An exploratory study of the types of inconsiderate behaviour exhibited by students in the food courts in Singapore Polytechnic.

Title : An exploratory study of the types of inconsiderate behaviour exhibited by students in the food courts in Singapore Polytechnic.

Date : July 2008, AY 2008/09, Semester1

Conducted by :
Goh I-Vy 0656670
Vanessa Chan Sing Nee 0635899
Ong Aaron 0635365
Izdiyad Syamin Bin Rosli 0740308
Muhd Firdaus Bin Sahrol 0739342
Low Young Boon 0764434
Siti Mahirah Bte Malek 0642116
Huang Pengyu 0753791

AIM OF STUDY
The aim of this study is to answer the main research question as below:
What are the types of inconsiderate behaviours encountered in food courts during peak hours from 11am to 2pm?

This main research question is fragmented into the following sub questions:
a) What are the types of behaviour in food courts?
b) Why is the behaviour perceived as inconsiderate?
c) Why do the students perform such inconsiderate behaviours?
d) What do the students think of such inconsiderate behaviours?

DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS METHODS

This study employs a qualitative social-psychological research paradigm. The research is conducted in all food courts in Singapore Polytechnic. The research takes a total of five weeks to complete. The research stretched from July 2008 to August 2008.

The forms of data collection for the research are as below:
a) Observation of the behaviour of students in six different food courts, taking a total of 8 observation sessions of around 30 minutes each. An example of an observation in this study is shown in Appendix A.
b) Selected informal open-ended interviews of two students in food courts 1, 4, 5 and 6, and four students in food court 2 and 3. An example of an interview in this study is shown in Appendix B.

The forms of analysis used are as follow:
a) Open Coding. Examples of open coding of an observation and interview are shown in Appendix C and Appendix D respectively.
b) Noting relations between variables
c) Partitioning variables
d) Notting themes, pattern

FINDINGS (use diagrams or tables to supplement your report when needed)
The findings for this research are as follows:

a) The different types of behaviour or actions that students in Singapore Polytechnic consider as inconsiderate. This answers the first sub research question for this study.

Table-hogging
Based on the answers given, table-hogging appears to be the most common inconsiderate behaviour displayed by the students across all six foodcourts. There are several ways groups of students hog the table.

For example, the most common observation was that most students tend to put their bag on the extra seats. This prevents other students from occupying the extra seats. Students also hog the table by remaining in the seats even after finishing their meals and chat, play games, surf the internet, completing assignments and other activities with no relation to eating. The main purpose is to pass or ‘kill’ time.

Table-hogging also causes a disruption to the traffic flow of students in the food courts. Students who are waiting for available seats will block the pathway in the food courts. Some key factors to take note of include the narrow pathways in between the tables and the substantial amount of space is taken up by cleaners pushing carts to clear the tables. This causes the food courts to be crowded and affects the efficiency of the cleaners.

Jumping Queue/ Long Queue
Students were observed allowing their friends to cut into the queue. There are also students who help their friends to purchase food during peak hours. This results in slow and long queue, and is also a form of cutting queue as it is unfair for the other students that are waiting in line. The other students in the queue are hence unable to estimate the time they would take to buy their food. In addition to that, the long queues also cause a disruption along the food court pathways.

Tables Cleanliness
We observe that most students do not clear their tables after meals. On top of that, they also dirty the tables and leave their litter around. As a result, other students tend to refuse to occupy the tables when they are vacant, but would rather wait for a cleaner one.

In this scenario, two groups of students can be observed. The first group consist of the students who fail to clear their plates after their meals. The second group are the students who refuse to occupy the vacant tables unless they have been cleared by the cleaners. Both groups are not willing to undertake the responsibility and are not willing to take the initiative to keep the food court clean but rely on others to clear it up for them.

b) The main reason on why such behaviour occurs in the food courts in Singapore Polytechnic. This answers the second and third sub research question for this study.

Convenience
Students choose to stay in the food courts after meals, because it is the most convenient place. Based on the answers given, most students feel that the food court is the nearest place to hang out at while waiting for lessons to start. They can pass their time by doing whatever they want such as reading, chatting, playing PSP, surfing the internet, etc. Some feel that the idea of having to find another suitable location is troublesome and are reluctant to move to another location.

c) The reactions of the students towards the inconsiderate behaviour shown by their peers in the food courts in Singapore Polytechnic. This answers the fourth sub research question for this study.

Based on the interview answers, we realise that the students feel most strongly about the table-hogging issue. We also noted that most students choose to ignore the inconsiderate behaviour when they encounter them. They would only stare at the other students and walk away, even if they felt frustrated, annoyed or angry.

DISCUSSION
After researching, we realise that the main inconsiderate behaviour of students in food courts is the table-hogging issue. Therefore, we shall focus on table-hogging in our discussion.

Our definition of table-hogging is the occupying of seats for an unnecessarily long period of time and using the tables for reasons other than eating. Firstly, we realise that most students hog the tables in groups. They are usually observed to be chatting with each other or waiting for each other to finish their meal. This demonstrates group behaviour, as the action of an individual is influenced by the member.

For example, if most of the members in the group are chatting after the meal, it is unlikely that any member of the group would solitarily leave their seat. Even if any of the members feels considerate enough to leave the place, he or she would not dare to raise his or her opinion but would rather go along with the majority. This is an issue of conformity, where there is a distortion in perception and might be also due to the fear of being socially ostracised.

The groups of students waiting for the vacant seats could also be demonstrating an issue of diffusion of responsibility. No action is taken, even if they felt frustrated or annoyed with the group of students hogging the table. None of the groups belonging to this category approached the group to ask them to leave. This can be said as a diffusion of responsibility as every member of the group relied on the other members to take the initiative. This leads to the decision to wait for other tables to be vacant.

CONCLUSION
In order to provide the most effective solution to a problem, there is a need to understand the problem thoroughly. This applies for the case of the inconsiderate behaviour exhibits by teenagers in food courts in Singapore.

From this study, we have identified three main behaviours perceived as inconsiderate exhibited in food courts: hogging of tables, jumping or cutting of queues and failing to clear the tables after meals. After analyzing the answers given in the interview and observations, we are able to identify several concepts that form the reasons behind such inconsiderate behaviour.

The main reason that such behaviour exists is due to group behaviours. Issues such as conformity and the fear of being socially ostracised are some of the main contributors to the problem. Diffusion of responsibility is also prominent among the groups.

Being aware of the reasons of such behaviour entitles some form of further action to be taken, such as campaigns related to the issue to be organised by the school in order to create awareness among the students. By creating awareness, every individual member of the group would realise that he or she plays a crucial role in maintaining the good etiquette in food courts. If no actions are taken to address and solve this issue, the general level of courtesy of Singapore may be affected if such inconsiderate behaviours were to be repeated outside of Singapore Polytechnic.