When you have returned from you observation, type up your notes.  Review your notes for patterns in behavior, socio-demographic characteristics, etc.

5)      Write-up your observations using ‘thick description’ of the location (i.e. building you were in (what is the architecture like), descriptions of people there (in terms of socio-demographic characteristics: age, race/ethnicity, gender, socio-economic status), sounds, smells, temperature, time of day and week, etc);

6)      Analyze trends you identified in your observations/content analysis.  What is a possible sociological/theoretical explanation for the trends you observed?  This is best done by using sources to provide credibility to your analyses.

Part 2

7)       Based on your initial observations and written analyses, develop a specific research problem/question to be further investigated (i.e. the variation in behavior of males versus females when entering a store with a glass store front)

8)      Identify the key variables you are going to be investigating, and develop an operational definition for each of them  (this should include at least two variables, but not more than four). Your operational definitions will help to provide parameters for how record variations in your observations.

9)      Write a hypothesis for what you expect to observe in your second round of observations.

10)  Repeat observations/content analysis

a.       Social Setting – this should be done at the same social setting at approximately the same time of day (if you can do this one week later on the same day, it would be great!)

b.      Social Artifact – this should be done at the same time (if commercial block), or with the same show, or with a different issue of the same magazine , etc.

11)  When you have returned from you observation, type up your notes.  Review your notes for patterns in behavior, socio-demographic characteristics, etc. and how they corresponded with your expectations/hypothesis

12)  Describe observations using ‘thick description’ of the location (i.e. building you were in (what is the architecture like), descriptions of people there (in terms of socio-demographic characteristics: age, race/ethnicity, gender, socio-economic status), sounds, smells, temperature, time of day and week, etc);

13)  Analyze your observations in terms of how they supported/did not support your hypothesis.

14)  What is a possible sociological/theoretical explanation for the trends you observed?  This is best done by using sources to provide credibility to your analyses.

15)  Discuss the differences between your inductive observations and your deductive observations.  How did the way you were observing change?  How did what you observed change?

16)  Briefly describe your thoughts/feelings in the two steps.  Did you prefer one approach to the other?  Why/why not?

APA Format