 pts)	Discussion lacks clarity and detail overall. (1.5 pt)	No discussion of comparison (0-1 pts)
APA Formatted Citations	Included APA formatted in-text citations and full references for ALL paraphrased and quoted work from other sources. (1 pts)	Minor errors in APA formatting of citations. (.8 pts)	Multiple errors in APA formatting of citations. (.7 pt)	Missing some citations, and errors in APA formatting. (.6 pts)	No citations included. (0-.5 pts)