Social Group Observation
Cedric Cannon
SOC-100
University of Phoenix
April 28, 2022
Social Group Observation Form
Student’s Name _Cedric Cannon___________ Date_April 28, 2022_______
Area of observation - Shopping Mall
Characteristics Observation Numbers
Sex
Male
Female
Others
32
66
12
Race
White
African American
Asian
Caucasian
Hispanic/Latino
Biracial/Other
62
23
6
2
5
1
Age Young/Child
Teen
Adult 20-40’s
Adult 40-60’s
12
15
47
31
Senior 5
Finding
I went to a local mall near my house on Thursday afternoon around 3: 30 p.m. The shopping mall
is extensive and has different stores that sell different commodities and services, well situated at the
entrance of the town to serves all kinds of people. The mall has 16 stalls, including a supermarket,
restaurants, pubs, beauty shops, and curio shops.
People's behaviors are subject to various factors. The induvial who visited the mall expressed
various characteristics influenced by age, sex, and race. Most of the young men who came to the mall
either went to the pub or games zone. Some fewer men visited the boutique and the restaurants. The
young children accompanied a guardian, and more than half bought ice cream from the parlor. The young
girls mostly visited the boutique and the curio shops. Asians bought groceries and uncooked foodstuffs,
while the Whites bought mainly processed or ready-to-eat foods. Similar to the Asians, the African
Americans also bought the uncooked food.
People from different cultures have norms that determine their behaviors. The norms also affect
how people interact and socialize either each other. For instance, most Asians were seen to greet each
other in the hallway and have a short conversation. During the conversations, the individuals averted their
eyes as a sign of politeness. Americans, on the other hand, barely greeted each other and maintained eye
contact during conversations.
Most of the people who visited the mall were high-income families judging from their car models
and brands. The commodities were also high prices hence buying from the mall translated to their
financial capabilities. The buying of ready-to-eat food by the Americans can be attributed to their
demanding and busy schedule that limits their cooking time. Diversity in groups improves interactions
and socialization. There is increased prosperity in jobs and lesser conflicts, and individuals can understand
and appreciate others (Wakefield et al., 2019). People change their behaviors to conform to the new group
(Foryth,2018). For instance, the Asian meal is mainly composed of herbs and spices, but from the
observation, these persons include meat and meat products in their shopping. Ultimately group dynamics
help to improve relationships and cohesion in a society.
References
Forsyth, D. R. (2018).BGroup dynamics. Cengage Learning.
Wakefield, J. R., Bowe, M., Kellezi, B., McNamara, N., & Stevenson, C. (2019). When groups help and
when groups harm: Origins, developments, and future directions of the “Social Cure” perspective
of group dynamics.BSocial and Personality Psychology Compass,B13(3), e12440.
