General Psychology - Human Observation - Assignment Example

General Psychology - Human Observation Introduction: The topic of the project is “Students touching their own nose while speaking to the higher authority, or on stage, could be correlated with their anxiety”. The reason for studying this problem is, we often see that many people maintain contact with their nose unnecessarily while they talk. The researcher attempted to find out the cause behind it. His hypothesis was that the students who have anxiety and who are studying in the eleventh and twelfth standards touch their nose when they appear on stage or when they confront an audience or when they speak to their superiors. The result of the study also proves that the hypothesis came right. He tried to understand the causal effect between anxiety and their behavior. The researcher used two methodologies such as non-participatory observation and case study by way of observing a group of students while they confront an audience, during a conversation with their superiors and by conducting case studies with individual students who kept touching their nose. Finally the result of the study shows that there is a correlation between anxiety and nose-touching by the students when they meet and talk with their professors and superiors. Statement of the problem: “Nose-touching by the students when they speak to the higher authority or on stage could be correlated with their anxiety.” Cause and effect: It is often observed that students who are studying in eleventh and twelfth standards touch their nose when they speak to their professors and when they are about to speak to others from a stage or when they make a common speak. It could be found through a conversation with the students who were observed touching on their nose about their anxiety on whether they would make any mistake on the stage or would their friends tease them by pointing out their mistakes and because they are more concerned about what others think of them. Cause and effect relationship is defined as the “relationship between one variable and another or others such that a change in one variable effects a change in the other variable”. (Cause-and-effect relationship: Causal relationship, 2010, para.2). Here the cause is the anxiety in the mind that makes them to touch on their nose which is the effect. Hypothesis: Operational definition: “An operational definition identifies one or more specific observable conditions or events and then tells the researcher how to measure that event”. (Operational definitions, n.d., para.3). Here the operational definition to measure the behavior is given as touching the nose more than two times without any external cause when they speak to their higher authority or when they confront the public or their friends on stage. “A hypothesis is a tentative explanation for some kind of observed phenomenon, and is an important part of the scientific method. The scientific method is a set of steps that is commonly employed by those in scientific fields to give scientific explanations for various phenomena”. (Liden, 2010, para.1). This occurrence of behavior among children is due to their anxiety regarding life and society such as what will others think of me? Will I commit any mistake when I speak something to the public? And will others tease me about my mistake that I commit on the stage? Clarification of the term: Anxiety: “Anxiety is when you feel fearful and tense, for example if you are confronted by an angry person”. (What is anxiety, 2009, para.1). Here the students think that their superiors will be angry if they say something wrong. That is why they become nervous in front of higher authorities. Objective: To assess whether there is correlation between anxiety and the behavior of students who are studying in the eleventh and twelfth standards. Methodology: 1. Observation: The researcher observed a group of students while they confront an audience and their conversation with their superiors. The sample size was thirty in number. There were thirteen girls and seventeen boys in this group. The observation continued for a month to see the conversation of each and every student with their higher authorities. It was participatory observation. So the students did not know that they were being observed. The research was not done in a constructed space. The researcher waited to get the natural response of the students. 2. Case study: The students who have responded positively were called for the conversation. Then the researcher made a case study to assess whether there is any relation between the anxiety and nose-touching. Eighteen students were called for the case study. There were seven girls and eleven boys among them. Procedure: The researcher stated the problem at first. Then the researcher decided to conduct a study to identify the causal effect between nose-touching and anxiety. Next step was to make the objective and hypothesis very precisely and accurately. Then the researcher spent one month to collect data through observation and case study. Afterwards he found that there is a correlation between both. The procedure used in this project consists of the following points. They are statement of the problem, operational definition, objectives, hypothesis, methodology, results, discussion and conclusion. Results: The group of thirty students including thirteen girls and seventeen boys were observed to understand whether there is any relation between the two. Among them eighteen students were found with this behavior, seven girls and eleven boys. From the case study with every one who showed this behavior, the researcher came to the conclusion that there sure is a correlation between anxiety and nose-touching. Discussion: The first part of the discussion is that the researcher found eighteen students out of thirty touching their nose when they spoke to their higher authorities and in front of the audience. They have touched their nose more than two times without any external reason. They have fear when they talk to their higher authorities. They do not show this behavior when they are with their friends with whom they speak very freely and spontaneously with their friends. Seven girls and eleven boys showed this behavior. There is a slight difference in the results between boys and girls. It is more visible among boys than girls. All girls told that they fear to stand and speak in front of a crowd. It is more difficult to be in a society where every one is more educated. Four girls told that they fear their father in the same way. So their mind became addicted to unnecessary fear from their childhood since they fear their father. So they began to fear all their superiors and authorities. This fear leads them to adopt some other behavior which is not socially accepted. Even though nose-touching is not a grave misbehavior, it shows that even the minute change in our behavior has a reason or cause. Three boys out of eleven also told the same thing that they also feared their parents. But this fear is in connection with punishment. They told that they fear parents because they beat them. Therefore, it could be assessed that whenever they meet their superiors they identify them with their parents. So they fear their superiors also. Suggestion: The researcher would like to suggest one thing that there is a cause for every effect. There will be a reason for even the minute behavioral change in us. Therefore, we ourselves should try to understand the cause of our actions that would help us to mould our personality. Conclusion: This problem can be seen around the world. There are people who fear the crowd. When they talk with superiors and when they confront a crowd they would behave indifferently showing some unnecessary action with their hand or face. In this project the researcher has proved that there is a correlation between anxiety and nose-touching when the students address a crowd. The researcher did non-participatory observation method in order to get the natural behavior of the students. The method used in this project also helped to get accurate result. Reference List Cause-and-effect relationship: Causal relationship. (2010). Answers.com. Retrieved April 19, 2010, from http://www.answers.com/topic/cause-and-effect-relationship Liden, D. (2010). What is hypothesis testing? Wise Geek. Retrieved April 19, 2010, from http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-hypothesis-testing.htm Operational definitions. (n.d.). Retrieved April 19, 2010, from http://web.utk.edu/~wrobinso/540_lec_opdefs.html What is anxiety? (2009). NHS Choices. Retrieved April 19, 2010, from http://www.nhs.uk/chq/Pages/2425.aspx?CategoryID=139&SubCategoryID=1393 Read More