Paste Naturalistic Observations and Evaluation
Introduction
For my observation research in addition to their social interactions in a local Star Buck's coffee shop in Silicon Oasis Dubai, I chose to study the general public for my observational research. For the purpose of this essay, my observation focuses on witnessing and evaluating the natural environment and social communications of the general public in gourmet coffee shops. This ethnography focuses on people who tend to hang in the afternoon in coffee shops. I thought it would be interesting to see a group of people that many people did not consider to be a subculture for this paper.
Location & Description of the Establishment
The observation was carried out using a naturalistic observation approach from 5:30 pm to 7:00 pm and 2:00 pm to 3:30 pm on 14th and 15th November 2018.
First day of observation began on Wednesday November 14, 2018 at 5:30 p.m. I went to Starbucks Coffee Shop located near my house. This Star Bucks is located in the Dubai Silicon Oasis (DSO). It is the place where most of the university and IT companies are located. This place is developed specially to localize all the university in Dubai in a single area. There are also other fast food chains like KFC, Pizza Hut and Baskin Robins nearby. It has an outdoor seating section on the terrace where people are allowed to smoke when having their coffee. It has a drive thru window on one side of the building. Adjacent to the drive thru is a huge parking lot managed by road transport authority of Dubai which can accommodate approximately up to 250 cars.
I went to this Star Bucks sometimes alone and with friends. My reason to make my observation on this particular Starbucks is that it was conveniently close to where I lived. In addition, although I have been to this coffee shop in the past, I have never taken the time to observe the process of socialization around me.
As I approached the business I observed four couples seated at the tables. One couple was two young men drinking coffee and eating muffins. They appeared to be in their forties, and was dressed in business attire. They were engaged in conversation that seem to be more about business. One of the other couples was well dressed and looked to be professionals who appeared to be in their twenties. This couple was a male and female drinking coffee. The female was reading a book while talking on her I Phone. While the male used his lap top while sipping his coffee. Americans who purchase specialty coffees have a sense of style that extends to how they look, how they dress, and where they spend their leisure time. Coffee shops such as Star Bucks usually appear in popular retail areas and malls, suggesting a particular dress code for their consumers. The customer wants a tasteful setting for relaxation such as the attractive atmosphere of Starbucks.
At the third table the male and female couple seemed to be in their thirties and the female was doing all the talking and the male was listening and smiling. This couple look as if they are dating since it appears that they are trying to make a good impression to one another. The fourth couple was two young women. One is on her cell phone, while the other is drinking her cup of coffee and looking at the store window. Although there is a slight chill the sun is shining so it is a very nice day to sit outside.
When I entered the building the first thing that caught my eye was an employee cleaning the counter top where it seems that some coffee spilled on the counter. He looks up at me, smiled and says hi may I help you? I reply by saying hi, can I get a small Latte and return the smile. I looked around for a place to sit and found a table by the window that contained three chairs. On the table were the usual menus that list the different choices of coffee offered and the different types of pastries that are sold there. I looked around the room to make some quick observations and to see if I know anyone there since I come here often. I also wanted to observe how many people were inside of the coffee shop.
The inside of the Starbucks had twelve tables and they all had three chairs at each table. The customer counter was positioned to the right of the room, and there were four employees working the counter, the coffee making area, and the back room where I assumed was where they kept the supplies.
There was an African American woman sitting at a table located at the middle of the room that had a book and laptop. She seemed to be about forty five years old with curly brownish hair and slender built. She also seemed unaware of what was going on around her and was immersed in what she was doing. She sipped on the green paper cup of coffee and hardly ever looked up.
I also observed a woman that appeared to be Latino or Spanish with two little girl. The girls seemed to be about four or five year’s old. They were sitting with another Latino woman with a very little boy. The women sat drinking their coffee while the two girls seemed to be playing and each had a cookie they seemed to have what looked like hot chocolate. An older African American couple came in as I typed on my computer and observed everyone. They walked over to the counter and placed their order then left.
After I had been sitting at the coffee shop for two hours watching customers come in and out a group of eleven girl scouts appearing to be extending from 2 looked to be 9 years old, four looked 11- 12 years old and the other five seemed to be 13 to 14 years old. The girls were in uniform, and were accompanied by three Caucasian women carrying some papers and pamphlets. The three, women stood behind the girls as they ordered. Once they all retrieved their drinks, they sat at the available tables laughing and talking and I noticed that the adults sat together at one table. They smiled and had good-humored conversation.
The next person I observed was an African American man about thirty years old, wearing a plain white shirt, blue jeans and sneakers. He had short braided or twisted hair, a mustache and he wore wire rimmed glasses. He went up to the counter and spoke to the employees as if he knew them well. The cashier asked if he wanted his usual French Vanilla coffee and he replied by saying “of course†this was clearly audible because they were speaking rather loudly. After he retrieved his cup, he then sat down at the available table next to me. He sat down briefly, then stood up and walked to the counter and asked for someone who was not working that day. Then he returned to his table and proceeded to read a newspaper that he was carrying when he entered the coffee shop.
Second Day of Observation: Tuesday February 9, 2016 at 1:27 p.m.: My second day of observation started with me walking up to the business. The first thing that I noticed was a group of people sitting at four of the outside tables. One table had two young men and a woman in their twenties; possibly college students. They were dressed casual but neat in their jeans and sweat shirts. At another table was four girls possibly in their teens. They appeared to be just sitting and talking. The third table had an older couple who looks to be in their seventies, apparently husband and wife. The wife appeared to be cold because she kept rubbing her arms as if she needed a jacket. The husband was reading a paper and actually not noticing her rubbing her arms. I entered the building and ordered a Café Mocha. Once I got my order, I sat close to the window. At the beginning of the first hour on the second day of my observation a well-dressed man came in wearing a black suit, white collared shirt, adorned with a black and red striped tie. He was carrying a black briefcase and some sort of papers. He walked up to the counter and ordered a cup of coffee, went to an open table and set his briefcase and papers down. When they called out his name he walked up to the counter got the cup, then he walked back to his table and started to read over the papers while making some notations on them. He was making notations on the papers with a pencil then would consider what he had just wrote down then would sometimes circle the notations. I believe that after he had been there about 15 minutes or so, another well- dressed man entered the coffee shop and said in a cheerful voice “hi Dave†at a guess, this man appeared to be in his late fifties. He went directly to the well-dressed man shook his hand, patted him on the back and said “how are you?†The first guy immediately stood up, smiled, and shook the second guys hand while at the same time saying, â€hey it’s good to see you†while lightly touching his arm. This behavior displayed a mutual fondness. The gesture is secondary to the greeting. The gesture of shaking hands and touching is the physical, visible effect which is associated with a thought or emotional impulse. In this case pleased to be in each other’s company. These types of nonverbal behaviors indicates a person's feelings and attitudes. Posture can also be used to express an individual's level of fondness a person has for the other communicator, depending on body "openness" (Boundless Sociology, 2015). Both men then sat down at the table, had some conversation that appeared to be about business. The older guy who came in then walked to the counter, and to my surprise ordered a bottle of water. After he paid for his water, he walked back over to the table sat down and began to talk with the man named Dave. While they talked with one another they proceeded to look over the papers that the first guy had been making notes on. They remained at the table discussing softly the contents of the papers and the notations that the first guy made, while drinking their beverages. It was there paralanguage that caused me to believe these men were professional colleagues sharing ideas in agreement. Paralanguage contains vocal features, such as voice quality, pace, pitch, volume, rhythm, and intonation that convey the communicative content of the message. Paralanguage is a good example of nonverbal communication that is not observable. After sitting for four hours, I decided to grab my belongings and I got up and left.
Analysis of the interactions between people.
The regular customers of who not only frequent but hang out at specialty or gourmet coffee shops are unquestionably a subculture. They demonstrate a certain style, and authority. They reveal this by the way they seem to create their own atmosphere and with their purchase because they enter the business knowing what they will order, right down to the noticeable, customized icon on the coffee cup. Additionally, from my observations in the Starbuck’s coffee shop, I learned more about the socialization process of a subculture in this type of setting. One of the findings that came from my study is that there are no efforts made to time customers and no efforts were made to have the customers leave once the coffee drinks was finished. People absolutely like to gather at Star Bucks to socialize with one another, and to use their tables as substitute offices, a meeting place, a place for a date, or a place to study. Regarding the possible occupations of the customers observed, I could not determine.
How it felt to do the research:
I felt somewhat uncomfortable just sitting at my table, looking at people and taking notes relating to my observations. I, did not tell the workers what I was doing. It was obvious that I was doing some sort of assignment. I noticed several customers glanced at me on occasion. This made me more uneasy. I felt as though they were wondering why I was paying such close attention to what they were doing. This made me feel uncomfortable. The employees never made me feel unwanted. They were pleasant and cheerful throughout my time spent at the coffee shop.
I found this Star Bucks a good place to relax, and enjoy socialization. It has a calming atmosphere. People need to experience diverse social interaction. Social interactions in such a diverse setting allows diverse people to come together to talk and express free ideas. This is vital to the continued socialization process. Many coffee shops or Tea Houses have an extensive tradition in society as a place where individuals could conduct business meetings, socialize, or enjoy each other's company. At 3:20 PM on the first day there were at least 20 customers I had observed, including women, men and children of varying ages. In addition, to the customers who sat at courtyard tables. At 3:30 PM on the second day of my observation, there had been about six customers, who remained inside to drink their coffee and socialize. Two were female and four were male. I observed approximately 16 customers ranging in ages from teens to fifties, male and female, dressed in casual and business attire who sat out doors in the court yard. Only two sets of customers ordered their food and drinks to go. In the end at 3:45 PM two couples were still in the café. Of the customers who entered the shop a small number made purchases to go. The employees maintained pleasant, and sociable throughout the day. The customers who were asked their name provided it without hesitation and no one questioned its purpose. The practice already appeared to be a regular routine.
Summary
The end of this observation incorporated comparisons of similarities and differences, nature of the relationship of the customers, and the relationships between the employees and customers. , how it felt to do the research, explain the most difficult aspects of this research and what was found to be most interesting about the research After my observations were concluded I realized that one of the biggest advantages of this type of research is that it allows the investigator to directly observe the subject of the focus in a natural setting. Plus, it lets the observer study things that cannot be influenced. Furthermore Naturalistic Observation helps support the peripheral validity of the inquiry. It is one thing to say that the findings of a lab study will generalize to a larger population, but quite another to actually observe those findings occurring in a natural setting.
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References
Boundless. “Movement and Gesture.†Boundless Communications. Boundless, 21 Jul. 2015. Retrieved 08 Feb. 2016 from https://www.boundless.com/communications/textbooks/effective-visual-delivery-65/movement-and-gesture-261-10649/
Cherry, Kendra. "What Is Naturalistic Observation?" About.com. Retrieved 2/082016.
Galanti, G. A., (July 1999). How to do ethnographic research. Department of Anthropology, California State University, Los Angeles, USA. 171(1): 19 – 20. Retrieved fromhttp://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1305726
Miller, B., (2011).Cultural Anthropology in a Globalizing World, 2/e for EDMC, 2nd Edition
.Pearson Learning Solutions. Retrieved from <vbk: 978055878839
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