...Social Observation Introduction to Sociology 190 Section D097 03/05/2012 Social Observation For my social observation project I’ve chosen to study life at Don Carter lanes located here in the city of Rockford. The main focus of my study is to observer the social norms as defined in Sociology: a brief introduction, by Richard T. Schaefer, a norm is “an established standard of behavior maintained by a society.” I’ll also be observing the informal norms as well. Informal norm is “a norm that is generally understood but not precisely recorded.” I’ll be studying the interactions people have with one another while having fun and enjoyment at Don Carter lanes. It’s a cold Sunday afternoon the atmosphere inside the bowling alley was filled with laughter, people of all ages engaging in conversation, sounds of coins dropping in video games, NASCAR racing on the video monitors, bowling balls thudding against the floor, and pins being slammed to the side walls of the alley cavity. The aroma of pizza, onion rings, and fries become stronger as walk down the aisle to find a place for my observation. On lanes 6 and 7 there are seven Latino teenage boys about to start bowling ages 10 – 15 years in age, they are communicating in the Spanish language. Language is “an abstract system of word meanings and symbols for all aspects of culture.” There are four teens dressed in urban style clothing, jeans sagging oversized shirts, and Nike gym shoes. The...
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...Jonathan Watters is an energetic, happy eight month old infant. His parents are very close friends of the family, so I am lucky to spend a large amount of time with him. Jonathan is very laid-back and quiet compared to his energetic older sister. Jonathan’s parents moved into a new home on Saturday, December 5th, so I took this opportunity to observe him as I was already scheduled to watch him that day. Over the course of the afternoon I was able to spend a great deal of time observing and rather than interview him, I performed small tests in an attempt to gauge Jonathan’s physical, cognitive and emotional development. Using these observations I was able to learn about his developmental process and see the milestones as noted in our book. Observation of Physical Developmental Milestones Jonathan is curious and very active during my observation. There are several different types of toys surrounding us in the living room. There is a television playing cartoons in the background, which Jonathan periodically stops to look at. Jonathan is teething so he drools quite frequently. After taking some time to fully wake up this morning, his mother Kelly drops him onto the middle of the play space and he is ready to play. To assess Jonathan’s developmental level, I record the gross and fine motor skills that he displays at this time. Gross Motor Development Motor skills are simply actions that involve using muscles in the body. Gross motor skills involve making large movements with...
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...to as cross-examination. Other procedures can be used to improve understanding and/or the credibility of a study. These include research or inquiry audit, peer debriefing, and the seeking of negative cases in the field that might disconfirm interpretations. Participant Observation | Systematically seeks out and organizes data concerning what is being studied based on a social science theory and methodology rather than focusing on achieving a situationally defined goal. | | Keeps detailed records of what occurs, including those things characteristically taken for granted. | | Periodically detaches self from the situation to review records from the neutral position of a social scientist. | | Constantly monitors observations and records for evidence of personal bias or prejudice. | Five Types of Participant Observation | External Participation constitutes the lowest degree of involvement in observation. This type of observation can be done by observing situations on television or videotape. | | Passive Participation means the researcher is present at the scene of action but does not interact or participate. The researcher finds an observation post and assumes the role of a bystander or spectator. | | Balanced Participation means that the researcher maintains a...
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...to others. In the case of Josh, a three year old boy that I will use for my observation and assessment project, social skills are still in the process of being developed and he hasn't begun to really start speaking at this point. After interviewing Josh's parents I was told that Josh says very few words and doesn't speak at all in sentences. He does, however, include himself socially with other children and plays easily with them. He understands English and Spanish. His parents are Spanish and only speak their native language in the home. Josh has an older brother, age 9, that speaks English well. This observation will be focused on Josh's social skills. As a three year old the parents are concerned that Josh is not developing at the same rate as his peers socially due to his lack of speaking. I explained to the parents that children develop in many different ways and in many different areas. In regards to the Observation Project, the specific area of development and learning that will be assessed is social development. Examples of behaviors I will be looking for include choices made during social time, inclusion with other peers, and linguistic opportunities. Children who are given more opportunities to plan and reflect on their own opportunities scored higher on measures of language, literacy, social skills, and overall development (Epstein, 2003). “Planning and reflection also play a role in social problem solving. For example, effective strategies for conflict resolution...
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...EDU 145 Child Development 2 Time Sampling Introduction: Observation is the key to understanding young children and their development. Teachers learn about a child’s physical, social, emotional, cognitive and language domains as they watch children in multiple learning experiences. Through your observations you will learn to identify appropriate observation techniques (competency # 4). Observation also allows you to meet the CPCC core competencies of communication, critical thinking and information technology and quantitative literacy. Outcome Assessment Standards: NAEYC Standards Standard 1: Promoting Child Development Standard 3: Observing, Documenting and Assessing to Support Young Children & Families. Support Skill 3: Written & Verbal Skills CPCC Core Competencies Communication, Critical Thinking, Information Technology & Quantitative Literacy Description of Specific Assignment Requirements Adapted from Observing Development of Young Children (Beaty, 1990)) In the time sampling method, the observer records the frequency of a behavior’s occurrence over time. The behavior must be overt and frequent (at least once every fifteen minutes) to be a candidate for sampling. For example, talking, hitting, and crying are such behaviors, because they can be clearly seen and counted. Time sampling thus involves observing specified behavior of an individual and recording the presence or absence of this behavior...
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...play sessions. The data gathered for behaviour at 4 years of age were part of a previous study by Vandell and Powers in 1983. The Observation at 4 years consisted of a total of 20 children, half male and half female. They were observed in a random order during a free play session at their day care centres for 20 second intervals for 16 minutes. There were three behavioural categorises used in the observations, positive/negative interaction with peers, positive/negative interaction with adults and solitary play and unoccupied behaviour. In the observation at the age of 8 the children were videotaped through one-wag glass for 45 minutes whilst taking part in controlled play with three other children. The play was designed by the researchers to encouraged social behaviour. Whilst the children were playing, the mothers completed a survey from the researchers regarding family circumstances and the child’s day care history. For each child a behavioural checklist was completed using three categories. The first category is friendly interactions meaning is there a positive or neutral exchanges between two or more children. The following category is unfriendly interactions, negative behaviours including sarcasm and negative actions. Lastly, solitary play whether the child plays alone with objects with no communication with peers. The child play observations were coded individually to the videotapes, a single blind-technique for regulating...
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...Psy206-1004A-101 Aspects of Psychology Unit 1 IP1 Kevin J. Penn September 10, 2010 American InterContinental University Online Abstract The following compares and contrast of Naturalistic Obersavation and Correlational research. Which includes the research techniques reliability and validity strengths and weakness and generalizability. There are many different ways of collecting information and data to compare different types of things that happen from the past, present and to help predict the future. The research methods that I have compared are Naturalistic observation and Correlational research method. Like any thing else that they are more than one way of obtaining something there are differences and similarities that researchers can use to help them obtain their objective. The correlational research method is one in which the facts are utilizes facts to form links with an assortment of dependent variables. In most cases it is the one that is used first to give a basis before experiments can begin. There are three types of correlational research, observational, survey, and archival (Schmidt, 2000). Observational research includes items that can be tangibly recorded, for example, reporting for work and production. Survey research refers to the statistics that can be found by questioning subjects; for example, comparing the associations between couples who live together and divorce rates (Schmidt, 2000). Archival research deals...
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...Home Page » Other Topics Observation of the Child at Play In: Other Topics Observation of the Child at Play Observation of the Child at Play On Friday I spent the morning with Jacob who is six years one month old at College America. The morning began with a physical assessment and an interview of Jacob, and the afternoon I was able to observe him at play. Jacob is in first grade and he is the oldest child in his family with a younger brother and a younger sister. After doing a physical assessment and an interview with Jacob he appears to be an overall healthy and happy child with no obvious physical or emotional problems. According to Erikson’s developmental stages Jacob is in stage three where Jacob should be developing purpose in his life. Jacob was playing outside at College America and with him was his younger brother who is four, his younger sister who is three, and his cousin who is two. Social milestones listed to watch for are the following; can share and cooperate better, has a great need for children of own age, will cheat to win, often engages in rough play, often jealous of younger brother or sister, does what adults are seen doing, may occasionally have temper tantrums, is a boaster, is more independent probably because of school influence, has own way of doing things, and increases socialization (Hockenberry & Wilson, 2011). First thing I noticed in Jacob that was listed in the book was his independence while playing outside,...
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...of different types of observational studies including naturalistic and controlled observations, non-participant and participant observations, structured and unstructured observations. Naturalistic observation is a research method commonly used by psychologists and other social scientists. This technique involves observing subjects in their natural environment. This type of research is often utilized in situations where conducting lab research is unrealistic, cost prohibitive, or would unduly affect the subject's behavior. Naturalistic observation differs from structured observation in that it involves looking at a behavior as it occurs in its natural setting with no attempts at intervention on the part of the researcher. A non-participant observation is a type of observational study whereby the researcher does not join in with the activity being observed. Controlled observation is a type of observational study where the conditions are contrived by the researcher. This type of observation may be carried out in a laboratory type situation and because variables are manipulated is said to be high in control. The Dement and Kleitman study is an example of controlled observation. The weakness of the method is that it will be low in ecological validity compared to naturalistic observation. If participants are aware they are being studied they behave differently. A participant observation is a type of observational study where the observer is also a participant in...
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...observed findings, facts and events. Science comprises of exact principles which can be verified and it can establish cause and effect relations. Main characteristics/features of science are: 1. Systematic body of knowledge: In science organized and systematic study material is available which is used to acquire the knowledge of science. Like science in management also there is availability of systematic and organized study material. So first feature of science is present in management. 2. Scientific principles are derived on the basis of logical and scientific observations: The scientists perform logical observation before deriving any principle or theory. They are very objective while doing the observations. But when managers are observing they have to observe human beings and observation of human being cannot be purely logical and objective. Some kind of subjectivity enters in the observations so this feature of science is not present in management. All the scientific principles have same effect, wherever we try them whereas effect of management principles varies from one situation to other. 3. Principles are based on repeated experiments: Before developing scientific principles scientists test these principles under different conditions and places. Similarly, managers also test and experiment managerial principles under different conditions in different organizations. So this feature of science is present in management. 4. Universal Validity: Scientific...
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...Observation is the process of watching someone carry out a task or series of actions in order to gather data about specific aspects of behaviour, content, processes or interactions. It can be used to better understand individuals or groups in any setting that is relevant to the research topics, for example, observing students in a learning environment such as classroom. 10 “Observation can often reveal characteristics of groups or individuals that would have been impossible to discover by other means.” The distinctive topics for applying the case study method arise from four main situations. Firstly, when the researcher are trying to understand an ongoing process or situation. Through observation they can monitor or watch a process or situation that they are evaluating as it occurs. Secondly, when researcher are gathering data on individual behaviors or interactions between people. Observation allows them to watch peoples’ behaviors and interactions directly, or watch for the results of behaviors or interactions. Thirdly, when researcher need to know about a physical setting. Seeing the place or environment where something takes place can help increase researcher’s understanding of the event, activity, or situation you are evaluating. For example, they can observe whether a classroom or training facility is conducive to learning. And lastly, when data collection from individuals is not a realistic option. If respondents are unwilling or unable to provide data through questionnaires...
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...strength of observation is that it provides direct access to the social phenomena under consideration. Instead of relying on some kind of self-report, such as asking people what they would do in a certain situation, you actually observe and record their behaviour in that situation. This, in principle at least, avoids the wide range of problems associated with self-report. In an interview situation or in response to a questionnaire item, for example, a person may not always provide accurate or complete information, or they might answer in ways that correspond to what is socially desirable. There is a recognised source of bias in self-report techniques referred to as a 'social desirability set', which means that in many spheres of social life there are socially desirable ways of behaving and, consciously or unconsciously, individuals will tend to respond in that way, although in the 'real world' they might behave differently. Asking children whether they would tend to be helpful to other children in certain situations, for example, would be susceptible to such a source of bias Diversity, Flexibility and Applicability Observation can take diverse forms, from informal and unstructured approaches through to tightly structured, standardised procedures and can yield associated diverse types of data, both qualitative and quantitative. Observation, therefore, is applicable in a wide range of contexts. Disadvantages Practicability One of the main disadvantages of observation is that...
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...Infant Observation Name of Child - Cyan Child’s Age - 10 Month After observing a tenth month old child for this Child Observation paper, I had taken many notes during the observing. The Purpose of this paper is recognizing the Physical, Cognitive, Biological, Social and Emotional development of the child. The child chosen for this child observation paper is a tenth month old male Cyan, who appears to a healthy normal child. His mother is half Indian and father is Indian. Mother and father are happily married. He lives in the hcyane with grandmother, mother, father, aunt, uncle an older female cousin who is three. Cyan comes from a middle class background and has no siblings. The author of this paper observed him in the living room of his home. His mother kept all of his toys spread out on the floor in the middle of the room so that the author of this paper could observe him while he plays. Cyan had many toys such as blocks, plush toys, rings, keys, a stationary jumper and a toy that is designed to help the child learn to walk. Erikson’s Psychosocial Stage : Cyan is in Trust VS Mistrust. Cyan is able to crawl across the room. He is able to stand and walk with the assistance of a piece of furniture. He is able to pull himself up from the sitting position holding on to the coffee table. Once he stands straight up he is able to walk around the table while holding on. He is able walk around the room if he is holding on to the toy that is designed to help an infant learn...
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...Part C According to Anton Shone (2001), an event experience describes ‘an opportunity for leisure, social or cultural experience outside the normal range of choices or beyond everyday experience’. In order to describe the event’s experience, this quote is quite helpful. In terms of experience, an event should get the visitor out of everyday life. It should provide the participant a new and exciting world in order to create a unique experience. Coming to the event, it can be said that the escape out of the real world worked rather good. The event provided a lot of targets with which an exclusive experience could be formed. Coming to the actual event, the Groniger festival gave visitors the opportunity to experience many different things on many different places. The experience was formed due to the variety of happenings and the diversity of spectrums. People as well as our group could not have the chance to be bored or uninterested due to many the locations. As soon as something turned to be tedious, people changed to the next place. The event provided the chance to feel highly involved. The reason for this was the interaction with the audience. In comparison to other happenings like this, the ‘Nach van kunst en weterschap’ gave people the chance to actively try things, experiment with science and art and be involved as an individual. To give an example for this, a group of scientists offered the opportunity to create and see your own DNA. You had to wash your mouth with salt...
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...5 Practical Methods Direct Observations and Windshield Surveys 50 Practical Methods D irect observations allow one to better understand the environment in which people interact and to see the things some residents may not be aware of, or to better understand a phenomenon. Direct observation may help distill useful information that may not be apparent from your other data collection methods. This type of data collection allows you, the observer, to choose a location, event, or phenomenon and then to directly observe human activities over a period of time. Getting Started Begin by vividly describing the location you are observing. Include details, but try not to get bogged down with clutter. These details may seem superfluous at the time, but future analysis may prove otherwise. You should also describe the people you see and what they are doing. Things to Consider Continually return to the main focus of the observation. Developing an observation form may help. A sample observation form can be found on pages 53–55. The form will help guide your observation and help you focus on specific items. You will need to determine the most appropriate sites and gear the timing of your observation toward the phenomena in question. For example, if you observe a site too early in the morning, you may miss social interactions later in the evening that shed light on your community. You may want to observe different sites at various times to make the best...
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