sociology

(Example Observation)

My observation took place on September 6th around 4p.m. in a restaurant connected to what is known as Lenox Mall in Atlanta, GA. The name of the restaurant was known as “True Kitchen.” Upon arrival I noticed the restaurant was not very busy this is always plus for me as it means no waiting for a table. Upon entering the restaurant it seemed quite and soft music could be heard in the background. I noticed that there was not much privacy offered based on the way the tables were arranged on the inside of the restaurant. It seemed as if people were seated very close to be people who may not have been in their party. I noted 4 hostesses near the entrance area who were dressed in black tops and bottoms. The host that greeted me was very pleasant and asked if I wanted to be seated inside or outside. I informed the host that I was waiting on a friend and would have a seat in the waiting area until he arrived. As I was about to take a seat, I was joined by my friend and we decided to eat outside as we both like to do what I call “people watch.” We both like to observe people’s behaviors in certain societal elements.

As the host was walking us to our outside table, I noticed that the décor of the restaurant was in an olive green and white color. Given that there were few people eating outside, we were able to decide on a table of our liking. We decided to sit at a table that offered a view to the parking area and view of the pedestrians heading in and out of the mall as well as other adjacent restaurants. After sitting for about 15 minutes and reviewing the menu, our waitress arrived and apologized for having to wait for service. It appeared neither my friend nor I took the wait personally and we moved on and requested our drinks of choice. After the waitress took our drink order, I noticed a vocal discussion of a customer who was seated behind us. The patron was rather loud as he was discussing some issue with a person on the phone and used profane language throughout his conversation. I found this quit annoying. As I attempted to disengage from hearing the conversation the other customer was having, I noticed that there were a variety of race, gender, and ethnicity of people. Although I did attempt to ignore the loud conversation being had by the loud customer, I found myself reengaging in the discussion that he was having on the phone. I stated to my friend who was dining with me that the customer who was having this discussion on the phone demonstrated a lack of table manners and social skills and he agreed.

As I looked behind me as the customer continued with his conversation, I observed the people near his tabling think how annoying it must be to have to endure such a rude conversation. Eventually the rude customer and his guest ask to be seated inside which was much to my delight. The waitress returned with our drink selection and took entrée orders. As we waited for our entrees, I noticed people wearing New Orleans Saints jerseys and Atlanta Falcon jerseys who were entering and exiting the mall, it occurred to me that there must be a football game occur at some point over the weekend. I also noticed what appeared to be members of the paparazzi taking pictures outside of a couple of hotels. I assume this was due to the fact Oprah Winfrey was conducting a “Self Discovery Empowerment” conference that weekend as well.

After completing our meal, we decided to walk down to the mall entrance to take a look in the “Nike” store. As we were walking our noticed groups of people young, old, all of different races and genders. They were dressed in attire that seemed to represent their way of life. The closer we got to the mall’s main entrance, I noticed people pulling up to valet park in various types of high end cars. This was a good observation experience as I feel I gained a lot of insight into people’s way of life as I will discuss in more detail in the next section as I share my analytical thoughts of this experience.

2. Write two paragraphs about 1) cultural patterns and 2) sociological themes you observed. Did anything noteworthy happened that deserves some reflection? You can be analytical here. Use correct terminology and use your book as a reference. (This example is over the word count required but is provided to give guidance on the structure of content. You can structure your account of the experience differently but should address the cultural patterns and sociological themes you observed).

In doing this observation, I observed several themes. I noted that the restaurant catered to a healthy life style. As the menu consisted of foods that were considered to be healthy that also included healthy drinks. The restaurant patrons consisted of males and females, in terms race consisted of black, white, and Hispanic. I found the customer who was engaged in the rude and anxious phone call to be very annoying. I think in terms of basic culture norms, his behavior was unacceptable. I noted that the people next to his table did not seem to be annoyed or made the choice to ignore his behavior. Given that it was a football game that weekend, I noted that people were wearing clothing that represented their spirit for the team they supported. It seemed that no matter the race or gender, people were able to collectively support each other based on their connection for a team. I thought this was a very interesting social behavior in that it demonstrated how people are able to move pass societal elements such as race and gender and be supportive of each other all in the name of a football team.

As I we walked towards the main entrance of the mall, I noted that it appeared that people who were valet parking seemed to have this obnoxious behavior of pretentiousness as they were dressed in designer clothing (Gucci, Prada, and Versace). From a social perspective, I wondered if this was a part of what is known as social status as it is linked to social class. Additionally, I noted that the young adults (ages 16-21) style of dressing was quite different that what is thought to be a social norm. The clothing was snug and tight fitting to the body. Their hair cuts were varied in styles that included shaved heads on the sides or funky coloring.

3. Write a concluding paragraph with your final remarks about the experience. (Should be at least 100 words)

In conclusion, I found this exercise to offer a comprehensive observation of people and their behavior. This was a very good exercise in sociological fieldwork. The exercise provided a close look at several sociological elements such that are critical in the shaping of society such as gender roles, market exchange, culture, and collective behavior. All of the aforementioned play a vital role in culture transmission which is how people receive their understanding of what culture is. Additionally this exercise highlights the important work that is done in the field of sociology which is critical to understanding society.

Reference:

Carl, J.D. (2011). Think Sociology (4th ed.). Prentice Hall, NJ: Pearson Education.

Park, M. A. (2014). Introducing Anthropology: An Integrated Approach, with PowerWeb (6th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.