Examples Of Naturalistic Observation

Naturalistic Observation

Are females more polite than males? I am interested in obtaining the answer to this question, because as a child my sister and I have been taught that it is important to be polite to others, because when you are polite, you are treating people with respect. My parent’s logic for enforcing this principle as a success tool for life was formed in this question “why would someone want to help people who disrespect them?” As I thought about this, I agreed, however I have always been curious to see if the importance of being polite is equally important to both sexes? Or do females value the principle of being polite more so than males? To determine the answers to these questions, I will be observing how females and

males interact with others in public settings. Based on my daily interaction with male students, they tend to be more aggressive and blunt when they speak; whereas the female students that I interact with on a daily basis tend to be soft spoken and display a more affectionate and caring demeanor when interacting with others; therefore my theory is that women are polite more often than men.

To support my theory, I observed several females and males for two hours in different public settings.

I picked two specific behaviors considered polite which were door holding and saying please or thank you. Two behaviors were observed in order to do a comparative analysis in order to find out if women displayed polite behaviors in general more often than males, or if it depended upon the behavior itself whether or not males or females exhibited it more often. Door holding was defined as holding the door open long enough for the next person behind or in front of them to grab it in order to enter or exit the building. Observation for the behavior of door holding took place while sitting in Starbucks located in Russell House for one hour. The time was 10:40-11:40 a.m. Students were observed as they entered and exited the building and a tally was made next to the male or female category each time I witnessed a member of either gender hold open the door for the next person. If they failed to hold open the door for the next person a tally was made next to the “did not hold open the door” category next to their gender on the appropriate table. Observation for the use of the words please and thank you was conducted in Gibbes dining hall while sitting next to the registers as students paid for their food. Each time a student said please when making a request, or thank you upon receiving their food a tally was made next to the appropriate gender category. Likewise if they did not

say please or thank you a tally was made next to their gender category for that table. Observation in Gibbes took place for one hour. The time was between 7:45-8:45 p.m.
After the conclusion of my observation I found that males held open doors more frequently than females, whereas females said please or thank you more often. Therefore, it depended on the polite behavior being observed as to whether or not males or females were more likely to display it. In the sixty minutes I observed in Gibbes dining hall, thirty-three people said please or thank you to the staff. Of those thirty-three people, fourteen were male and nineteen were female. During that same amount of time seven people did not say please or thank you. Five of those being male, and two being female. On average someone said please or thank you every 1.82 minutes. A female said please or thank you every 3.16 minutes, and a male every 4.29 minutes. Females accounted for 57.6% of the people that said please or thank you in Gibbes dining hall with males coming in at 42.4%. On average someone did not say please or thank you to the staff when receiving food or services every 8.57 minutes. A male did not say please or thank you every twelve minutes and for females every thirty minutes. Males accounted for 71.4% of the people that did not say please or thank you and females 28.6%. In Starbucks located in Russell House door holding was frequent. On average someone held open the door for the next person every .86 seconds. A female held open the door every 1.88 minutes and males every 1.58 minutes. Females accounted for 45.7% of those that held open the door, and males 54.3%. On average someone did not hold open the door for the next person every 2.61 minutes. A female did not hold open the door every four minutes and a male every 7.5 minutes. Females accounted for 65.2% of the people that did not hold open the door and males were 34.8%.
For the most part being polite was the norm for both genders.

Not holding open doors was rare, however females tended to do so a little more frequently. When it came to saying please and thank you, the roles were reversed and males tended to say it less frequently than females. Therefore my hypothesis was incorrect. Which gender displayed a polite behavior more often was dependent upon which behavior was being observed, which means that females are not necessarily more likely to display polite behaviors more frequently than males. Starbucks allowed me to obtain more data because I observed at a busier time and more people came in thereby giving me a larger sample. I frequently witnessed most males checking behind themselves to see if someone was behind them before they let the door close. My results could be contributed to culture and societal expectations. Men are expected to hold open doors more so than females as a sign of being a gentleman. A few details in my observation that could be improved would be my observation time in Gibbes and to take into consideration that one gender might be more likely to come into a certain location more than the other which could skew my results in their favor. I observed in Gibbes dining hall later in the night when they were not very busy which caused me to not be able to collect as much data. Also more females came into Starbucks during the time I observed there which could have potentially effected my results had enough males not came

in also in order to make it fair and more even. The next time I observe I could make sure to do my observations at an earlier time when more students are likely to be present and also pick a location that both genders are equally likely to go to. My theory is that societal expectations determine the difference in manners between males and females. In order to test my theory, observation of other polite behaviors associated with each particular gender could be observed. I could observe behaviors considered not lady-like by society such as the use of cuss words in conversations and record which gender is observed doing so more frequently. Also I could observe a behavior that is considered that of a gentleman such as giving up their seat on a crowded bus, in order to determine if societal expectations drives males and females to act a certain way when in public. Overall I learned that naturalistic observation is a great tool to use when trying to study people’s natural behavior in society. Naturalistic observation may not explain why people act a certain way but it does give an insight into the social norms of a particular society. It is useful when the researcher just wants to know how people act or react in different settings or situations but not why they may act this way. Naturalistic observation is also best when kept simple, and when behaviors being observed are well defined, as it allows for more data collection which provides better results.