Select a specific public area (e.g. park, mall, restaurant, waiting room, neighborhood, etc) and spend one hour there observing what you see. Before you begin observing the area you selected, answer the following questions:
- What are the general categories of data you can observe?
- How will you gain entry to the setting? What permission do you need, if any?
- Are specific times or days preferable for making observations in this place?
- Which observational approach would be best – participant or nonparticipant?
- For this setting, would it be more appropriate to collect field notes or develop a coding scheme? Why?
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