This is a qualitative study observing a secondary group within a formal organization. The social institution chosen for the place of observation is a middle school within the Rockford area. The class I have chosen to conduct my observation is in an 8th grade Language Arts classroom; the purpose of this class is to develop the reading and writing skills students will need to progress into higher levels of education.
My first observation took place on Wednesday, November 16th from 2:43 P.M. to 3:30 P.M. This class takes place at the end of the day and the class is small; only eight students are in the class. Of the eight students, there are four males and four females. Two of the females and two of the males are people of color. Some of the …show more content…
She is quite tall for her age (around 5’8”) and seems to be slightly overweight. She has long brown hair that would land around her waist if it was not up in a ponytail. Her hair is damp, so she must have had gym class in the previous class period. She is wearing dark-washed skinny jeans and a grey leather jacket zipped up with a white infinity scarf. Her shoes are white Converse low-tops that need washing since the toes are turning brown from dirt. Participant 2 is a 13 or 14-year-old African American female. She is also tall for her age; she and Participant 1 are about the same height. Participant 2 is thin, with almost an athletic body type; she has long legs and broader shoulders than most young teenage females. She is wearing blue jeans, a green t-shirt with a black scarf with a pair of grey sneakers. She carries a pink backpack with white polka dots. Her hair is a dark golden brown color and she wears her hair up in a ponytail. Participant 3 is an African American male about 13 or 14 years old. He seems to be shorter than some of the others in the class. The participant looks to be around 5’6” and has an athletic build. His hair is black and cut short. He is wearing blue pants, a blue and yellow Nike pull-over hoodie, and black Nike athletic …show more content…
This time Participant 1 is absent from class, most likely due to Thanksgiving being in a few days. The participants’ seating arrangements have changed; Participant 3 has moved to Participant 1’s desk and Participant 2 has been moved to the back row by the teacher’s desk. Participant 3 is wearing a blue hoodie, sagging jeans with athletic shorts underneath and white athletic shoes. His pants hang halfway down his thighs and he pulls them up as soon as the teacher tells him to; the pants start falling again however. This prompts one of the other boys to question the point of Participant 3 to even wear the jeans. Participant 2 has her hair up and curly, and she is wearing a grey sweater, skinny jeans, and black Converse knock-offs. She has a blue balloon with her, and she is easily distracted by it. Participant 2 becomes angry when another student suggests that the teacher pops the balloon so she will not be so
My first observation took place on Wednesday, November 16th from 2:43 P.M. to 3:30 P.M. This class takes place at the end of the day and the class is small; only eight students are in the class. Of the eight students, there are four males and four females. Two of the females and two of the males are people of color. Some of the …show more content…
She is quite tall for her age (around 5’8”) and seems to be slightly overweight. She has long brown hair that would land around her waist if it was not up in a ponytail. Her hair is damp, so she must have had gym class in the previous class period. She is wearing dark-washed skinny jeans and a grey leather jacket zipped up with a white infinity scarf. Her shoes are white Converse low-tops that need washing since the toes are turning brown from dirt. Participant 2 is a 13 or 14-year-old African American female. She is also tall for her age; she and Participant 1 are about the same height. Participant 2 is thin, with almost an athletic body type; she has long legs and broader shoulders than most young teenage females. She is wearing blue jeans, a green t-shirt with a black scarf with a pair of grey sneakers. She carries a pink backpack with white polka dots. Her hair is a dark golden brown color and she wears her hair up in a ponytail. Participant 3 is an African American male about 13 or 14 years old. He seems to be shorter than some of the others in the class. The participant looks to be around 5’6” and has an athletic build. His hair is black and cut short. He is wearing blue pants, a blue and yellow Nike pull-over hoodie, and black Nike athletic …show more content…
This time Participant 1 is absent from class, most likely due to Thanksgiving being in a few days. The participants’ seating arrangements have changed; Participant 3 has moved to Participant 1’s desk and Participant 2 has been moved to the back row by the teacher’s desk. Participant 3 is wearing a blue hoodie, sagging jeans with athletic shorts underneath and white athletic shoes. His pants hang halfway down his thighs and he pulls them up as soon as the teacher tells him to; the pants start falling again however. This prompts one of the other boys to question the point of Participant 3 to even wear the jeans. Participant 2 has her hair up and curly, and she is wearing a grey sweater, skinny jeans, and black Converse knock-offs. She has a blue balloon with her, and she is easily distracted by it. Participant 2 becomes angry when another student suggests that the teacher pops the balloon so she will not be so