Conclusion paper

Running Head: NATURALISTIC OBSERVATION AT MARKET HOUSE NASHVILLE 1

NATURALISTIC OBSERVATION AT MARKET HOUSE NASHVILLE 5

Naturalistic Observation at Market House Nashville

Brian Cuffie

Liberty University

Naturalistic Observation at Market House Nashville

Recently I had the opportunity to observe the natural life of the Market House Nashville in one of the busiest days. On this day, there was an event where farmers in the entire Davidson County were auctioning livestock and poultry with many opening fast food booths for the huge population converging there. Seated at the furthest right corner, I had a wide a view of the market, enabling me to observe each detail of the social interactions. The weather was bright teaming up with the noises and commotions by the many people all creating a vibrant scenery. Most people tripped in using bicycles and on foot with notably very few vehicles in the scene. Only cargo vehicles were present carrying big luggage, sheep and goats as well as chicken.

The market is constructed in the middle of the Nashville locality and is surrounded by local houses, roofed with partially corrugated sheets indicating the inhabitation by a middle level social economic class. In the market people were clustered around the different food points with streams of people moving through the market pavements to observe the exhibitions brought by the numerous traders. The buyers spoke in the same language, had the same dialects and had similar food and other products preferences indicating that they were from the same locality. Buyers on the other hand were from different states owing to their use of different accents and their different dressing patterns with the locals- the indigenous population wore clothes covering their entire body while the traders had different choices of dressings.

Market House Nashville was a busy market with different noises combining to form loud harming noises. As the day progressed fast foods were ready mainly comprising of artisanal meats, milk, and cheese among others. As the foods got ready there was a combination of sweet aromas and stenches emanating from heaps of waste products from slaughtering activities. The air was stuffy with the huge population and the limited spaces. The market has a poor drainage and waste disposal mechanism with garbage and litter spread all around. When human beings congregate, they lose their social boundaries and caution and adopt the collective way of doing things (Vagni & Cornwell, 2018). This was the case on the market day, people did not observe the personal hygiene such as washing their hands, which is characteristic of the American people.

Buying and selling was through the use of cash, characteristic of many rural American markets. Money was both in notes and coins. There was intense bargaining and negotiation on product prices between buyers and sellers. People bought farm items in bulk with others buying sheep, goats and chicken to take home. The average stay of the people in the market was around two hours, safe for a few women who took half the day catching up with their friends and discussing seemingly intimate matters. The population comprised mainly of middle aged adults and their children as well as older ones with few teens and young adults.

There were vibrant communication patterns as locals engaged each other, as if having stayed for long before meeting. People exchanged greetings using handshakes and hugs indicating the happy mood created by their meeting. Soon people would congregate in small groups with loud conversations that seemed to center on an aspect of commonality, different from any other group. Close social distances between communicators has been suggested to communicate social closeness between parties (Bolis & Schilbach, 2018). The closeness between the people during conversations indicated their prior friendships and associations. Communication was highly non-verbal with each of the participants well conversant with the meaning of each cue.

As lunch hour approached, people purchased food from the fast food sellers. There were different points from where to buy food and drinks. Social psychologists have for long suggested that even in the most simplistic communication contexts, there exists social groupings based on social classes (Cadenas & Borges, 2017). The food buying patterns communicated this perfectly where those of the higher social economic classes preferred rather less crowded booths with relatively higher costing foods as those of the low social economic classes interacted freely and ate in big groups, chatting as they took their food. This was however subtle and immediately the meal session were over the different classes would later mingle. People were courteous with several women requesting that I join the others in looking for food. One of them was concerned that I could be hungry but shy to seek for help.

Gender roles were openly defined in the market scene. Over eighty percent of the sellers were female with most of them selling foods, fruits, milk, vegetables and cereals. The few men who were selling products sold livestock, meat and were involved in transporting the products. Life seemed more of communal with each party concerned on the welfare of the other- people cautioned others from stepping on the waters and the slippery mud as if to take care of each other. From a distance, churches and schools were visible indicating the highly religious nature of the locals.

References

Bolis, D., & Schilbach, L. (2018). Observing and participating in social interactions: action perception and action control across the autistic spectrum. Developmental cognitive neuroscience, 29, 168-175. Retrieved from; https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1878929316301748

Cadenas-Borges, M., & Borges-Del-Rosal, Á. (2017). The assessment of change in social interaction through observation. Acción Psicológica, 14(1), 121-135. Retrieved from; http://scielo.isciii.es/pdf/acp/v14n1/1578-908X-acp-14-01-00121.pdf

Vagni, G., & Cornwell, B. (2018). Patterns of everyday activities across social contexts. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 115(24), 6183-6188. Retrieved from; https://www.pnas.org/content/115/24/6183