Participant Observation

Setting- Small concert at Velour

Male (25) Chris

Female (20) Kathryn

Female (21) Audrey

Myself (19) Natalie

Female (18) Emily

Chris walked slowly over to group of four girls

The circle opens up to allow him to talk to us

Instant “congratulations” “good job” on performance

Pitch on every girl is increased 

Audrey hugs Chris to show friendliness

Distance is very close, shows our close relationships

Chris nods a lot when he talks to show he is listening

Kathryn touches Chris to show care

Everyone is talking loud because of the loud music in the background

I am crossing my arms and legs- normal stance

I have my eyes on Chris because he is talking

Emily is looking around the room because she has never been there before

Audrey and Kathryn are standing the same way with hands by their side and normal stance

Emily is fidgeting- unsure how to act, not been in a situation like this before

Kathryn, Emily, Audrey, and I are wearing Jeans and casual tops- shows we are comfortable in the situation. Didn’t feel the need to dress up for the occasion.

Our styles are different yet similar in this setting.

Normally Kathryn and Emily wear “California surfer” type clothes

Audrey and I do not unless we are in this setting- somewhat of a façade

Chris is wearing his normal every day clothes even though he is performing

Shows he is comfortable wearing whatever

Our conversation is very casual, we see each other a lot so we ask how each other’s week was, talk about Sunday dinner, talk about other relatives.

We all laugh with each other- comfortable

We all act ourselves when around each other, no one feels awkward. We’re all family.

Our pitch is normal, our conversation gets less and less excited, we are all getting tired.

Comments are made about being tired.

We all decide to go home

It is unspoken about who will go with whom

Unspoken in the car about who will be dropped off first.

Night ends

It was really fun to do this exercise because not only was I able to see how little I normally noticed, but also the interpretations I gave for everything. I don't know if everyone was consciously doing things for a reason but it was interesting to see how we all folded our arms when we weren't talking and used a lot of hand motions when we were talking. The clothes that night were mainly chosen for comfort not impression. The pitch depended on the excitement of the group. If a funny story or memory was being shared the pitch of everyone increased but if a serious topic was being shared the pitch was much lower and the hand motions decreased. I will have to learn a lot of the customs in Ghana because I don't want to do anything to accidentally offend someone. My Grandpa went to Japan a lot for business back in the day and whenever he took a bath or shower it was usually in a tub with other men; normal for their culture. He would imitate their actions precisely so that he wasn't offending anyone. I feel like for the first couple of weeks in Ghana it will be a lot of "monkey see monkey do". I am totally fine with that but I hope I get the hang of things quickly. With lots of practice I will be able to take effective field notes, jottings, and journals. I am so glad that the prep class introduces me to so many different topics that didn't even cross my mind. As I further my research I am able to narrow my topic even more and hope to get a specific audience and topic of research to begin practicing it here in Utah.