Sociology: Field Research Paper

Abstract

For this paper, I researched the likeness of girls to get off topic compared to boys in a high school history class, and what can cause this trend ? This study was conducted in a high school junior A.P U.S. History Classroom, on a Wednesday morning with the research starting sharply at 8:05am and lasting for exactly 40 minutes with the research coming to a close at 8:40am. Observation methods were used in order to collect data for this research. The classroom that had been used in order to conduct the research, consisted of 6 female subjects and 4 males subjects with one of those male subjects being the professor. There was not great diversity between the subjects; they all appeared to be white and in their light teens except for the teacher who appears to be in their late 40’s. There were many variations of moods throughout the classroom which consisted of, but is not limited to, sleepiness, impatience, unfocusedness, anxiousness, and distractedness as well. The room in which the research was conducted was dark due to the lights being off, and cold feeling due to the windows being open, with the temperature also being in the 30’s. After the research had been concluded and all data was collected and taken into consideration, it was determined that female subjects are more likely to get off topic compared to boys in a high school history class. But, the question still remains as to “ what factors caused this trend ”?

Sociology: Field Research Findings & Results

“She normally just hands me my paycheck.” 8:17am. This quote was stated by one of the female subjects during the middle of class, following a conversation that had begun when the subjects were supposed to be collectively working on questions but, instead they had gotten off topic and began to talk about their jobs. Following this conversation the professor proceeded to confront the group of subjects where he questioned them whether they had finished their work or not, the group ( which consisted of 1 male subject and 3 female subjects ) had replied “no”. The teacher walked away and approached them a few minutes later regarding the same question to which they once again replied “no”. This interaction between the subjects and the teacher continued to happen 2 more times with no consequence from the teacher before the teacher decided to just move on (8:25am) and forget the questions. The teacher then decided to do one whole group activity where the subjects would read passages and answer questions regarding the passages they had read (8:30am) (8:35am researcher checks phone). Once again the subjects began to get off task very quickly after they had finished the reading and before they had answered the questions. But, this time the professor had even begun to get off topic with the subject when a female subject stated “Our team went undefeated this weekend in indoor” to which the professor replied with “that’s great, i'm hoping to do some indoor here at school to help prepare us for next years season” (8:38am). This interaction had proven that not only had the student subjects begun to get off task the professor was also now beginning to get off taks. (8:40 am) As the research began to come to an end there was many hypothesis that had been formed and many questions that had been risen that still have yet to be answered. Did the weather and the dark room skew the results ?, Does having a class predominantly dominated by females skew the results ?, or Does having a foeign subject in the room like a researcher like myself skew the moods and thoughts of the subjects? But, after examining the data that was collected a hypothesis was able to be formed which stated “ If a room is predominantly dominated by females then  the likelihood of girls to get off topic compared to boys in a high school history class is much greater.” Throughout the experiment there were many conversations between not only the subjects but between the subjects and professors as well talking about all things like boys, grades, soccer, and jobs to pets, name calling, texting and more. But, in all those conversations it is easily determined that girls are more likely to get off topic than boys even though we may never know the reason as to why. “ Where do you think my package is?” “Oh, what did you order?” (8:43am). This is a conversation between two females that was the last that was able to be recorded in the findings before the research was completely stopped.