Questions and Topics We Can Help You To Answer:
Paper Instructions:

Observation of Social Behavior

Conduct an observation of human social behavior in a public place (i.e., supermarket, church, nightclub) but not in a private area (i.e., bathroom, bedroom). Specific references should be made in the observation to principles discussed in class. These may include: altruism, attraction, conformity, gender, group influence, persuasion and/or prejudice.

Project Components

Title page: On your title page, in addition to your name, e-mail address, course title and number, and title of your observation, name the site of the observation.
Goals: In this section, list two to three goals for your observation. You might want to view social behaviors between genders; examine social behaviors among ethnic/racial groups; or determine age related social behaviors in a group. Useful terms include investigate, discover, reveal.  (one page max).
Research question: For this observation , you must have a specific question or set of questions that you are trying to answer. You might explore, for example, whether participants in your setting have any characteristic behaviors which are observable. In this section, state the question you are trying to answer. Your question must be detailed and specific. For example, are there distinguishable behaviors that lead a man to ask a woman to dance in a bar setting? What are the specific behaviors of people who are paying attention in church? Do older people influence the behavior of younger people? Please state your research questions clearly at the beginning of your discussion.
Populations: Are there specific typologies that can be formed based on the social behaviors observed? For example, “Cautious Carl” is the driver who has both hands on the wheel, drives no faster than the speed limit, and maintains a serious look on his face. “Smiling Samantha” is the woman who talks to all the people she passes in the supermarket aisle.
Introduction (the setting): In this section, discuss the setting in which your observation will occur. Include sufficient detail so that it is clear how the setting might have affected behaviors discussed throughout the paper.
Observational sessions: In this section, detail the behaviors which occurred during your observation. You should have between 1 to 3 sessions in your setting.
Abstracts: Locate five abstracts from social psychological literature relating to your observation. Use the abstracts to explain how the research applies to your observation.  You may embed the abstracts as part of your discussion or simply present each single-spaced abstract paragraph individually, then discuss its relevance to your observation.  Note that the abstract itself on a separate page does not count toward the required page length.  However, you may include the single-spaced abstract on the same page of your respective discussion.  As with all abstracts, it should not exceed a paragraph in length.
Results: In this section, state the results you observed related to your research question. Also, explain why you drew the conclusions you drew based on the behaviors. Include theories from social psychology that point to these results. Discuss the influence of your own experiences on your observation results.
References: In this section, list the references you quoted in your paper, including books, articles, and websites that you used in your observations.  Make sure to include your selected abstracts in your reference list. 
Page length:  Paper should be 8-10 pages, double-spaced (with the exception of the single-spaced abstract), with 12-pt font.  Format should in be in APA style, including citations and references.
File type: Submit your assignment in either Word or pdf format.  Any file that is not accessible will result in a zero grade. 
Checklist of expectations

To successfully complete this project, be sure to address all of the following:

__ Use APA style for your entire paper, including title page, body, citations, and references.  

__ Support your ideas with citations from the text or your peer-reviewed resource(s).

__ Be sure that your ideas are put together in a coherent and logical way.

__ Proofread carefully to ensure that your paper is free of misspellings and typos.

__ Proofread carefully to ensure that your paper has proper sentence structure.

__ Please review to ensure that all work is original.  Turnitin will be applied and implemented accordingly.