Examples Of Participant Observation

On Thursday, February 2, 2017 I observed the Court of Common Pleas in Athens, Ohio for an hour and a half. Overseen by Judge Pat Lang in “Courtroom B.” I arrived to the courthouse around 8:55 a.m. I entered the building from the right side, underneath the stairs. To my immediate right, there was an officer and a metal detector I had to walk through before coming any further. I put the loose things I was carrying through the x-ray conveyor belt and collected them on the other side. I asked the officer where Courtroom B was and he kindly directed me to the 3rd floor. I took the elevator to the third floor and when the doors opened I walked out and to the left. There was one other person on the floor at the time and sitting by the doors of courtroom B. It was very quiet in the building, I walked through the

In this paper, I discuss my experience with observing a group counseling session with the purpose of evaluating it in terms of how it is set up, how it is run, interventions used, culturally sensitivity, and the contribution toward my professional development as a social worker. The group setting plays a critical role in social work outside of the individual session and can be largely beneficial for clients in the forms of therapy, counseling, self-help, and support. By attempting to better understand group interventions, I will learn how to apply this strategy in aiding clients for whom this method is appropriate by increasing their social supports.

I decided for my social observation the mall would be a good place to start. I came there on a Friday evening when there should be plenty of people to watch. I also sat in the Barnes and Noble café after that to observe. I expected to see a lot of people shopping and conversing. A few things did stand out to me within the few hours I was there. Some things I didn’t expect to see. We are expected to behave a certain way in public determined by our culture as to what is acceptable. Some people stay well within the lines while some might stray outside the norms but never too far typically. Usually the ones to travel to the extremes are adolescents and teenagers. This is what I observed.

Materials and manipulatives are spread along the outside walls of the classroom and children are free to choose which type of materials they would like to work with during independent work time. You do not notice any individual desks and chairs set up in the classroom, rather a few tables and chairs grouped together. The furniture is all child size and you do not see any adult sized furniture throughout the classroom.

She tells her teacher, “Here teacher, help me put it on.” The teacher gives the coat back and tells Rosa to try by herself. Rosa says, “I can’t.” The teacher shows Rosa how she would put her coat on. Rosa then looks for the first arm to put in and puts the coat on the back. She finally then puts both arms in and says, “Look teacher, I did it by myself.” After Rosa put on her coat she runs outside with a smile on her face to play with her friends.

The purpose of this observation assignment was to investigate and interpret the different types of interactions between the individuals and groups present, as well as the environment in which these interactions take place. The various power relationships and sense of hierarchy in addition to the status and authority among the different individuals are also extremely pertinent to this assignment, as the dissection of such interactions and relationships may implicate certain socially constructed gender roles placed on these individuals and society as a whole. The field observation was conducted at the restaurant Pancakes on the Rocks in Sydney. The role adopted, was that of observer as participant. Group structures and

My participant observation research project is on sex offenders. A few topics I would be interested in is different type of offenders, such as pedophilic and non-pedophilic. I know sex offending is horrible all together but I really hate when I hear about children and teens being hurt. My questions would be what causes their urge to offend children? How do they know the victim? How to help the offender?

In the article, “Researching Dealers and Smugglers,” Patricia Adler discusses her and her husband’s experience using participant observation to collect data from drug dealers and the problems this qualitative method brought. A qualitative method focuses on collecting rich, non-statistical data. This method involves face-to-face interviews and actual participation with the group being researched. The Adlers use this method because it is almost impossible to gather accurate information on people who smuggle drugs. This is true because they are such private and deceitful people. The only way to get the real facts is if the smugglers trust the person. Unfortunately, participant observation brought problems such as the dealers and smugglers

Participant observation is a method of collecting information and data about a culture and is carried out by the researcher immersing themselves in the culture they observing. The researcher becomes known in the community, getting to know and understand the culture in a more intimate and detailed way than would be possible from any other approach. This is done by observing and participating in the community’s daily activities. The method is so effective because the researcher is able to directly approach the people in the community in a natural context as opposed to taking the participant out of their environment. The aim of participant observation is to gain an understanding the subject’s life from their perspective, with the purpose of

This paper has aimed to evaluate the course of events that when working in rotation can facilitate effective teaching and learning. It has highlighted the planning, teaching, evaluating and assessment cycle, which is ever revolving helping practitioners to plan, evaluate and assess their pedagogic practice. It has underlined the importance of planning and assessing in teaching practice. It has considered concrete strategies to use during this cycle and studied these events when critically analysing current assessment theory. Through theory and practical evidence it has attempted to show that levelling and grading has to be fair and accurate to enable each and every pupil to receive the education that they deserve. Throughout this paper it has

present. Most come for the free pizza. It sounds funny, but it is true. I pay attention

Park’s classroom is designed to limit student distractions. The students are seated facing the board in columns and rows. This seating arrangement is used during the warm-up and instructional period. However, when the students are working independently, they have the option to work by themselves or rearrange their desks to work with their peers. The teacher’s desk is off to the side so that each student is visible while the teacher is at the desk, although Mrs. Park rarely sits at her desk during the class period. The frequently used materials such as calculators, paper, pencils, and textbooks are easily accessible but do not impair students’ ability to see the

I observed two different math classrooms for my clinical observation. The first classroom was in an urban school setting, grade two. The second classroom was in a more suburban school setting, fifth grade math. The second grade class period was ninety minutes long, the students rotated in groups to the teacher table and did a mini lesson there for about 15 minutes, while the rest of the 90 minutes was spent on a math website. The fifth grade class period was only 45 minutes long and the majority of what I saw was the teacher working with the students on correcting homework.

I conducted my observation on November 3, 2017. I observed a fourth-grade language arts class taught by Robin Smith. Mrs. Smith exudes a love of reading and knowledge from the very moment you meet her. Mrs. Smith’s classroom is a warm, accessible, print rich environment complete with anchor charts, a word wall, and alphabet chart. Mrs. Smith and her classroom environment inspire each one of her students to find a passion for reading and learning. Mrs. Smith demonstrates an understanding of the social-emotional environment, and its importance to the success of a child’s learning experience. Although the social-emotional environment is much harder to grasp and see it is just as important as the physical environment. Mrs. Smith’s approach for classroom management demonstrates how a positive social-emotional environment can lead to an effectively well managed classroom.

The following data was gathered while fulfilling duties as a principal intern at Theresa Bunker Elementary School. The data was observed during five to seven minutes of classroom observation as part of a walk-through in the spring of the current school year. My cooperating supervisor for my internship was able to go on these walk-throughs with me in order to have a productive reflection meeting afterwards. This elementary school has two of each grade level from Kindergarten to sixth grade. Since it was more feasible in this small school setting, I actually was able to do a walkthrough in eight classes. Here I will report my observations from five of those walk-throughs. As I went in to each room I was looking for four