Social Work Research-Observations

Social Work Research-Observations

Observation One: When the Subject Do not, they are Being Observed

The individual in this observation is a football player who plays as a quarterback in the National Football League. There is a sense of conduct that individuals must have, irrespective of race, creed, or religion. Additionally, as a contact and high-paced sport, football requires that individuals be focused and should conform to the rules of the club they play for. History has taught us that certain actions may be a form of weakness or may transpire to be a cause of ridicule, and hence it takes courage to pursue what one believes in irrespective of what others think. Chad, the football player, is an individual who has established his principles and follows them irrespective of what others may or may not say, both verbally and through actions.

I observed that before Chad leaves the locker room, he looks at his mother’s picture, kisses it, murmurs some words, ideally what seems to be a small prayer, and then puts the picture back in his locker and says audibly, “I will always make you proud mama”. As a silent observer, I realized that this picture meant so much to him and that he found inspiration from it. When Chad leaves the locker room, he tends to talk to himself. However, what seems like a talk to himself is a mantra he recites (Gottschalk, 2020). Before getting into the pitch, Chad takes a knee for five seconds and again murmurs something. This time, this seems to be a prayer for the game. Chad has never broken this routine for the five games that I have been in observation. Interestingly, none of his teammates tend to recognize what he is doing since they are busy getting ready for the game ahead.

Observation Two: When the Subject Knows They are Being Observed

When I informed Chad that I had been observing him for a while, his behavior slightly changed, and he became conscious of his surroundings. Presumably, he did not mind that he was in the same locker room as his teammates when he did, but when an outsider observed him, he tended to be rather reserved (Burles & Bally, 2018). He would hide his mother’s picture when making his virtual conversations, and his conversations with the picture would be rather subtle. He would look around to see if any other individual would notice what he was doing or saying. Additionally, when entering the football pitch, the time to take a knee was extended by three seconds since he would look around to see if anyone was watching him. When he took the knee before getting onto the pitch, his time reduced from five seconds to three seconds, and he seemed to be distracted in some way.

Comparing Data from Both Observations

When comparing the data from both observations, it is evident that Chad became somewhat conscious of his surroundings in the second observation and seemed to be afraid of continuing with his practice despite having firm principles. When Chad realized that he was being observed, there were differences in his behavior, and they turned out to be more reserved than before (Mauldin, 2020). Chad seemed to be more aware of his surroundings based on the distractions he portrayed compared to the previous routine. Perhaps Chad felt that his space had been invaded, which triggered the changes in his behavior.

References

Burles, M. C., & Bally, J. M. (2018). Ethical, practical, and methodological considerations for unobtrusive qualitative research about personal narratives shared on the internet. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 17(1), 1609406918788203. https://doi.org/10.1177/1609406918788203

Gottschalk, L. A. (2020). The unobtrusive measurement of psychological states and traits. In Text analysis for the social sciences (pp. 117-130). Routledge.

Mauldin, R. L. (2020). Foundations of social work research. Mavs Open Press.

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Observe someone doing an activity without telling them you are observing them. Write down your findings. Then, observe them again doing the same activity after informing them that you are watching them.

Write down your findings. Then, compare the data from both observations. Identify and define how their behaviors changed in each observation. Address whether the knowledge of being observed made a difference in their behaviors and how they changed. Submit your findings from both observations with your assignment.

Note: Reading is chapter 10. Thank you