This time round, the students from the third batch of this course embarked on conducting social experiments. They set out on understanding more about the behaviours, thoughts and emotions of the ever complex humans. Although new to qualitative social research, the students have performed admirably well. Good work! Hope one or two from this batch will become a real serious social scientist in future.................. : )
The Webmaster
Henry Khiat
17.2.09
Please take care of my laptop.
Team Name: Pink Dolphin
Members: Christopher Tan Puay Liang 0822363
Teng Wei Ya 0821250
Ng Kian Long Robin 0870056
Quennie Jenn Gamboa Magalzo 0842213
Wong Yu Ping 0837042
Eugene Khoo 0863320
Tang Hui Ting 0849744
Joline Fong 0850720
Ma Yu Xuan 0841410
Abstract
We set up a laptop and a pencil box on the study table beside fc3. Our experiment is that Dolphin (our actress) will ask people to take care of her things(the laptop, pencil box & laptop bag) while she go to the toilet(somewhere else to walk). We will then ask one of our people to take an item from the things and walk off with it.
Main research question:
What will a person do or react if he/she is asked to take care of an item for a period of time by a stranger?
Sub-research question:
1) What are the social and environmental factors that influence if the person helps?
2) Why does the person help or not help?
3) Why does the person stop or not stop the person from taking?
4) What did the person do when waiting for that long?
Analysis
Sub-research question:
1) Our actress is a sweet and pleasant girl and it seems that there is no reason for rejecting her. Furthermore she is alone. The situation was that she needs to rush to the toilet and really need help from others to help her look after.
2) Most of the people were kind enough to help. They only reject when they are late for class and have no time.
3) They thought that the person taking away pencil case was her friend. They might have this kind of thinking is probably they do not believe that SP students will take away people’s belonging for no reason.
4) They read their notes, play games using PSP, chatting and messaging their friends.
Conclusion
Most of the people will lend a helping hand to others who are in need only except for those who are rushing for class. Although we told them that we are actually doing an experiment on them, most of them still smiled politely and was willing to help people who need help again.
Members: Christopher Tan Puay Liang 0822363
Teng Wei Ya 0821250
Ng Kian Long Robin 0870056
Quennie Jenn Gamboa Magalzo 0842213
Wong Yu Ping 0837042
Eugene Khoo 0863320
Tang Hui Ting 0849744
Joline Fong 0850720
Ma Yu Xuan 0841410
Abstract
We set up a laptop and a pencil box on the study table beside fc3. Our experiment is that Dolphin (our actress) will ask people to take care of her things(the laptop, pencil box & laptop bag) while she go to the toilet(somewhere else to walk). We will then ask one of our people to take an item from the things and walk off with it.
Main research question:
What will a person do or react if he/she is asked to take care of an item for a period of time by a stranger?
Sub-research question:
1) What are the social and environmental factors that influence if the person helps?
2) Why does the person help or not help?
3) Why does the person stop or not stop the person from taking?
4) What did the person do when waiting for that long?
Analysis
Sub-research question:
1) Our actress is a sweet and pleasant girl and it seems that there is no reason for rejecting her. Furthermore she is alone. The situation was that she needs to rush to the toilet and really need help from others to help her look after.
2) Most of the people were kind enough to help. They only reject when they are late for class and have no time.
3) They thought that the person taking away pencil case was her friend. They might have this kind of thinking is probably they do not believe that SP students will take away people’s belonging for no reason.
4) They read their notes, play games using PSP, chatting and messaging their friends.
Conclusion
Most of the people will lend a helping hand to others who are in need only except for those who are rushing for class. Although we told them that we are actually doing an experiment on them, most of them still smiled politely and was willing to help people who need help again.
Fainted
Done by: Care Bear
– Xian Feng
– Pearly
– Mei Fen
– Zulhari
– Jasper
– Cheryl
Abstract
An experiment conducted by Care Bear on 15th January 2009. Our purpose is to study individual reaction towards a situation such as this. "When a person needs help, how would the people nearby react?"
Aim of Research
To see how people will react when they see fainted people in middle of the road.
Main Research Question
How people will react when someone fainted?
Sub Research Questions
What are the environmental/social factors that affect a person’s reaction?
How do they react when we approached them for help?
Why do they give assistance/ why don’t they give assistance?
Do their emotions seem to be affected when they know that we are carrying out an experiment on them? Give some evidences?
Data Collection Methods
- Looking for a female helper
- Looking a male adult helper
Analysis
Sub Research Question 1
When the people are rushing for class, they are alone or when there is not much passerby around, and they feel that there is a need to help.
When people approached them for help, they claim that they are helpless too.
When they are alone in helping, they feel panicked as there was no one to lead them. Hence the girl approached others.
Sub Research Question 2
They were shocked when they heard that someone fainted. They wanted to seek for ambulance and to look for other adults or male to help out. Some had no reaction at all and just walked away.
Sub Research Question 3
Why they gave assistance?
They gave assistance, probably because they feel that it is something serious as it was a guy that had fainted.
Why they do not give assistance?
They probably had not come across such situation and think that even if they were to help, they might not know how. They are also scared that they night not be of good aid and mess everything up and create more problems instead. Some might also suspect that this is prank.
Sub Research Question 4
Affected their emotions
Yes, one of them seemed to be frustrated we revealed to her that we were carrying out a social experiment which delayed her class.
Does not affect their emotions
No, it does not affect their emotions as the person still remained calm after knowing that we were carrying out a social experiment and was still willing to be interviewed.
Conclusion
In conclusion, our team feels that generally, nobody would be motivated to be involved, let alone take the initiative to help a fainted person or similar situation unless strongly/forcefully approached. The most common reaction would be “look and run”. To solve this crisis, we feel that our student should be educated to be helpful and not be ignorant.
– Xian Feng
– Pearly
– Mei Fen
– Zulhari
– Jasper
– Cheryl
Abstract
An experiment conducted by Care Bear on 15th January 2009. Our purpose is to study individual reaction towards a situation such as this. "When a person needs help, how would the people nearby react?"
Aim of Research
To see how people will react when they see fainted people in middle of the road.
Main Research Question
How people will react when someone fainted?
Sub Research Questions
What are the environmental/social factors that affect a person’s reaction?
How do they react when we approached them for help?
Why do they give assistance/ why don’t they give assistance?
Do their emotions seem to be affected when they know that we are carrying out an experiment on them? Give some evidences?
Data Collection Methods
- Looking for a female helper
- Looking a male adult helper
Analysis
Sub Research Question 1
When the people are rushing for class, they are alone or when there is not much passerby around, and they feel that there is a need to help.
When people approached them for help, they claim that they are helpless too.
When they are alone in helping, they feel panicked as there was no one to lead them. Hence the girl approached others.
Sub Research Question 2
They were shocked when they heard that someone fainted. They wanted to seek for ambulance and to look for other adults or male to help out. Some had no reaction at all and just walked away.
Sub Research Question 3
Why they gave assistance?
They gave assistance, probably because they feel that it is something serious as it was a guy that had fainted.
Why they do not give assistance?
They probably had not come across such situation and think that even if they were to help, they might not know how. They are also scared that they night not be of good aid and mess everything up and create more problems instead. Some might also suspect that this is prank.
Sub Research Question 4
Affected their emotions
Yes, one of them seemed to be frustrated we revealed to her that we were carrying out a social experiment which delayed her class.
Does not affect their emotions
No, it does not affect their emotions as the person still remained calm after knowing that we were carrying out a social experiment and was still willing to be interviewed.
Conclusion
In conclusion, our team feels that generally, nobody would be motivated to be involved, let alone take the initiative to help a fainted person or similar situation unless strongly/forcefully approached. The most common reaction would be “look and run”. To solve this crisis, we feel that our student should be educated to be helpful and not be ignorant.
Pick or not pick?
Done by: Once upon a time
1. Jia Hui - 0736956
2. Farid - 0868680
3. Iman - 0709721
4. Thiri - 0741101
5. Farhan - 0740803
6. Fahmi - 0740816
7. Navarro Chan Hanshen - 0758457
8. Nicky pang Quan Jie - 0758684
9. Keith Ng Kah Wai - 0758697
Abstract
In this research, we aim to investigate the social perceptions, reactions and thoughts of different people. Our target audience is students of Singapore Polytechnic. We have actors dropping their money onto the floor while we waited for the reaction of the people who walked behind our actors. The whole scene is recorded by the video camera.
Aim of Research
The reaction and integrity level of people when they saw a $10 note on the floor.
Do age groups and genders play a part in affecting a person’s perspective/reaction during this situation?
Main Research Question
1. Will a person keep the money that was found on the floor without trying to look for its owner?
2. How will a person react if he is presented with an unclaimed currency note at the foyer of Food court 5?
Sub Research Questions
1. What are the environmental factors that influence the behavior of the finder of the money?
2. What are his/her thoughts when he/she is presented with the unclaimed currency note?
3. What are his actions when he or she is presented with the unclaimed currency note?
4. What are the reasons behind his/her actions?
Data Collection Methods
§ -Observational
§ -Interview
§ -Video Taking
Analysis
1. Sub research Question 1: What are the environmental factors that influence the behavior of the finder of the money?
The environmental factors include the crowd around the foyer and the location where the money was found as well as the people whom the finder was with. From scenes 1 & 3, we observed that people tend to return the money:
§ When the surrounding people is aware that he/she found the note on the floor and
§ when he/she did not have a chance to communicate with the his/her peers.
As for scene 2, we observed that when there is no one around, the finder tend to keep the money to him/herself and when his/her peers support his/her action.
2. Sub research Question 2: What are his/her thoughts when he/she is presented with the unclaimed currency note?
For subject 1, she feels that she has her own money and she does not like to take other people’s money.
As for subject 2, they claimed that they did not see the owner dropping the money hence they kept the note. However, from our observation, they saw the whole process of Nicky dropping the money. Hence, we feel that they kept the money because of greediness and dishonesty not because they did not see the owner of the note.
For subject 3, he feels that it is natural and correct to inform someone that he/she dropped their money.
3. Sub research Question 3: What are his actions when he/she is presented with the unclaimed currency note?
Out of our 3 research subjects, 2 of them thought of returning the money to the owner and 1 planned to keep the money for personal use. Subject 1 and 3 returned the money and subject 2 kept the money. Basic on our observationof these 3 subjects, 33.3% of the people will keep the money while 66.7% of the people will return the money.
4. Sub research Question 4: What are the reasons behind his/her actions?
For the 2 subjects who returned the money, their reasons were simple. They wanted to return the money to the rightful owner. They put themselves into the position of the person who lost the money. As for the subject who kept the money, he planned to use the money for personal use since the amount found was not huge. He claimed that if the amount found was more than $50, he would try to return the money to the owner.
Conclusion
There are many factors that influence the decision of the subject, on whether he/she returns the money. From our research, due to sensitive issues (i.e. background and affluence level of the finder) we can only focus on the age, gender and environment of the research.
The few factors that we could not investigate in:
§ Family background, affluence level and upbringing of the finder of the money
o We feel that it’s very rude to ask these questions as they are quite personal and sensitive.
§ Educational level of the finder of the money
o We do not know the stream of the secondary school student who returned the money.
o They poly student they come from ITE or secondary school
o Different affluence level might have different mindset toward things
§ Peer pressure?
o We didn’t have enough information of the subject and the relationship between him/her and his/her peers.
o Some people might want to return the money but because of peer pressure, they keep the money for own uses.
§ Races
§ How lecturer will react?
During our research, the 2 subjects that returned the money were a female and a young male teenage kid. The subject that kept the money was a male teenager. We observe that the gender of the actor does not matter. During the scenes for both subject 1 and 2, the money was dropped by Nicky but subject 1 returned the money.
There are also people who saw the money but did not take any action. We did a group discussion and came out with several reasons for this lack of actions by these people:
1. They feel that $10 is too little and are lazy to bother with it.
2. They didn’t process the fact that $10 was a lucky find. They were thinking about something else while they were walking toward it. Perhaps by the time they realized they should have picked it up, they already went past it or someone else had already found it.
3. They wanted to leave it for someone else less fortunate to pick it up.
Hence, we concluded that age groups, genders and environment of the situation play a part in affecting a person’s perspective and reaction during such a situation but there are many other factors which contribute to the decision too.
1. Jia Hui - 0736956
2. Farid - 0868680
3. Iman - 0709721
4. Thiri - 0741101
5. Farhan - 0740803
6. Fahmi - 0740816
7. Navarro Chan Hanshen - 0758457
8. Nicky pang Quan Jie - 0758684
9. Keith Ng Kah Wai - 0758697
Abstract
In this research, we aim to investigate the social perceptions, reactions and thoughts of different people. Our target audience is students of Singapore Polytechnic. We have actors dropping their money onto the floor while we waited for the reaction of the people who walked behind our actors. The whole scene is recorded by the video camera.
Aim of Research
The reaction and integrity level of people when they saw a $10 note on the floor.
Do age groups and genders play a part in affecting a person’s perspective/reaction during this situation?
Main Research Question
1. Will a person keep the money that was found on the floor without trying to look for its owner?
2. How will a person react if he is presented with an unclaimed currency note at the foyer of Food court 5?
Sub Research Questions
1. What are the environmental factors that influence the behavior of the finder of the money?
2. What are his/her thoughts when he/she is presented with the unclaimed currency note?
3. What are his actions when he or she is presented with the unclaimed currency note?
4. What are the reasons behind his/her actions?
Data Collection Methods
§ -Observational
§ -Interview
§ -Video Taking
Analysis
1. Sub research Question 1: What are the environmental factors that influence the behavior of the finder of the money?
The environmental factors include the crowd around the foyer and the location where the money was found as well as the people whom the finder was with. From scenes 1 & 3, we observed that people tend to return the money:
§ When the surrounding people is aware that he/she found the note on the floor and
§ when he/she did not have a chance to communicate with the his/her peers.
As for scene 2, we observed that when there is no one around, the finder tend to keep the money to him/herself and when his/her peers support his/her action.
2. Sub research Question 2: What are his/her thoughts when he/she is presented with the unclaimed currency note?
For subject 1, she feels that she has her own money and she does not like to take other people’s money.
As for subject 2, they claimed that they did not see the owner dropping the money hence they kept the note. However, from our observation, they saw the whole process of Nicky dropping the money. Hence, we feel that they kept the money because of greediness and dishonesty not because they did not see the owner of the note.
For subject 3, he feels that it is natural and correct to inform someone that he/she dropped their money.
3. Sub research Question 3: What are his actions when he/she is presented with the unclaimed currency note?
Out of our 3 research subjects, 2 of them thought of returning the money to the owner and 1 planned to keep the money for personal use. Subject 1 and 3 returned the money and subject 2 kept the money. Basic on our observationof these 3 subjects, 33.3% of the people will keep the money while 66.7% of the people will return the money.
4. Sub research Question 4: What are the reasons behind his/her actions?
For the 2 subjects who returned the money, their reasons were simple. They wanted to return the money to the rightful owner. They put themselves into the position of the person who lost the money. As for the subject who kept the money, he planned to use the money for personal use since the amount found was not huge. He claimed that if the amount found was more than $50, he would try to return the money to the owner.
Conclusion
There are many factors that influence the decision of the subject, on whether he/she returns the money. From our research, due to sensitive issues (i.e. background and affluence level of the finder) we can only focus on the age, gender and environment of the research.
The few factors that we could not investigate in:
§ Family background, affluence level and upbringing of the finder of the money
o We feel that it’s very rude to ask these questions as they are quite personal and sensitive.
§ Educational level of the finder of the money
o We do not know the stream of the secondary school student who returned the money.
o They poly student they come from ITE or secondary school
o Different affluence level might have different mindset toward things
§ Peer pressure?
o We didn’t have enough information of the subject and the relationship between him/her and his/her peers.
o Some people might want to return the money but because of peer pressure, they keep the money for own uses.
§ Races
§ How lecturer will react?
During our research, the 2 subjects that returned the money were a female and a young male teenage kid. The subject that kept the money was a male teenager. We observe that the gender of the actor does not matter. During the scenes for both subject 1 and 2, the money was dropped by Nicky but subject 1 returned the money.
There are also people who saw the money but did not take any action. We did a group discussion and came out with several reasons for this lack of actions by these people:
1. They feel that $10 is too little and are lazy to bother with it.
2. They didn’t process the fact that $10 was a lucky find. They were thinking about something else while they were walking toward it. Perhaps by the time they realized they should have picked it up, they already went past it or someone else had already found it.
3. They wanted to leave it for someone else less fortunate to pick it up.
Hence, we concluded that age groups, genders and environment of the situation play a part in affecting a person’s perspective and reaction during such a situation but there are many other factors which contribute to the decision too.
Can I borrow your handphone?
Team Name: Team Name
Group Members Present (22.01.09):- Mallory (0821292)- Yong Quan (0821276)- Hwee Ee (0821023)- Hafiz (0820204)- Hamidah (0855594)- Wei Tian (0840310
Aim of Research
The aim of the research is to find out the thoughts and emotions of the victims when they lent their handphones to the actors. At the same time, to observe how these victims react when the actors tried to get away with the phone/do more than just to call (as stated by actors when trying to borrow handphone).
Main Research Question
How to students react to actions of the borrowers of their handphones?
Sub-Research Questions:-
Why did the victims do what they do?-
What are the victims’ emotions when the actors got away with the handphone?-
Why did the victims lend their handphones in the first place?-
Would the victims lend their handphones to strangers in the future after this incident?
Data Collection Methods
- Videos- Observational data
- Interviews
Analysis
Sub-Research Question 1- Why did the victims do what they do?Most of the victims that we approached were friendly and unsuspecting of our motives. However, they got suspicious when the actor(s) started to do more with the handphone (e.g. taking pictures with the camera phone), when in the first place, the actor(s) stated they were only borrowing it just to make a quick call. The victims then became apprehensive and in a few cases even confronted us.
Sub-Research Question 2- What are the victims’ emotions when the actors got away with the handphone?Different variations of the experiment produced different reactions. Some of the victims were anxious and scared while others were taken aback and felt that the whole set-up was weird. Undoubtedly, we also angered some of them. But what gave us away might have been our approach which might have been too random and without any concrete basis.
Sub-Research Question 3- Why did the victims lend their handphones in the first place?They felt that it was a natural thing to do. This is so because; they did not suspect the actor(s) intention to trick them. Thus, they did not mind lending their handphone to strangers.
Sub-Research Question 4- Would the victims lend their handphones to strangers in the future after this incident?Most of them said that it depends on how the person looks like. If the person looks young, presentable and does not seem to have any ulterior motives, they would most probably lend their handphones willingly.
Conclusion
As the world becomes more modernized and technology is easily available, gadgets like handphones are taken for granted. Many do not think that they are a luxury anymore. This is evident by how freely the victims lent their hanphones to the actor(s). The victims were so trustful of the actor(s) that even when the actor(s) were doing more than just making a phone call, they were hesitant to get back their handphones. And some were even amazingly ignorant about the whole situation.All in all, victims felt a sense of relief when they got their handphones back. However, they were still in a way affected and it made them changed their perception on lending their handphones to strangers.There were no environmental factors that influenced the victim’s decisions and reactions.As for social factors, the victims actually took pity on the actor(s) since they were in some sort of trouble. Hence, they willingly lent their phones to them. However, there was one that looked unwilling but he found no reason to reject the actor(s). This can be attributed to the phrase, “Do unto others as you would have others do unto you.”
Group Members Present (22.01.09):- Mallory (0821292)- Yong Quan (0821276)- Hwee Ee (0821023)- Hafiz (0820204)- Hamidah (0855594)- Wei Tian (0840310
Aim of Research
The aim of the research is to find out the thoughts and emotions of the victims when they lent their handphones to the actors. At the same time, to observe how these victims react when the actors tried to get away with the phone/do more than just to call (as stated by actors when trying to borrow handphone).
Main Research Question
How to students react to actions of the borrowers of their handphones?
Sub-Research Questions:-
Why did the victims do what they do?-
What are the victims’ emotions when the actors got away with the handphone?-
Why did the victims lend their handphones in the first place?-
Would the victims lend their handphones to strangers in the future after this incident?
Data Collection Methods
- Videos- Observational data
- Interviews
Analysis
Sub-Research Question 1- Why did the victims do what they do?Most of the victims that we approached were friendly and unsuspecting of our motives. However, they got suspicious when the actor(s) started to do more with the handphone (e.g. taking pictures with the camera phone), when in the first place, the actor(s) stated they were only borrowing it just to make a quick call. The victims then became apprehensive and in a few cases even confronted us.
Sub-Research Question 2- What are the victims’ emotions when the actors got away with the handphone?Different variations of the experiment produced different reactions. Some of the victims were anxious and scared while others were taken aback and felt that the whole set-up was weird. Undoubtedly, we also angered some of them. But what gave us away might have been our approach which might have been too random and without any concrete basis.
Sub-Research Question 3- Why did the victims lend their handphones in the first place?They felt that it was a natural thing to do. This is so because; they did not suspect the actor(s) intention to trick them. Thus, they did not mind lending their handphone to strangers.
Sub-Research Question 4- Would the victims lend their handphones to strangers in the future after this incident?Most of them said that it depends on how the person looks like. If the person looks young, presentable and does not seem to have any ulterior motives, they would most probably lend their handphones willingly.
Conclusion
As the world becomes more modernized and technology is easily available, gadgets like handphones are taken for granted. Many do not think that they are a luxury anymore. This is evident by how freely the victims lent their hanphones to the actor(s). The victims were so trustful of the actor(s) that even when the actor(s) were doing more than just making a phone call, they were hesitant to get back their handphones. And some were even amazingly ignorant about the whole situation.All in all, victims felt a sense of relief when they got their handphones back. However, they were still in a way affected and it made them changed their perception on lending their handphones to strangers.There were no environmental factors that influenced the victim’s decisions and reactions.As for social factors, the victims actually took pity on the actor(s) since they were in some sort of trouble. Hence, they willingly lent their phones to them. However, there was one that looked unwilling but he found no reason to reject the actor(s). This can be attributed to the phrase, “Do unto others as you would have others do unto you.”
Abnormal Booking of Tables
Done By:
Abdul K Naufa
Suh Fen
0759812
Chew Shan An
0707844
Chong Teck Meng
0747318
Hong Pei Xiang
0710307
Chan Zeng Kai
0745262
Tan Shyan Huey Sabrina
0766238
Tan Khoon Yew
0729332
Chua Boon Seng
0729246
Abstract
According to the social experiment conducted, our group has gathered the following key findings:
Scenario 1: 2 tables occupied with “Official Use” sign.
1. Over 90% of the people did not take the seat due to the fact that they regard the “Official Use” sign as authentic and react by complying with the sign by searching for other seats.
2. However, due to the crowded situation during lunch hours, an approximate of 10 % of the people disregarded the sign and occupied the seat.
Scenario 2: 1 Table with “Official Use” sign, 1 Table with tissue packet
1. Similar to scenario 1, almost 80% of the people regard both the “Official Use” sign and the tissue packet as signs of the tables being occupied and continue to look for empty tables.
2. Almost 20% disregard both objects and occupied the table thereafter. However, the majority of them chose the table with the tissue packet.
From both scenarios, it can be concluded that most people complied with the objects place on tables to occupy seats. Whereas, it can also be seen from the experiment that majority of the respondents regard an official sign higher than an tissue packet.
Aim of Research
The aim of the research is to apply the concept of compliance of people in everyday life. This is conducted through a social experiment where the compliance level of individuals and groups and their stimulus to objects and environment are tested.
Main Research Question
How do people response/react, comply with the influence of authority?
Data Collection Methods
Observational Aspects:
Actions Taken
Body Language
Facial Expressions
Behavior relative to items
Peer Influences / Pressure
Interview Questions:
When they took the seat:
- Why did you ignore the item placed on the table?
- What are your reactions and thoughts when you encountered the situation?
- If the item is replaced by “…. ”, something more prominent, would you still ignore the item and take the seat?
- How did you come to the conclusion that the item wasn’t meant to reserve the seats?
- How did you feel when you didn’t comply to the situation? Was it right or wrong?
- Was it because you were afraid to create a scene when the person returns and demands his or her seat back. If yes/no, how did you come to that conclusion that this would happen.
- Would you have done the same thing if you’re not in school and probably some where else in the public? If yes/no, why?
When they didn’t take the seat:
- Why didn’t you sit down?
- What was your first reaction when you saw the item (regarding which one was used in the experiment). If they answered that it was because the items meant that someone had ‘booked’ or ‘chopped’ the seats, than:
· How did you come to that conclusion? It might be some left behind stuffs.
· Why did you choose to comply with the items placed?
Scene of our own actors going over and removing the items:
- What are your thoughts when you saw that person removing the items, disregarding them?
Video Filming:
Please refer to clip below
Analysis
How would individuals and groups react to the situation?
The sign:
When a group of people see the sign, most of them would walk away without hesitation, however facial expressions of members among the group indicates an arousal of suspicion. In the period of our observations, 1 or 2 members from the group would walk away from the table; they kept looking at the seat, questioning why would there be a sign on the table at KFC. However for those that had no suspicion and doubt: they simply walk away and immediately look for other empty tables. (From videos on the experiment on the sign)
However, individuals react to the situation differently. This may be due to the absence of undue influence from other group members to take the seat. It can be observed that individuals were afraid of disregarding the sign or objects and would rather look for other seats available
The tissue:
From one of our videos, we can see that this time, people will question the situation. We can observe that this time, people will loiter around the seat for some time before leaving. Whereas another group of people just took the seat without questioning (From the video)
Again, the case for individuals was greatly different. In this case, the individual would actually consider in occupying the table and seating down.
Why would they comply?
Based on our actual experiments, we have come to several conclusions regarding this aspect of our research. Here are two of the reasons.
Firstly, we believe that the most prominent reason why people would comply is that they are afraid of taking responsibility. The video of the group of Malay guys sitting down after our own actors did clearly portrayed this reason. We concluded that only after someone took the lead first, would they then do likewise. Although there were no seats left and they were desperate to find a seat, they were still reluctant to be the ones to take the lead. By doing so, they were spared of having to shoulder responsibility should anything happen, which in this case, if the authorities returned and demanded a reason to why the guys had sat down at the table that was obviously reserved by the sign ‘Official Use’. And thus, only when some other people took the lead, did they then do the same. This would ensure that if the authorities wanted an answer, they could shift most of the blame to the others by saying that they did what they did.
Our second conclusion would be that people complied because they are afraid of how people would see them as. Most people are afraid to be different from the majority of the crowd, by sitting down at a table reserved by an ‘official use’ sign or by a packet of tissue. These actions are not commonly seen, thus by doing so, they are expecting people to be looking at them in a negative way, and they’re afraid of that.
Who would comply with the situation more?
People who are alone tend to comply with the situation as they do not dare to occupy the seat due to the fear of possible confrontation. However when in a group, people tend to not comply and just occupied the seat. This may be due to the fact of the powers available in a group for negotiation should there be a confrontation. However, some groups did not seat despite some members of the group wanted to as the others refuse to.
Females tend to comply with the sign more than males, which is correct according to our prediction as guys tend to be more daring, defiant than females.
Conclusion
The experiment was rather successful as it was smooth throughout with a few problems encountered throughout. Despite a few hiccups and some last minute changes, our group can conclude that the experiment was successful and it fulfilled our aims on how people react.
Abdul K Naufa
Suh Fen
0759812
Chew Shan An
0707844
Chong Teck Meng
0747318
Hong Pei Xiang
0710307
Chan Zeng Kai
0745262
Tan Shyan Huey Sabrina
0766238
Tan Khoon Yew
0729332
Chua Boon Seng
0729246
Abstract
According to the social experiment conducted, our group has gathered the following key findings:
Scenario 1: 2 tables occupied with “Official Use” sign.
1. Over 90% of the people did not take the seat due to the fact that they regard the “Official Use” sign as authentic and react by complying with the sign by searching for other seats.
2. However, due to the crowded situation during lunch hours, an approximate of 10 % of the people disregarded the sign and occupied the seat.
Scenario 2: 1 Table with “Official Use” sign, 1 Table with tissue packet
1. Similar to scenario 1, almost 80% of the people regard both the “Official Use” sign and the tissue packet as signs of the tables being occupied and continue to look for empty tables.
2. Almost 20% disregard both objects and occupied the table thereafter. However, the majority of them chose the table with the tissue packet.
From both scenarios, it can be concluded that most people complied with the objects place on tables to occupy seats. Whereas, it can also be seen from the experiment that majority of the respondents regard an official sign higher than an tissue packet.
Aim of Research
The aim of the research is to apply the concept of compliance of people in everyday life. This is conducted through a social experiment where the compliance level of individuals and groups and their stimulus to objects and environment are tested.
Main Research Question
How do people response/react, comply with the influence of authority?
Data Collection Methods
Observational Aspects:
Actions Taken
Body Language
Facial Expressions
Behavior relative to items
Peer Influences / Pressure
Interview Questions:
When they took the seat:
- Why did you ignore the item placed on the table?
- What are your reactions and thoughts when you encountered the situation?
- If the item is replaced by “…. ”, something more prominent, would you still ignore the item and take the seat?
- How did you come to the conclusion that the item wasn’t meant to reserve the seats?
- How did you feel when you didn’t comply to the situation? Was it right or wrong?
- Was it because you were afraid to create a scene when the person returns and demands his or her seat back. If yes/no, how did you come to that conclusion that this would happen.
- Would you have done the same thing if you’re not in school and probably some where else in the public? If yes/no, why?
When they didn’t take the seat:
- Why didn’t you sit down?
- What was your first reaction when you saw the item (regarding which one was used in the experiment). If they answered that it was because the items meant that someone had ‘booked’ or ‘chopped’ the seats, than:
· How did you come to that conclusion? It might be some left behind stuffs.
· Why did you choose to comply with the items placed?
Scene of our own actors going over and removing the items:
- What are your thoughts when you saw that person removing the items, disregarding them?
Video Filming:
Please refer to clip below
Analysis
How would individuals and groups react to the situation?
The sign:
When a group of people see the sign, most of them would walk away without hesitation, however facial expressions of members among the group indicates an arousal of suspicion. In the period of our observations, 1 or 2 members from the group would walk away from the table; they kept looking at the seat, questioning why would there be a sign on the table at KFC. However for those that had no suspicion and doubt: they simply walk away and immediately look for other empty tables. (From videos on the experiment on the sign)
However, individuals react to the situation differently. This may be due to the absence of undue influence from other group members to take the seat. It can be observed that individuals were afraid of disregarding the sign or objects and would rather look for other seats available
The tissue:
From one of our videos, we can see that this time, people will question the situation. We can observe that this time, people will loiter around the seat for some time before leaving. Whereas another group of people just took the seat without questioning (From the video)
Again, the case for individuals was greatly different. In this case, the individual would actually consider in occupying the table and seating down.
Why would they comply?
Based on our actual experiments, we have come to several conclusions regarding this aspect of our research. Here are two of the reasons.
Firstly, we believe that the most prominent reason why people would comply is that they are afraid of taking responsibility. The video of the group of Malay guys sitting down after our own actors did clearly portrayed this reason. We concluded that only after someone took the lead first, would they then do likewise. Although there were no seats left and they were desperate to find a seat, they were still reluctant to be the ones to take the lead. By doing so, they were spared of having to shoulder responsibility should anything happen, which in this case, if the authorities returned and demanded a reason to why the guys had sat down at the table that was obviously reserved by the sign ‘Official Use’. And thus, only when some other people took the lead, did they then do the same. This would ensure that if the authorities wanted an answer, they could shift most of the blame to the others by saying that they did what they did.
Our second conclusion would be that people complied because they are afraid of how people would see them as. Most people are afraid to be different from the majority of the crowd, by sitting down at a table reserved by an ‘official use’ sign or by a packet of tissue. These actions are not commonly seen, thus by doing so, they are expecting people to be looking at them in a negative way, and they’re afraid of that.
Who would comply with the situation more?
People who are alone tend to comply with the situation as they do not dare to occupy the seat due to the fear of possible confrontation. However when in a group, people tend to not comply and just occupied the seat. This may be due to the fact of the powers available in a group for negotiation should there be a confrontation. However, some groups did not seat despite some members of the group wanted to as the others refuse to.
Females tend to comply with the sign more than males, which is correct according to our prediction as guys tend to be more daring, defiant than females.
Conclusion
The experiment was rather successful as it was smooth throughout with a few problems encountered throughout. Despite a few hiccups and some last minute changes, our group can conclude that the experiment was successful and it fulfilled our aims on how people react.
The Timid Test
Done by
- Wenjing (P0733458)- Joycelyn (P0734194)- Sock Ching (P0745431)- Peizhen (P0719025)- Tian Xiang (P0734248)- Ibrahim (P0710480)
Abstract
From this experiment, we discovered that SP students are inquisitive about what are unknown, especially peculiar objects such as the design of our experiment bags. Factors like gender and appearances of the bags affect the reactions of the students. This experiment was conducted at food court 3 and the methods we used to collect the data are observation, interviewing and video taking.
Aim of Research
To test how timid SP students are and to analyze their thoughts when they are doing the experiment.
Main Research Question
How will students react when they put their hands into the mystery boxes?
Sub Research Questions
1. How will differences in demographics (gender, race, age etc) affect the students' reaction to the mystery boxes?2. How the actors' reactions affect the change in behaviors of the students?3. What are the reactions and thoughts of the students?4. What are the environmental factors affect the reactions and thoughts of the students?
Data Collection Methods
Observation
Interview
Video Taking
Analysis
Sub Questions:
How will differences in demographics (gender, race, age etc) affect the students' reaction to the mystery boxes?
The males are more daring, they are curious about the contents in all the bags. Hence they put their hands inside the bags without any hesitation and in all the bags. The females are more timid and would usually ask what is inside the bag before putting their hands inside.
There are no differences between any races and ages.
How the actors' reactions affect the change in behaviors of the students?
The actors were expressionless during the experiment which intensifies the atmosphere. The female participants keep prompting us to tell them the contents in the bags.
What are the reactions and thoughts of the students?
Reactions and thoughts:
· 1st participant was curious and had thought of winning a prize.
· 2nd participant was disgusted by the slimy gel and thought that she would also receive a treat just like the first participant. Thought that the content is similar to the packaging of the bag
· 3rd participant was nervous and kept asking us what was inside the bags as she thought there might be a mouse inside the bag.
· 4th participant was aghast by the scene of blood.
· 5th participant felt excited at first but was revolted by looking at his hands smudged with hair gel.
· 6th participant felt nothing and does not seemed interested in it. He took part of the experiment because of the fun.
· 7th participant felt excited before the experiment and actually felt awesome after seeing his hands full of blood.
· 8th participant felt curious and kept prompting us about the contents inside. He laughed at himself when he saw his hands were full of gel.
· 9th participant felt curious at first and felt revolted when he saw his hands full of blood
· 10th participant also felt curious at first and was appalled when he saw his hands were smudged with gel. He chose the bag because he likes the superman design outside the bag.
What are the environmental factors affect the reactions and thoughts of the students?
Due to unforeseen circumstances we are unable to conduct our experiment in different environments.
Conclusion
SP students are very cooperative and generally are quite brave and curious. The exterior of the bags does make a difference because majority of the students tend to judge the appearance of the bags before selecting a bag. This experiment was a success as we are able to gather enough information for the project.
- Wenjing (P0733458)- Joycelyn (P0734194)- Sock Ching (P0745431)- Peizhen (P0719025)- Tian Xiang (P0734248)- Ibrahim (P0710480)
Abstract
From this experiment, we discovered that SP students are inquisitive about what are unknown, especially peculiar objects such as the design of our experiment bags. Factors like gender and appearances of the bags affect the reactions of the students. This experiment was conducted at food court 3 and the methods we used to collect the data are observation, interviewing and video taking.
Aim of Research
To test how timid SP students are and to analyze their thoughts when they are doing the experiment.
Main Research Question
How will students react when they put their hands into the mystery boxes?
Sub Research Questions
1. How will differences in demographics (gender, race, age etc) affect the students' reaction to the mystery boxes?2. How the actors' reactions affect the change in behaviors of the students?3. What are the reactions and thoughts of the students?4. What are the environmental factors affect the reactions and thoughts of the students?
Data Collection Methods
Observation
Interview
Video Taking
Analysis
Sub Questions:
How will differences in demographics (gender, race, age etc) affect the students' reaction to the mystery boxes?
The males are more daring, they are curious about the contents in all the bags. Hence they put their hands inside the bags without any hesitation and in all the bags. The females are more timid and would usually ask what is inside the bag before putting their hands inside.
There are no differences between any races and ages.
How the actors' reactions affect the change in behaviors of the students?
The actors were expressionless during the experiment which intensifies the atmosphere. The female participants keep prompting us to tell them the contents in the bags.
What are the reactions and thoughts of the students?
Reactions and thoughts:
· 1st participant was curious and had thought of winning a prize.
· 2nd participant was disgusted by the slimy gel and thought that she would also receive a treat just like the first participant. Thought that the content is similar to the packaging of the bag
· 3rd participant was nervous and kept asking us what was inside the bags as she thought there might be a mouse inside the bag.
· 4th participant was aghast by the scene of blood.
· 5th participant felt excited at first but was revolted by looking at his hands smudged with hair gel.
· 6th participant felt nothing and does not seemed interested in it. He took part of the experiment because of the fun.
· 7th participant felt excited before the experiment and actually felt awesome after seeing his hands full of blood.
· 8th participant felt curious and kept prompting us about the contents inside. He laughed at himself when he saw his hands were full of gel.
· 9th participant felt curious at first and felt revolted when he saw his hands full of blood
· 10th participant also felt curious at first and was appalled when he saw his hands were smudged with gel. He chose the bag because he likes the superman design outside the bag.
What are the environmental factors affect the reactions and thoughts of the students?
Due to unforeseen circumstances we are unable to conduct our experiment in different environments.
Conclusion
SP students are very cooperative and generally are quite brave and curious. The exterior of the bags does make a difference because majority of the students tend to judge the appearance of the bags before selecting a bag. This experiment was a success as we are able to gather enough information for the project.
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