Adolescence Psychology Observation

Observational methods in researches for psychology include thorough observation as well as full description of the behaviour of the subject matter. The researcher who utilizes this research method has to put different quantities of control over the surrounding that he or she is making the observation. Observation acts as a bridge between the highly regulated method called experimental design and the less organised approach of conducting interviews.

Observation is utilised without an intervention and it is for this reason that it is sometimes referred to as the naturalistic observation because one makes the observation in a natural setting. A natural setting means that the behaviour of the subject occurs very ordinarily without prior arrangements. One has to be very keen to observe the different behaviours of the subject. For compilation of this paper, I took a few hours at Daintree high school to observe the behaviours of the different adolescents up to their lunch hour. I went to the school about twenty minutes before their day would start.

I am very sure that this research is going to be an interesting one for me as I observe the behaviours of these adolescents. The school breaks for lunch at exactly twelve noon and the school bell rings for pupils to be released to go and take their lunch.

Daintree is not a big school thus the population of the school is average; not too populated and not less populated. From my judgement, the school has more boys than girls and I cannot tell the reason for this since my objective is only to observe the behaviours of these young adolescents. Most of them are physically able but there are a few cases of adolescents with special needs. They are all smartly dressed with their beautiful grey and purple uniforms.

The school is well structured will all the facilities for children and adolescent growth. I arrive before their day begins so I am able to see how their time at school begins and how they cope up with each new day. Most of the students here are dropped in the morning by their parents. We had earlier on in class learned that boys at adolescence tend to be more active than girls and this proves to be true because most of the boys start jogging to their class after being dropped by their parents. The girls on the other side only walk to their classes.

When all the students are in school, the morning bell rings and all of them take their seats ready to start off their day. While their teacher was talking to them, some seemed to be listening to her while others looked confused checking their school bags. The confused students seem to have misplaced items. Others who are not concentrating are busy drawing sketches on their books.

The teacher would pause in the middle of a sentence just to alert them that they need to stop that and they would realise and immediately stop. Most of the boys sat at the back with a few girls. The girls at the back were passing notes to each other and I thought they were probably catching up with each other. The students at the front seem freshened up and are very attentive to their teacher. When their teacher pauses in the middle of a sentence, they stop their other doings and give the teacher an undivided attention.

In class we also learnt that boys tend to be disobedient and this is true because most of the boys in this class are paying less attention to their teacher. When they break for their tea break at mid-morning, the students walk in groups of three mostly.

There are cliques that they have formed in accordance to their home residents. The taller and big bodied boys also have their own cliques. The less energetic boys walk in their own groups and do not talk to any of the girls. One particular small boy who seems to have special needs talks to one of the girls but a taller boy stops him.

The small boy walks away frightened. In class we learnt in one of the theories that boys who have bigger bodies at their adolescence feel very energetic and try to bully the other small boys. The taller boys also have their uniforms a little bit customised to look ‘better’ than the rest. The small boys speak to these taller ones with a lot of politeness and in my view I think that the taller and bigger boys in this school are bullies. All the girls seem polite except for this particular one who has her hair well plaited and is wearing very cute spectacles.

She talks much and at some point she comes and says ‘hello’ to me. She spends most of the time alone during the tea break as the other girls speak in small groups. In class, two boys and a girl remain behind during tea break. The bell rings after thirty minutes and the students are expected to go back to class.

The small boys and all the girls run to class while the taller and bigger boys drag themselves to class. After tea break there is lots of noise in class and I observe that it is the boys who make most of this noise. When the teacher comes to class the students go silent like nothing happened. We learnt in class that, students that have special needs and those that have been brought up in problematic families for instance in a family where the parents divorced have a problem in relating with their peers. I had earlier communicated with their teacher about my intentions and I ask about one particular student, a small girl who seemed disturbed.

Unlike the other girls, this girl does not fully interact with the rest and she does not walk in their groups and cliques. Their teacher tells me that her parents recently separated and she has had problems with relating with her peers since then.

Another theory learnt in class is that girls at puberty want to relate more with boys. Apparently, the girls at Daintree high school only relate more with boys while outside the school compound. While in school, they keep a distance. My research ends at lunch hour and I observe the students as they go for their lunch.

Most of them have snacks from home. They sit in groups of not less than two while taking their lunch except for a few of them. I have had an interesting day here and the theories I have learnt class have been proved right in this natural setting.

Cite this page