reflection DMV essay

Reflection Paper
Describe your data collection experience. Where did you observe and why? I completed my observation at the DMV in Novato. I sat in the back row at the chair closest to the entrance. I took the complete observer role and really enjoyed it. I learned a lot about people in the DMV from conducting this observation. Now when I go out and observe I understand what to look for and I can use what I’ve learned and apply it to my field notes. One of the most interesting things I found while conducting this experiment were the amount of people on their phones. It’s not always the best thing to stereotype, but I found that the younger the person waiting, the more likely they were to be on their phone the entire time. Many young people didn’t even look up, not even once. I chose the DMV to write my field notes because it is a very hectic place and there is a lot of human interaction going on. I find the DMV to be one of the best places to do observational research. What I find to be very cool about the DMV is that it is a place where everyone needs to go at some point. The crowd is always very diverse and I like that aspect as well.
Describe the observations themselves. Did you encounter any difficulties or unexpected circumstances while observing in the setting? I found my observations to be quite easy due to the fact that there was so much going on. There are a lot of emotions going on at the DMV because as I learned through my research it is a place where nobody wants to be. I did not encounter any difficulties or unexpected circumstances while observing in the setting.
Describe your field notes writing experience. Did you encounter any difficulties or unexpected circumstances in writing up your notes? My field note writing experience I found to be very interesting. I have never been a fan of writing long papers but I found the field note experience to be much more bearable. I have a little bit of everything within my field notes and I believe I really captured the full experience that someone gets when they go to the DMV. I am sure that there are things missing in them or that I can expand on, especially when it came to my second field note observation. I found not using jotted notes to be much more difficult when writing up a field note. I feel that I put a lot of interpretations within my field notes. The only thing I found to be difficult while conducting my observation was writing down the jotted notes because I did not have a good writing surface.

How were your two sets of notes influenced due to your use of jotted notes or mental notes? My jotted notes that I used for field notes number one influenced my two sets of notes more. I was able to get everything down on paper and it made writing the field notes much easier. When it came to writing my second set of field notes I tried to use an instant replay strategy and remember everything that happened from the moment I walked into the DMV to the moment I left. I definitely left a few things out but I believe I was able to get the majority of my second experience down. Thankfully I have a good memory and found the mental notes to be just as affective.

If you had to design an observation-based research project, do you think you would prefer to use jotted notes or mental notes? Why? Benefits and limits of each? I would prefer to use mental notes if I had to design an observation-based project. I am terrible about starring at people and I think people knew I was taking notes on them and that made me feel a little uncomfortable. I have always had a very good memory and I found my mental notes to be just as effective as my jotted notes. The limitations to jotted notes is that when you are constantly writing things down you tend to miss a lot of things going on around you. I was almost more focused about getting things on paper then I was just being an observer. When I took mental notes it was a much smoother process. I was much more alert and aware of what was going on around me and it was a much more enjoyable experience.