Public Observation and Insight on The Coffee Shop Business - Coursework Example

 Describe the results of your observation The place where the observation took place was in a coffee shop that was located in the central business district of the city. This location was filled with people and hence the numbers of people coming into the coffee shop were many based on the human and vehicle traffic outside and everyone being in a hurry to go somewhere. The coffee shop was located in the ground floor of building hosting several company offices and this explains the people that came to the shop and their dress code. The location in the business district also explains the noisy environment that the diners had to endure while taking their coffee as well as snacks but some seem not to even notice the background noise at all. The coffee shop had both an indoor and an outdoor space that seemed to be used depending on the weather outside. The outside part since the coffee shop was located on the ground floor of a building was nothing more than a patio as it housed fewer tables and chairs but it was still located on the outside part and was good for hot weather. For example the observation took place in the morning hours and it was still a bit chilly hence the customers sat on inside part of the shop. By the time the observation was over, the weather had started warming up and I left two people who were sitting outside on the patio enjoying the hustle and bustle of the city outside (Babbie, 2015). The inside part of the coffee shop and which was way larger than the outside, was shaped in a rectangular manner. The outside space was more of a square than a rectangle and hence the reason it was smaller. The coffee shop was not that huge as based on where I sat, I counted only ten tables each of which sat four or six people depending on the size of the table. ON my way out, I counted at least six tables outside with four seats on each table. The coffee shop can therefore be said to host an average of eighty people give or take a few. This can still be said to be not so big and not so small of a place. The coffee shop was crammed with as mentioned above tables and chairs. The tables were full of bowls containing sugar and creamers and utensils. There was also a space at back of the door where there were coat racks and places to hang caps as well as keep walking sticks or other larger luggages the diners may be carrying. At one corner of the show was located a vending machine with snacks not available in the menu which people could purchase to go with such as packets of peanuts and potato chips among other snacks. There was also a counter where orders were made and where the customers that wanted coffee on the go had to stand in line and await to be served. The arrangement was in such a way that the customers entering the coffee shop were not hindered by the coat and luggage racks as the door opened on the outside. The counter was located a way from the tables and there were line belts like those similar in some banks that guided people to the counter and away from the counter towards the exit doors. There was no chance of therefore customers coming in and going out bumping into each other. The vendor machine was in a corner near the coat and luggage racks which made it easier for those purchasing the snacks to take them and put them in their luggages and then using the exit door to leave without bothering the other diners. The people who mostly dined in the coffee shop wore business suits or shirts and official trousers with a tie usually loosened a bit at the neck but still giving the impression of the person heading to company offices. Majority of them also came in carrying bags and briefcases which they left the luggage area which can be assumed to be office documents or laptops which they carried to work each morning. The same can be said for the ladies who wore skirts or pants suits with high heels and carrying handbags and other bags as well. They brought about a business atmosphere in the coffee shop which was filled with business jargon and talk about politics and stock market. These people all worked in offices. The people coming in were individuals but seemed to be regulars who had their preferred tables and dined as a group. A table would normally start with an individual or two and then slowly fill up with others who seem to know each other and who it is assumed worked together based on their office talks and mostly gossip. Those that were mostly individuals and loners chose the corner tables and sat alone observing others like I was doing or simply reading newspapers. The other individuals that were alone ordered their breakfast and went away hence no time to sit down and chitchat as they were alone. The people in groups seemed more comfortable to be in the shop and took longer to finish up their breakfast. The people that were eating their breakfast alone were majorly on their phone scrolling but not calling anyone. The other group was reading newspapers or business magazines while eating their breakfast and the rest were observing the rest of the diners or lost in space in their own private thoughts as they had no one to talk to. The other diners that were in groups were chitchatting and laughing loudly and seemed to be gossiping while taking their breakfast. Others were in groups but seemed to be discussing serious matter based on the way they leaned forward and talked in low voices while others wrote in their notebooks and typed on their phones or tablets while still responding in the discussion. These created the business atmosphere. This was the ideal location to carry out my observation without drawing any attention to myself or arousing any suspicion. All I had to do was dress like the diners and take a corner table and simply pretend to be texting on my phone and I would completely blend in and get all the observation I needed. A less busy coffee shop would have made the rest of the diner notice me observing them or made me out as an outsider but this was highly unlikely in a busy coffee shop located on the central business district where anyone was bound to enter and order coffee or breakfast. A good observer does not let others pay attention to him or her as this would compromise the research. Since I could not hear what conversations the people in groups were having, I was biased to assumed they were gossiping as this is most likely what a group of women together do and especially when they huddle together and tend to whisper while looking at somebody else and then laugh out loud. The other bias was likely drawn from the attire people were wearing making me assume they worked in offices and specifically the offices in the building because they took breakfast in the coffee shop on the ground floor. This was a bias against the other professionals that they cannot wear official wear and suits to their workplaces and this might affect the results of my observation and cloud my research conclusion (Leavy, 2014). The only way to manage the first bias is to try to hear what the people in groups are talking about which might mean changing seating position and moving closer to them and do so without raising suspicion or appearing to stalk them. The other way is to remain open minded and not judge the profession of people simply from the attire they are donning but rather seek other behaviors and characteristics that might provide other clues of their profession (Silverman, 2009). Lastly, the best way to manage or even completely avoid biasness when making observations is to simply be objective. This means that any observations made and conclusions drawn will be purely carried out after verification with evidence and no prior personal experiences can be used in the conclusion (Weathington, Cunningham & Pittenger, 2010). My role as a researcher in this setting of a coffee shop is to simply make observation about the location and the people and make deductions about that after the research has been completed (Merriam, 2009). I am to simply remain a passive observer and not engage people in conversation, ask questions from the study group or even carry out any activity that might compromise the research in any way by blowing away my cover as another diner eating breakfast and on the way to work (Stake, 2010). The observation will enable research conclusions to be based on observation of verbal and non-verbal behavior and action which will lead to a verifiable and valid conclusion (Flick, 2009). The context of the research is on the location of the observation, the space it is located in and how the interaction within the people in that location is (whether it is individual or there is group interaction) (Luton, 2010). This context therefore demands the research to be set up in a location where the space can allow interaction to take place and also where the environment can shadow the researcher to make the observations without being picked out by the rest of the people and have his cover blown. The context will require the research to have an understanding of the location and what is to be expected which will enable proper drawing of the conclusion (Ary, Jacobs, Sorensen & Walker, 2013). Correlate results of your observation to the roles of bias, context, and the researcher in qualitative research Qualitative research is simply based on observation and other research techniques that do not have any numerical involvement (Leavy, 2014). This research is an ideal qualitative research as observation does not yield any numerical data. The context of the research which is being carried out in a coffee shop only demand to know about the interaction of people in such a location and what space has to do with it (Guest, Namey & Mitchell, 2012). Since the location is a relatively medium sized coffee shop located in the central business district and its diners are dressed in business attires, it is assumed that they work in offices which are a bias. This bias leads to assumptions that may interfere with the final conclusion as well as generalization of the research and hence affect the whole research results in the end. Proper remembrance of the context of the research as well as management of the bias can lead to correct results. References Ary, D., Jacobs, L., Sorensen, C. & Walker, D. (2013). Introduction to Research in Education. New York: Cengage Learning. Babbie, E. (2015). The Practice of Social Research. New York: Cengage Learning. Flick, U. (2009). An Introduction to Qualitative Research. New York: SAGE. Guest, G., Namey, E. & Mitchell, M. (2012). Collecting Qualitative Data: A Field Manual for Applied Research. New York: SAGE Publications. Leavy, P. (2014). The Oxford Handbook of Qualitative Research. New York: Oxford University Press. Luton, L. (2010). Qualitative Research Approaches for Public Administration. New York: M. E. Sharpe. Merriam, S. (2009). Qualitative Research: A Guide to Design and Implementation. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons. Silverman, D. (2009). Doing Qualitative Research. New York: SAGE. Stake, R. (2010). Qualitative Research: Studying how Things Work. New York: Guilford Press. Weathington, B., Cunningham, C. & Pittenger, D. (2010). Research Methods for the Behavioral and Social Sciences. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons. Read More