Women's Dormitory

Studdmann is a dormitory located on the campus of Concordia University in down town Austin Texas. It is not a men’s dormitory nor is it a coed. Studdmann is an all women’s dorm. I focussed on the on the dorms dynamics, “examining the interpretation that student’s give to there interaction’s with one another (Kendall, 349).” There are many different types of interactions that take place in the dormitory. Interactions between female and female along with female and male students. The Interactionist Theory is clearly seen at the dorm.

The setting is an important part of the Interactionist Theory ( The sociological approach that views society as the sum of the interactions of individuals and groups (Kendall, 489)) of observation. It determines how and when to interact with the students. Studdmann is a two-story dorm located on the south side of the campus. As you enter the dorm you walk down a short hallway. At the end of the hallway is a large lobby. The lobby contains many chairs, couches, and tables arranged in four sections. There are a few coke machines in the lobby also. A TV is located in the back left corner of the lobby. From there the dorm is divided into wings, an East Side and West Side. The down stairs is split in two by the lobby. Each side contains fourteen rooms. The upstairs is one long hallway containing forty rooms. There are two large restrooms on each side of the upstairs hallway. The dorm is a community restroom dorm, which means everyone uses the same facilities. The dorm rooms each contain two beds, two-book shelves and two desks. All my observations were taken from actions inside the rooms.

The setting is similar to any other dorm I’ve been in. However, the occupants are what are different to me. The differences are obvious. For instance, the occupants are female. They live a completely different life than that of mine. Their behavior and actions is that of complete difference than males. All of the occupants were involved in some sort of activity in a dorm room. I observed six different rooms. One to six students occupied each room. Mostly female with a few visiting males mixed in. I never got the names of the student I observed afraid that it would alter the outcome of the project. I numbered each room and alphabetized the students.

Room One was the first room I observed.