Non Obtrusive Observation Research

Non-Obtrusive Observation

One may not notice the people who surround them every day. How one acts and interacts with others on a regular daily basis. Once you start watching people 's body language and social status it is rather amusing to observe. Have you ever just sat down and watched people, but did you think about what their function is in society and in their subculture. The following accounts are derived from my field research.

Many people see a father as a “foundation”, or a provider who helps take care of his children. When I observed several fathers and children interactions, I looked to see the sociological perspective between them. The father influenced the kid(s) by telling his children to behave in a manner that he thought was proper to improve their character. The father influences their children by teaching them how to act, how to be self-reliant, and how to communicate properly with others. The fathers are significant others to their children since he is the head of the social solidarity of the family.

There was an older man sitting directly behind me watching

An older man walked into the restaurant with a quick glance towards the area of the school kids. While waiting for his food, he glanced over several more times at the rambunctious children. I do believe he would of have sat down if the restaurant environment was calmer, quieter, and not as annoying as I and others perceived it to be. This occasion happened twice while I was observing both of study subjects used symbols such as walking briskly away with a scowl on their faces. The older people evaluated the school kids using ethnocentrism perspective. One may even perceive the schoolchildren as counterculture since they do not always follow the cultural patterns of the older generations. It seemed as if many of the school kids used lingo that I or many other people did not grow up with, which is considered the Sapir-Whorf