Participant Observation
Lunch Room Behavior
Note: Paper does a good job of explicating the social rules – more explanation could have been provided, but the rules are very clear. I’ve bolded how course concepts were properly applied.
"Don’t rest your elbows on the table!"
"Chew with your mouth closed!"
"Clean up after yourself!"
"Push your chair in when you leave the table!"
Parents try to instill certain mannerisms in their children in order to insure that they will grow up to be socially acceptable. Table manners are an important example of some of these lessons. But how many of these "rules" follow us to college? Out in the "real world," how often do we adhere to these guidelines set by our parents and, at a larger scale, society? These questions directed the topic of my observations. What are the social "rules" that govern individuals when they eat in public?
This question framed my observations by allowing me to focus on only certain types of behavior. I decided that I was not interested in what people chose to eat or discuss at the table. More importantly, I wanted to observe the actions that are determined as socially acceptable outside of the home, where time is precious and politeness is, sometimes, a rarity. My question changed a great deal over the course of time. I first set out to observe all the mannerisms that people held while eating a meal. However, I realized how difficult it was to keep track of all the eating habits of many people simultaneously. I operationalized my topic by narrowing the amount of significant table mannerisms that would count in recording my observations. I repeated this process a couple of times until I had a topic I could manage. My question then became "What social patterns and rules do people abide by while leaving their table?"
In order to observe these actions the closest, without the complications of restaurant etiquette, I chose to visit the DePaul cafeteria in the Lincoln Park Campus. My observations took place at the busier hours of the day, lunchtime (noon to 1:00 p.m.) and dinnertime (5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.). These time periods are not only busy due to the number of people eating at the cafeteria, but also because they were high socializing times. Consequently, I was able to make observations of table manners based upon many patterns of socialization and isolation. I not only observed people eating alone, but also pairs and groups and the different combinations that they could leave the table. My sample, then, was a convenience sample. The people who decided to eat in the cafeteria became my research subjects. This non-representative sampling was extremely quick, easy and cheap. This type of sampling fit my research because the outcome of my project did not have a huge, or even slightly large, impact on society. However, because my sample was not random, I cannot generalize any of my findings past the specific sample that I observed.
The behaviors I decided to observe finally took shape once I sat down to observe. The three actions I chose to watch while someone left the table were: (1) if and when they cleaned their table. By clean, I mean removing any garbage from their eating area and throwing it in the garbage. (2) when they chose to pick up any articles they may have brought with them to the table and (3) if and when people pushed in their chairs. I did indicate whether the subjects were male or female. However, this information had little or no effect on the outcomes and patterns that developed through the course of the study.
My observations were based on the method of the Complete Observer. I did not participate in the study, nor did I interact with any of the subjects that were being observed. I pretended that I was doing my homework so as not to attract attention to myself. The definite advantage to approaching this assignment using the complete observer method was that there was no reactivity of any kind. I did not have the opportunity to cause things or events to happen, nor did any of the subjects change their natural behavior due to my observations. However, the disadvantage of using this method was that I did not have access to private information. Without such information, I might have lapsed into making selective observations. After observing for a long period of time, I probably formed opinions about what was going to happen before they actually happened. My perceptions may have influenced my observations. The insider perspective may have provided information on family background and how certain individuals were raised. Table manners may be directly linked to ethnicity and culture, of which I would not be informed. Since I did not know the insider perspective, I could I could only guess at why such patterns occurred.
Many patterns of behavior evolved out of my research. As I said before, gender had no bearing on the outcomes of my research. Both genders fell into the same general pattern. The factor that seemed to influence the results the most was group size. The amount of people eating in relation to the number of people leaving the table had a great impact on whether the three things I was looking for occurred.
· First of all, the pattern for individuals eating alone was as follows:
1) All grabbed their bags and other articles before throwing out their garbage,
2) Each individual cleaned their table.
3) When leaving alone, chairs were not pushed in.
The only exception I noticed was when the person was sitting close to the garbage can. The individual would first throw their garbage out, then go back for their belongings.
· When there were two or more people eating, I noticed the patterns change according to whether or not the people leaving left others behind still sitting at the table. The results were as such:
1) If the people left an empty table behind, the rules for individuals eating alone apply except when:
a) One of the individuals pushed their chair in, then the rest of the group also pushed their chair in if they noticed their friend did.
b) Someone in the group brought all the garbage to the trash, that person left their belongings at the table until they came back.
2) If the people leaving the table left others behind sitting at the table:
a) collected their belongings first
b) pushed in their chairs
c) took their garbage away from the table
These general rules exist only in my sample and cannot be applied to the general public due to the fact that I used a non-representative sample. However, one can assume that these patterns exist for a purpose and that they serve a function in our society. It seems that proper table etiquette and the "rules" that parents teach their children go out the door the minute the kids leave home. The one rule that seems to have lasted is to clean up after yourself. This is probably due to the fact that our society looks badly upon those who litter or are complete slobs. Proper manners, however, seem not to matter when no one else is watching, which would explain why individuals eating alone do not push in their chairs. On the other hand, when people are watching you as you leave, no one wants to seem "out-of-step." That was demonstrated when people would follow the example of their company. If one person pushed their chair in, the others were sure to follow. As far as collecting one’s belongings, people tend to do what is the least time consuming or safe. That is why most people picked up their articles before they left the table, so they would not have make an extra trip to the table and so no one had the opportunity to steal their articles. These rules serve as a guideline for our behavior. Similar to all societal "rules," these table rules unite us in what is acceptable behavior and what is unacceptable behavior. I believe people have an unconscious desire to fit into the norm. Sometimes we act like sheep following the herd. No one wants to be the "odd ball" so we all look toward each other for the "rules" that govern a certain situation. My observations of table mannerisms help to demonstrate this hypothesis.
If I were to make my observations again, I would try to concentrate on other variables that might influence the actions of individuals. I did not consider race or ethnicity, financial backgrounds of individuals or other factors that may directly or indirectly determine behaviors. I would like to see how people behave from a different perspective, perhaps from a participant-observer point of view. All in all, I am happy with my research project and the observations made. Distinct patterns arose from a very common event of simply eating lunch and leaving the table. Who could have guessed?!