BOP+requirements


 * Behavior Observation Project ("B.O.P.")**

To learn how a sociologist thinks and gathers social data, you will select and observe a distinct subgroup that currently exists among the many students currently enrolled at YHS. Select a group that is small enough to be studied in great detail and yet large enough to contain some diverse people and interesting behavior. You may not use this sociology class or faculty groups. I will give you a handout that specifically identifies what social behaviors to observe. A typical group of 4 or 5 Human Behavior students usually ends up studying a group of 4 or 5 students in the library, hallways or cafeteria. You will have just two weeks to gather information and an additional week to write up your report. It is due at the end of the third full week of school.

**Requirements for Behavior Observation Projects**

**1) Formal title and Abstract (both on cover sheet with your names, class, date)**

**2) Identification of Group:** in general sense; describe specific members: hair, clothes, age, grade, personalities. What style?

**3) Conditions of Observation:** Hawthorne effect; detached vs. participant observation, verstehen; diagram showing observation, ethnography; descriptive research that’s objective and systematic.

**4) Physical Arrangement of Group:** Make (A) Sociogram of who speaks to whom, and (B) Diagram of typical “seating” arrangements or several if they keep changing. Label “Fig. 1” etc.

**5) Interrelationships of Members** Refer to #4 diagrams. sociogram, dyads, triads, expressive, instrumental, laissez-faire leaders, group think, primary vs. secondary, idiosyncrasy credit, boundary maintenance. What patterns do you see?

**6) Communication:** Refer to #4 diagrams. Verbal--humor, sociogram, what do they talk about? recurrent themes. Non-verbal--gestures, “looks,” poses, eyes, body language; how they sit or stand; does it vary with each other vs. non-group members?

**7) Group’s relationship to other groups** in-group vs. out-group; status, variant subculture, deviant subculture, boundary maintenance, status marginality.

**8) Purpose of Group** Are they a group? manifest vs. latent function, social forces, (sociological imagination) Maslow’s hierarchy, group think

**9) Perspectives**: Analyze the group in terms of the three fundamental perspectives of sociology. Give examples of symbolic interaction, functionalism and the conflict interpretations of the group. Which perspective works best to explain their overall group behavior?

**10) Summary:** Remind the reader of what group you were studying and then pull all of your ideas together into a cohesive interpretation of the group’s purpose and identity. How cohesive is the group? Are they integrated into YHS culture or marginal? What social forces influence them and how do they respond to them? Where do they fit into the social hierarchy of Yarmouth High School?

**11) Appendix:** Attach two printed pages from the Googledoc which your group has created to record data. (Be careful not to use the students’ real names.)

**Other important reminders:** A) DO NOT BE ARROGANT AND OPINIONATED AS YOU OBSERVE AND DRAW CONCLUSIONS ABOUT OTHERS. You will have difficulty passing this assignment if you fail to be objective. The key is to use //verstehen//.

B) Use the headings given above as the titles for the specific sections of your report. Those titles should be in some distinctive font. Keep the same order of sections as they are listed above.

C) You must list the names of each student who wrote or co-wrote each of the specific sections. Put the names right after the title of each sub-section of the report.

D) Include an overall title page with the overall title; a clever sub-title that hints at the purpose of the group you’ve studied; the abstract also goes here with your names, your class period, and the date.

E) Be sure to incorporate as many key vocabulary words as possible from the class notes and reading assignments. Use them correctly in the appropriate context of your analysis. Put these key words in **bold font**. Use the same font throughout your report.

F) Don’t forget that you are a group even as you study a group. I will be observing how well you function as a group as you do this. This is especially important in regard to the perils of groupthink.