Workplace Observational Research

Minnesota is the the coldest place on Earth. Okay, maybe not the coldest place on Earth, but we get pretty cold around here. Being cold is horrid and there’s a few things that warms up the average Joe, fireplaces, big blankets and a hot beverage. I tried to think of a way to see if people really drink hot beverages when they’re cold, or if it’s just a stereotype of living in Minnesota, then it hit me. I’m a waitress! Working at a restaurant that serves hot and cold beverages is something I can use to my advantage for this project. The Spot Cafe in Staples, Minnesota is where I will conduct my observational research. The subjects that are unknowingly participating in this project are the customers of the Spot Cafe on the 16th of January, 2018,

The first couple, a male and a female, I waited on ordered one cup of coffee as they took off their heavy winter coats. I noticed that the other couples sitting at the nearby table were beginning to take off their jackets as well, and started rubbing their hands together indicating that they were chilled. The second table I arrived at were two ladies immediately saying they both wanted two coffees with creamer. The last table that sat a little farther away from the other two tables, a male and female told me they were fine with the waters. About thirty to forty minutes later, a table of 9 arrived. Four of them ordered coffee, one ordered a hot cocoa, then two ordered a soda. Just as I thought my observation project was going to be supporting my hypothesis, the restaurant got hit with a large order of sodas, milks, and a couple more coffees. Since parties of customers arrived at relatively the same time, I didn’t have enough time to write down every observation I had, but I do remember that every single person that walked into the restaurant was wearing a coat. Most of the people that ordered a hot beverage were rubbing their hands together right before placing their drink order. There was a total of eleven customers had hot beverages and fifteen with cold

Cold beverages were a bigger hit than expected. I thought that the below zero wind chill on that Tuesday evening would increase the likelihood of a hot beverage being ordered. A theory that I would make for this observation is 'Customers sitting near each other mimic ones correlation with the cold weather and hot beverage' This is an environmental observation because of the temperature and the people surrounding each other. The table of 9 had me thinking, because there was originally only three hot beverages. From what I observed, the first customer to order a hot beverage gave the other customers to get a hot beverage as