Observations at a College Campus - Essay Example

Men and women traditionally inhabit roles that place them within societal roles through which various functions begin to be addressed. One of the habits seen in watching women that are in the traditional age range of college attendance is that the use of sweeping their hair behind their ear repeats itself through social groups In observing the college campus setting for two hours, the use of this indicator of female openness to mating was observed repeatedly as women talked in only female groups, and more so in coed or male to female conversation.

Men would become more aggressive in all male groups, where they tended to display puffery in mixed groups, displaying their virility through grandiose behaviors. Age played a significant role in the way in which both males and females behaved. Students who were only a year out of high school behaved in ways that showed that they were still protecting themselves from what was still somewhat unfamiliar. Students more familiar with the college experience walked more slowly and without a need for protective devices.

Students who were of college age were more social with one another, while students who seemed to be older were isolated more often. Social grouping happened in a number of different ways. One of the interesting ways in which people grouped was in having similar levels of attractiveness. People who were socially considered more attractive were seen together with various levels of attractiveness tending to group together. Couples were frequently seen through this time period as they walked in a way that was oriented towards one another, making it clear that they were in a mated pairing.

There were no groups during this time period which seemed to be grouping over racial classifications, but this does not mean that this does not occur. It was very interesting to see that social groups seemed to be more important to younger students, while older students were primarily alone as they walked through the campus. It is possible that having become a student and gone through the process within that same university that interpretation of behavior is based upon the observer’s own memories of similar experiences.

This is especially relevant to interpreting first year behaviors in comparison to older students. As well, differences in racial classifications is not something that the observer indulges, so seeing them may have been interpreted through other ways to classify them, leaving that aspect out of the observation. It was interesting to observe the hair sweep behind the ear, having often thought it was a common ritual among women. Client’s Name Professor’s Name Class Date Observations at a Wedding Reception In order to study the rituals and behaviors of a common Caucasian wedding, it was necessary to go to the (name of hotel) on (date) in order to observe a wedding reception from a distance.

The period of time spent watching was intended to be two hours, but ended up being three. Having no relationship to anyone at the event, observations were made by sitting isolated from the activities and through sitting outside of the area in which these events were taking place, but still within the reception hall. Permission was granted to observe through asking an older member of the bridal party who was presumably one of the fathers. The original intention had