Identifying Sociology
Participant Obvservation
Sociology is the systematic study of humans in groups. There are different ways to study these groups of humans and most sociologists are aware of the different ways. As a student studying sociology the class was given a task to observe human interactions in groups and relate what I found out to what I have learned so far. Out of the many different ways to study groups we had to use participant observation, systematically studying people while joining them in activities. I decided to join and observe the public in one of the most well-known coffee houses in the world, Starbucks.
I chose Starbucks because it’s a very popular place and hardly ever empty. It’s also a place where I would blend in well, appearing as a college student away at his studies. The Starbucks I chose was connect to a Barnes and Noble bookstore, which made the groups a little more interesting. Looking back at my notes I noticed there is another culture as soon as you step thru the doors of that coffee house, there’s a way you think when you order your drink, in which order to say what type of milk or what size you’d like. There’s ways of acting in Starbucks, you automatically walk up to the register and form a line even when there isn’t a marking to show you in what direction the line must go. And there are most certainly material objects within the doors of this coffee house. Thus I must make the statement that Starbucks has its own culture.
There was one woman who appeared to be in her late forties who I just happened to be observing, she looked normal, calm, cool, and collected. But watching her order her drink and the way she was staring at the menu seemed as if she was new to this coffeehouse, the barista serving did not care to ask if she had ever been there. They just assume everyone knows what is in Starbucks and how to order, but it was becoming quite obvious that this woman did not. She did manage to put a drink order in but just stepped back and I almost
Sociology is the systematic study of humans in groups. There are different ways to study these groups of humans and most sociologists are aware of the different ways. As a student studying sociology the class was given a task to observe human interactions in groups and relate what I found out to what I have learned so far. Out of the many different ways to study groups we had to use participant observation, systematically studying people while joining them in activities. I decided to join and observe the public in one of the most well-known coffee houses in the world, Starbucks.
I chose Starbucks because it’s a very popular place and hardly ever empty. It’s also a place where I would blend in well, appearing as a college student away at his studies. The Starbucks I chose was connect to a Barnes and Noble bookstore, which made the groups a little more interesting. Looking back at my notes I noticed there is another culture as soon as you step thru the doors of that coffee house, there’s a way you think when you order your drink, in which order to say what type of milk or what size you’d like. There’s ways of acting in Starbucks, you automatically walk up to the register and form a line even when there isn’t a marking to show you in what direction the line must go. And there are most certainly material objects within the doors of this coffee house. Thus I must make the statement that Starbucks has its own culture.
There was one woman who appeared to be in her late forties who I just happened to be observing, she looked normal, calm, cool, and collected. But watching her order her drink and the way she was staring at the menu seemed as if she was new to this coffeehouse, the barista serving did not care to ask if she had ever been there. They just assume everyone knows what is in Starbucks and how to order, but it was becoming quite obvious that this woman did not. She did manage to put a drink order in but just stepped back and I almost