Recording Observations

Unobtrusively record observations in a public place of your choice for at least thirty minutes or more. The place must have at least ten people to observe. Since you are playing the role of an unobtrusive investigator, you must not disturb the people and must be positioned so that the people will not really take notice of you. You should watch people and focus on behaviors. The behaviors might be ordinary or interesting. You might even choose to look at behaviors related to a theme, such as how people relax or you can look at dyadic interactions. No matter what you choose to observe, you should describe what you witness.

Record the observations in your notebook in a 1- to 2-page Microsoft Word document. The observations should not be conducted with any specific notions or theories.

Type and submit your notes, which should be at least 500 words. Include the date of the observation, the time, and the setting. Along with your observation notes, include five specific study ideas that come to mind as a result of your observations. For example:

After observing mothers and children in the park, I would like to investigate whether mothers with multiple children allow the children to venture further away from them as compared to mothers with one child.

You must also state hypotheses for at least two of your study ideas. For example, you might hypothesize mothers with only one child will keep their child closer than mothers with multiple children.