the actual observation

[twinkle]

Hi

Going to a summer fair this weekend and think this could be the ideal time to observe couples! Can I just confirm I'm trying to observe about 10 couples, and noting whether the man touches the woman and where, or whether the woman touches the man and where. Is this correct?

Do I just take the first 10 couples I see, e.g. what if the first 10 couples I see don't touch at all or do I just log the first 10 couples I see actually touching?

Is 10 couples enough?

How long do you watch them for - not sure if I can 'stalk' them for too long!

Hope this makes sense, but when I'm sitting 'watching' I want to get it right!

Many thanks.

[Jan Conway]

Hello, you could just pick the first 10 people that you come across. You are really observing them as you probable would normally without thinking about it but obviously this time you are documenting touching behaviour and comparing touching behaviour of males and female couples. Just observe them for 10 minutes it’s really up to you but keep the time consistent. Observe all you participants for the same length of time to standardise your investigation. If they move from the room in that 10 minutes they will void from the research as it would be unacceptable to ‘ stalk ‘ them.
Jan