Personal Space Invasions in the Lavatory: Suggestive Evidence for Arousal - Essay Example

?Running Head: Advanced Research Methods Advanced Research Methods Inserts His/her Personal Space Invasions in the Lavatory: Suggestive Evidence for Arousal Study Overview Studies about personal space have suggested that physical and social response of a person is influenced by personal space. Invasion of personal space meets retrieval or minimize closeness between individuals (Patterson, Mullens, & Romano, 1971). Personal space behaviour of human beings has been studied by many researchers but little was done to explain this behaviour. The physiological changes that occur when personal space invasion occur sometimes illicit emotional arousal, the possible explanation for it can be the stress that interpersonal space invasion causes to a person (Sommer, 1969). The research in question has attempted to find the effects of personal space invasion. The study presents an explicit theoretical framework with regards to the topic. An extensive literature review is given in the research paper which provides a theoretical framework with regards to the subject in question. The personal space invasion is explained and then causes and reaction are given. Conflicting results have also been presented in order to give a full explanation regarding the topic. The best thing about the study is that it can inform a lay man about the topic in great detail. The research objective is to identify whether personal space invasion causes arousal and increases the delay of urination or not. The research objective is quite clear and compelling justification is given for the study. Hypothesis of the study was something new therefore a pilot study was conducted first to identify whether any relationship exists between urination time and interpersonal distance. This is representative of the extensive time devoted to the study. The design of the study is quantitative in nature. The delay in urination is recorded by a person in the presence of a confederate who is placed close to the participant. All participants came into the men’s lavatory randomly and a confederate was placed in order to measure the effect of interpersonal space invasion on urination delay. Participants were not made aware of beforehand that they were being made a part of a research. There are strong ethical reservations with regards to the study because it violates the most important ethical principle of briefing. All the participants were not informed that they were being made part of a research. They were not even briefed after the study which is an ethical violation. The scope of the study was of personal space violation during urination and some people might have considered it unethical. It is totally understandable to not make participants aware of the study before hand but after the study a briefing session was necessary. Data was recorded and used in the study without the consent of the subjects therefore ethics of the study were violated. Research Method The research method used to collect data was quantitative in nature. Time taking for urination was recorded in order to measure the delay of onset and persistence of urination under settings of personal space invasion. Stop watches were used by an observer who was in the lavatory in order to measure the delay and persistence of urination. Statistical tools were applied like multivariate analysis to understand the results. Quantitative observational method was the only possible source of data collection for this particular research. The scope of the research was extremely private and a qualitative interview or questionnaire would not have illicit any objective information. Subconscious behaviour cannot be measured through inquisitional questioning rather observational method is appropriate for measurement of such behaviour. A person might not be consciously thinking about interpersonal space invasion while urinating but still it may be affecting his behaviour. This is why method used for the study was appropriate. Replicability means that if people will use repeat the experiment using the same procedure then they will get the same results (Page, 1958). The research under question is replicable because the method used in the study is giving in great detail and it is easy enough to be replicated in other geographical regions. Replicability is an important dimension of any research so that more insight can be known at a later stage, in a different geographical setting. Replicability is also important for the study because cultural elements might have influenced the results. Overall The intended audience of the research is mainly the psychology related academia and students. The study is not aimed for the general audience and therefore it has not provided a general basic introduction. The introduction of the study tells that it was presupposed that the intended audience would have some knowhow of the subject. The discussion presented at the end is also representing the findings of the research. An attempt has been made not to digress or subjectively speculate on the issue in question, rather discussion in conservatively based on the results of the study. Validity is not extremely important for this study because participants were not aware that they were being studied. There was no active participation from the subjects, only their actions were observed. Validity or truthfulness of a research is important when response of the participants is doubted but this is not the point of concern in this case. There is no statistical test used for validity in the research. The findings of the study are that closer distances increase urination delay and decrease urination persistence which represents physiological arousal. The findings are not generalizable because the subjects of the study were randomly selected. There was no variable for adjustment of cultural differences. Also the study was carried out in United States only therefore it results might not be generalizable to other parts of the world. The research findings shed light on the personal space invasion and its effect on urination delay and persistence. The paper is providing new information to the readers and is shedding light on a topic that is not widely discussed among the general public. The study is also revealing more about the impact of personal space invasion which may be helpful for us in our daily life. It can guide out behaviour in our day to day life. Cyber slacking and the Procrastination Highway Study Overview The virtual realm has influenced human behaviour in many ways. Long gone the days when physical movement was considered was a necessary part of life. Knowledge was not a fingertip away and physical exertion was essential in order to gain information. Internet has changed our daily life and has encouraged a sedentary generation where physical movement is abhorred in abhorred. The research in question offer insights on the internet procrastination and what attitudes increase internet procrastination. The online wastage of time has been documented in offices where employees often use the technology for non work related purposes (Marron, 2000). The study aims to find correlation between internet procrastination and the belief that internet is an important tool and a source of entertainment. Internet procrastination occurs when one believes that the internet is something useful and therefore rationalizes his or her time wastage using the technology. There is strong evidence that internet hinders productivity and causes students to procrastinate (Wallace, 1999). Internet is assumed to increase productivity and efficiency of the people, and therefore no significant thought is given on the time wastage that the technology contributes in our daily life. The habit of surfing sites just for fun actually hinders the performance and increases procrastination and this was one of the hypotheses tested in the study. A conceptual framework is given in the study as the authors have developed the theory of procrastination by previous literature. Also reasons of procrastination and attitudes that can contribute to the increased internet procrastination are discussed in detail in the study. All the hypotheses of the study were formed by using previous literature and a clear connection between the study and previous research work can be seen. The research design included an online survey that was sent through the World Wide Web. The questionnaires were filled on a voluntary basis and random participants found the survey online. Different scales were used in the study in order to measure the internet procrastination trend, and open ended questions were also used. The research design is therefore both qualitative and quantitative in nature. The informed consent of all the participants were taken before they filled the questionnaires therefore there are not ethical violations in the study. Confidentiality was also promised before the study and information was also kept secret. Debriefing information was also given to the participants after they have completed the survey. Research Method Qualitative and quantitative methods are used in the research. The questionnaire was divided into five sections, each dealing with a different construct. First the demographic information was taken. Secondly personal feelings and attitudes regarding internet were inquired with the help of a 5 point Likert scale. Respondents were also asked open ended questions in order to evaluate their internet time usage. Finally trait procrastination and composite affect was also measured. The study has used both quantitative and qualitative measures in order to gather information regarding internet procrastination. The use of both qualitative and quantitative methods of investigation is justified because the study aims to make link between feelings or attitudes about internet and internet procrastination, and it is therefore important to measure time spent by respondents on the World Wide Web. A yes or no answer would not have been sufficient to evaluate internet time used by the respondents. This is why qualitative technique is justified alongside with quantitative method in this research. Replicability is not important for the research because the sample was collected randomly from the internet and respondents were not from a limited geographical location. Also there has been a lot of work on the subject of internet related procrastination therefore replicability is not extremely important for the study. But the information of the questionnaire and the method used to collect data is given in great detail therefore any one can replicate the research easily. Overall The intended audience of the research paper is the general public specifically the youth that is the most avid users of internet. Younger generation can learn a lot from the research paper and can improve their efficiency. The paper also provides insights for parents and teachers as well who can better manage the time spent by students on internet. The findings tell us that people who believe that internet is a source of entertainment and is also an important tool reported self procrastination on the internet. The findings are also consistent with other studies like Brenner (1997). This shows the objectivity of the research. The paper is also written in simple language so that the targeted audience can understand the findings without any major difficulty. The discussion is closely related to the result given in the paper. Discussion is based upon the empirical results given in the study. Different statistical techniques were used in the result section their interpretation is given in the discussion. The authors have not tried to use subjective thoughts in the discussion which would have diluted the effectiveness of the paper as a whole. Validity is important for this research because participants have filled the questionnaire themselves. They may have hidden vital information or may have filled questionnaires with fake information. People are usually not interested in filling questionnaire therefore truthfulness can be doubted. However the authors have ignored questionnaires which have more than 3 incomplete questions. This is an appropriate measure taken by the authors in order maintain validity. The findings of the research paper are not generalizable due to the limited sample size. Only 308 participants were taken into the study and their responses were recorded. The study is seriously lacking more participants and it would have been easy to increase the number of respondents because internet was used as a medium to connect to the participants. This is a serious limitation of the study. The research paper is overall very helpful for younger generation as it informs them about the perils of a technology that is widely considered to increase productivity of a person. The study is also useful because it has given enough sources that can verify the findings of the paper. References Brenner, V. (1997). Psychology of computer use: XLVII. Parameters of Internet use, abuse, and addiction: The first 90 days of the Internet usage survey. Psychological Reports, 80: 879–882 Marron, K. (2000). Attack of the cyber slackers. The Globe and Mai, p. T5 Page, Ellis Batten. (1958). Educational Research: Replicable or Generalizable? The Phi Delta Kappan, 39(6): 302-304 Patterso, Mullens, S, & Romano, J. (1971). Compensatory reactions to spatial intrusion. Socioinetry, 34: 114-121 Sommer, R. (1969). Personal space: The behavioural basis of design. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall Wallace, P. M. (1999). The psychology of the Internet. United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press Read More