Structured Observation in a Public Place SOCL 3633 Research Methods · Lab 12 · Midwestern State University

Nobody can see "community" or "sociability" directly. An observer can only see the actions they decided in advance would count as evidence. In class on Tuesday, April 13, you plan a 30-minute observation and get it approved. You observe on your own before April 20. Then you come back to this page to write up what you found. Submit the response sheet and your photos in the Lab 12 submission on D2L by Tuesday, April 20, before class.

Your plan, built in class

Fill in the printed plan and tally sheet (SOCL3633_Lab12_PlanAndTallySheet on D2L) in class. Your instructor initials it before you leave. Do not observe without an initialed plan.

Setting. A public place where people gather and no one expects privacy: a coffee shop, a library floor, a food court, a gym lobby, a park, a laundromat. Not a private home, not a classroom during class, and not a place where drinking alcohol is the main activity. You observe for 30 minutes from one spot.
Concept. One concept from your proposal topic that can show up in public behavior.
Indicators. Three or four specific behaviors that will count as your concept. Each one must pass the test from today's activity: a stranger with your tally sheet would get nearly the same count. "Being friendly" is not an indicator. "Starts a conversation with someone they did not arrive with" is.
How your indicators could mislead. Write two things: a behavior that looks like your concept but is not, and a way your concept could be present but invisible.

Checkpoint. Before you ask for initials, read each indicator aloud to the person next to you. If they ask "what counts as that?", add a rule to the definition.

Rules for observing

These follow the class-project rules from week 3. They are not optional.

Public settings only.
Watch, count, and take notes. Do not record audio or video, and do not photograph faces.
Do not follow anyone.
Do not write names or identifying details. "Man in a red cap" is fine. A description that identifies a specific person is not.
Do not make children the focus of your observation.
If someone asks what you are doing, tell the truth: a class exercise. Offer to leave that person out of your notes, and do so.
If a business asks you to stop or leave, stop and leave, and choose another setting.

In the field: 30 minutes

Choose one spot where you can see without being in the way. Write down the date, the start time, and where you are sitting.
Tally each indicator in three 10-minute columns on your tally sheet.
Keep open fieldnotes on a separate page: what the place is like, what surprised you, and anything your tally sheet had no row for.
Write up your fieldnotes within 24 hours, while you still remember the details.
Take clear photos of your plan and tally sheet. Type or photograph your fieldnotes.

Thirty minutes is short. You will miss things, and that is part of what the response sheet asks about.

Lab 12 response sheet

Complete this after your observation. Answer in complete sentences, assemble, and paste into the Lab 12 submission on D2L. In the same submission, upload photos of your initialed plan and your tally sheet, and your fieldnotes. Due Tuesday, April 20, before class. Your entries are not saved; finish the sheet in one sitting.

Your name

Setting, date, and time

For example, "Food court in the student union, Wednesday, April 14, 12:00 to 12:30 p.m."

Concept

Your tallies

One row per indicator. Enter the count for each 10-minute interval; the total fills in.

1. Did your indicators measure your concept, or the behaviors that were easy to count? Point to the indicator where the gap was widest.

Three to four sentences.

2. Name one thing you observed that had no row on your tally sheet and that changed your understanding of the setting.

Two to three sentences.

3. Did anyone notice you observing? Did it seem to change what they did?

Two to three sentences.

4. For your concept, which gap is larger: the gap between what people say and what they do, or the gap between what they do and what one person can see from one spot in 30 minutes? Why?

Three to four sentences.

Sources

Bernard, H. Russell, and Amber Wutich. 2026. Social Research Methods: Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches. 3rd ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE. Chapter 11.
LaPiere, Richard T. 1934. "Attitudes vs. Actions." Social Forces 13(2):230-237.
Midwestern State University Institutional Review Board. n.d. "Guidelines for Class Related Projects." https://msutexas.edu/irb/_assets/files/guidelines-for-class-related-projects.pdf