Observe, Analyze and Report - Term Paper Example

What are the unique characteristics and behaviors of the members of each group? These are just some of the questions which one hopes to answer after observing the social groups in a school canteen. The observation day was conducted on a Monday at around lunch time. From one’s conversation with some students, one learned that it was an exam week for high school students. One sat at a corner table of the canteen. It was around 11:30am, minutes before the students’ lunch break. One was ready with a pen and paper where the observations of the groups will be written.

A few minutes later, students started arriving at the canteen, right after finishing their tests in two subjects. They will be having two more long tests in the afternoon from two different subjects. This information was volunteered by one student whom one got to talk to. The first group that arrived was a group of five Asian American girls who were talking in their native tongue while entering the canteen. They all had slanted eyes, fair complexion and dark hair. Their clothes were simple and modest.

They wore shirts, denim pants and sneakers. They all carried back packs. Aside from the back packs, they have books and folders on their arms. They sat down on one of the corner tables of the canteen and put down all their bags and books on the table. One expected them to bring out their lunch boxes or go to the counter to get their food but they did not. Instead, they were discussing in English, the test questions from the tests that they just took. After around 20 minutes of talking to each other, two of the girls stood up and went to the food counter.

The remaining three girls meanwhile brought out their lunch boxes. Two girls brought out what looks like rice and a viand. While the other one brought out a cup of instant noodles soup with chopsticks. The two girls who went to the food counter then came back with sandwiches, milk and juice. They all started to eat their lunch with conversations in between. One then focused one’s attention to a group of ten rowdy boys and girls who entered the canteen. They were obviously sports jocks as evidenced by their sports jackets.

They wore branded rubber shoes. They were masculine and handsome teenage boys. They were with some pretty blonde girls who were fashionably dressed and with make-up on. They were giggling and teasing each other, oblivious of the crowd in the canteen whose eyes all turned to them when they entered the canteen. From observation, one can conclude that two pairs from the group were in a relationship. One pair was holding hands while the other pair seems extra sweet to each other. The group chose the center table at the canteen and connected two other tables to make one long table.

Being an exam week, this group of students does not look like they care about their studies. Although they also carried books, one sees no sign of them discussing anything about the tests that they have just taken or reviewing for the other two exams for the afternoon. Theirs was a carefree attitude, the exact opposite of what one observed from the group of Asian American students. After socializing with each other, they all went to the food counter. Most of the boys got a hamburger and fries while the girls got salads and fruits.

The third group of students that one got to observe is a group of four male nerds. This is the group known in the school as the weird, intelligent guys who lacked social skills. One knows that this is the nerd group because