Overview
You will be going to a public space (a place where people do not have an expectation of privacy) to do a non-participant observation. These can be places like the subway, a bus, subway stations, bus stations, parks, laundromats, gyms, hair salons, barber shops. Do not go to a classroom, or a place of worship. It is also not a good idea to do the observation at work. First, this is a non-participant observation. At work, even if you are on break, you would be considered a participant. This is also the case with any family event. Wherever you decide to do your observation, you must not be involved with what is going on.
Once there, you will do a 30 minute to 45 minute observation using thick description (please refer to the article in this module). Using the template, under description you will write only detailed descriptions of the human interaction that you see. No “I” statements belong in this section. You want to do your best in keeping your values, judgments, and conclusions out of this section. The description should be detailed and, to the best of your ability, without judgement and conclusions. The place for your judgments, conclusions, and thoughts is under the area on the template that says, “observer comments.” This is where you make note of your conclusions, judgments, as well as other comments such as to what you are feeling; feeling hungry, cold, bored, etc.
you will briefly talk about what you did for the observation. You will share some of the data (descriptions) and then discuss some sociological terms you think can be used to explain what you saw. You will finish this assignment by talking about some problems you may have experienced and/or things you would do differently if you had the chance to do this again.