Human Observation

As a child, I unraveled nature’s beauty and existence. Each new experience brought me feelings of excitement and joy, sparkling my imagination and igniting my curiosity. It all seemed so large back then. Oceans appeared endless as they reached towards the horizon. Treetops seemed to make friends with the puffy-looking clouds as they soared to the sky. Over the years however, as I have grown older and life has become more complex, I am beginning to think less and less about the natural world around me. I glimpse sunset stuck in rush-hour traffic trying to return school after debate practices and only listen to the pitter-patter of the rain when there’s a storm outside. Forests and oceans seemed less appealing as they became intertwined with the urban development. In a way, I was becoming more and more distanced from the so-called nature. So, with an overwhelming desire for adventure and to escape the masses, my family and I drove to Big Bend National Park in Southwest Texas last summer.

The topic studied in this naturalistic observational research study was called “pick me up.” The purpose of this study was to place a note card on the ground labeled “pick me up” and observe the type of person that picked the card up. The research question was “Which gender will pick up the card more and which gender will react more?” The researchers had three hypotheses: (1) More women will smile when reading the card than men, (2) More men than women will notice the card and continue walking, and (3) More men than women will notice the card.

My observation locations are Starbucks and restaurant. I chose them as my observation location because those are the places where people normally talk, study, socialize and interact in a casual manner.

Not a moment later, a hideous troll crosses the leaf littered path; it’s as macabre as a ghoul, if not more. It grumbles to itself, and scratches it’s extensive, blotchy stomach. With it comes a hideous stench of methane and decay (only the Gods knew what it had been up to). It suddenly stops at the edge of the path. Every animal holds it’s – perhaps – final breath. The grotesque creature then plunders on; animals begin to sing gleefully again, and the wind whispers vociferously once more.

As far as I can remember I was always enthusiastic about exploring the world outside. Nearly every morning I would walk onto the worn wooden porch down the pebbled driveway and squint into the glimmering sun reflected in the stream below. Ducking under tangled branches of old growth trees and carefully climbing over tiny saplings I would make my way down the steep bank of the stream. There I would find myself searching for more than I knew. The sense of wonder and sheer enjoyment of my daily excursions were punctuated with a deep satisfaction upon every new discovery. This setting is where I learned about the cycle of life as I witnessed tadpoles transform to frogs and hatchlings break free of their shells. Learning was as natural as life itself. It was never a chore, but that

Soldiers are trained to be altruist even when they don’t agree with it they are taught a sense of self service and duty and no matter how they feel about someone or what the person looks like they are going to help. Males and females soldiers the same.

I breathe in the warm air as I gaze out at my beautiful home. So wide I’m not even certain I’ve seen all it’s beauty that lies beneath. I can see the shadows of tiny fish swimming above the soft sand. They are so small they look as though they are microscopic. I reach down and run my hands through the wet substance that is so thick that my muscles grow tired the deeper my hand goes. As I lift my hand up, the sand makes a cloud of powder, slowly drifting through the water. The waters are so calm as though nothing could anger them. Each wave slowly rocking back and forth to the rhythm of the sea. I lower my fins beneath the water and a coolness rushes through me as I feel the cold, wet water. The soft breeze brushes against my skin with the scent of an indescribable satisfaction. Hours passed as the warmth of the sun seemed to just soak into my skin and relax my mind.

After an individual goes through all the changes of growing up they start to reach middle adulthood. In middle adulthood humans continue to make changes. However, these changes are different from any of the changes that an individual has been through before. Through observation, a lot can be earned about an individual on many different levels. The observer is able to analyze the individual on a biological, cognitive, and psychosocial point of views.

He emphasises on the presence of and an enveloping satisfaction through multi stimuli in nature; giving an example of a trek through a forest, and the feeling of being within the space of a clearing invoked by peripheral vision, complete with the crunching of leaves under the feet and sap smell that surrounds us through the trek.

Life is like a white canvas we could paint on. I imagine myself standing in front of a huge canvas, with my mind set to draw the vivid image within myself. If the canvas is our life, all the years before college is the preparation time to get the colors we need to paint on the white board. Before showing what colors I have, these are the processes that led me to acquire them. The base of my canvas starts out in Japan, in the city of Yokohama where I lived for seventeen years. As a mixed child between an African-American father and a Japanese mother, my personalities were made from two distinct cultures. My youth were full of lively activities as I learned to respect everyone different or alike, and understood perspectives unlike mine. This

The act of people watching, by definition would be going into a public environment in which people are actively living their lives and simply to observe one 's interactions with their surroundings. This is typically all without permission, or knowledge of all parties involved. Locations and times play an important role in finding a diverse culture and broad spectrum of people in the public. Normal circumstances would lead us to believe between the hours of nine to five would be a slow time, however, in various circumstances this can be a vibrant time. With an Anthropological mind set, a local coffee shop boasts a wonderful venue for an afternoon of observation.

Observational research is type of correlational (i.e., nonexperimental) research in which a researcher observes ongoing behavior. There are a variety of types of observational research, each of which has both strengths and weaknesses. These types are organized below by the extent to which an experimenter intrudes upon or controls the environment.

Social interaction, one of the few social necessities of humans, is the backbone of human behavior. Consequently, I observed the different social interactions between the people who took public transportation and the students in the main lounge of my dorm. The reason I decided to compare the two was due to their differences in setting as well as the varying levels of familiarity between the actors. The dorm lounge was the hangout of the actors (students). The lounge promoted social interactions because the chairs faced towards each other. In comparison, the bus was the polar opposite when it came to the physical setting since it fostered a sense of solidarity. The placement of the chairs were in rows so that the only thing that the actors (working class individuals and students) would be facing the back of the person sitting in front of them. Before starting this experiment, I hypothesized that the majority of the commuters would likely keep to themselves, whereas the students in the lounge, due to familiarity, would converse with other students. One of the biggest challenges that I came across during the bus ride was that many people kept to themselves and had few interactions. In contrast, the students in the lounge made it difficult to keep accurate data as they tried to talk to me.

As I left behind the somber forest, I now recognized an appreciation for nature that I did not realize I had. I now knew there was more to nature than just trees and animals, but also I found the

The first step that one must take before they can commune with nature is to step into the natural world. However, one does not simply walk into the woods and begin speaking with the