Choose a public place such as a shopping mall, a library, a restaurant, or any other place where you are not participating in the activities you are observing. Record your observations in field notes. Pay attention to and describe the following in detail:
- The setting (layout of the space, arrangement of furniture, decor, “feel,” and so forth),
- The people (describe individuals and groups, detail behaviors)
- The action (what are the relationships between people and/or groups?).
- Then expand the description of one particular person at some point in the observation.
By Day 7, turn in:
- A 4-6 page summary of what you observed.
- A few paragraphs of what you learned about yourself as a researcher.
- Any electronic field notes you took, as an Appendix to the paper (or a brief description of your handwritten notes).
Morrow, S. L. (2005). Quality and trustworthiness in qualitative research in counseling psychology. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 52(2), 250-260. doi:10.1037/0022-0167.52.2.250 [Retrieved from EBSCOhost.]
Creswell, J. W. (2009) Research design: Qualitative & quantitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches (3rd ed). Thousand Oaks: Sage.
Merriam, S. B., Tisdell, E. J. (2016). Qualitative Research: A Guide to Design and Implementation (4th ed). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
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