What are the different participants’ status and goals in the interactions you observe and how do you know this?
Behavioral Observation Assignment: This is a 2-3 page paper, the goal of which is to provide insight into the relationships of individuals you observe. You will perform a 30-60 minute observation of an interaction in a public forum (as sporting event, a parent-teacher night at school, activities at a coffee shop, observations of an area from a park bench, etc.). What can you tell about the relationships between people (power, authority, social or kin relationships) by the way they interact (proximity, spoken and non-verbal communication). What are the different participants’ status and goals in the interactions you observe and how do you know this? Describe the setting of your observation, what you observe of this particular event, and what this tells you about the broader culture (see Canvas for the grading rubric and an example of this assignment).(Goal: collection and analysis of data using anthropological knowledge and methods and the application of theoretical principles and written communication of the results)
A detailed rubric and an example of a behavioral observation paper can be found in Modules
Rubric