U06A1 (Methods and Findings) U06A1 (Methods and Findings) Student: Institution: Professor: Date of Submission: Introduction In this assignment, I was able to get a real chance to be in the actual field making first hand observations. It was such an interesting activity to move around and watch natural behaviour in the field. During this time, my main objectives involved making observations of random people in their natural environment and how they behaved, how frequent they were into social media. Their frequency to social media usage was judged by how they were using their gadgets such as tablets and cell phones. Another objective involved getting close enough to hear their conversations and capture their attitude on some aspects. All this was done without their knowledge so as to ensure they had their natural behaviour free from influence. Another phase of my activity involved asking some questions about their opinions on some issues such as social media usage. These questions were designed in such a way that a response/behaviour would follow soon enough. The reason for these mechanism was to compare their attitudes towards something and how they actually behaved in relation to their attitudes. Most of my questions were social media related so as to ensure I remained relevant to my research and social psychology. The activity involved observation of ten random subjects and how they interacted with one another, how they behaved as a result of their peer surrounding since the experiment was conducted in a public setting. The observation occurred on two phases. Each phase taking approximately 20-30mins such that I had approximately two minutes for each person. The second phase was the most interesting since this is where I was asking the questions and observing whether the persons would behave in accord to their opinions and attitude. It should be noticed that, at times I would make the observation then pose the question about what I had observed just to see if their actions would match their opinions. Their entire time in the field was really interesting and mind opening. Ethical obligations and challenges Every research will always have some challenges associated with it. The challenges are even more when the subjects under study are humans. This is because we humans have rights and freedoms which ought to be respected and upheld. My study had several challenges. However, such challenges were tackled professionally such that my results were not biased and no violations of whatsoever kind were made. My first challenge was to target selection. With so many people in a public setting, it is difficult to select a fair sample that would be representative enough. In addition to this, gender and age repre ...

1. U06A1 (Methods and Findings)
U06A1 (Methods and Findings)
Student:
Institution:
Professor:
Date of Submission:
Introduction
In this assignment, I was able to get a real chance to be in the
actual field making first hand observations. It was such an
interesting activity to move around and watch natural behaviour
in the field. During this time, my main objectives involved
making observations of random people in their natural
environment and how they behaved, how frequent they were
into social media. Their frequency to social media usage was

2. judged by how they were using their gadgets such as tablets and
cell phones. Another objective involved getting close enough to
hear their conversations and capture their attitude on some
aspects. All this was done without their knowledge so as to
ensure they had their natural behaviour free from influence.
Another phase of my activity involved asking some questions
about their opinions on some issues such as social media usage.
These questions were designed in such a way that a
response/behaviour would follow soon enough. The reason for
these mechanism was to compare their attitudes towards
something and how they actually behaved in relation to their
attitudes. Most of my questions were social media related so as
to ensure I remained relevant to my research and social
psychology.
The activity involved observation of ten random subjects and
how they interacted with one another, how they behaved as a
result of their peer surrounding since the experiment was
conducted in a public setting. The observation occurred on two
phases. Each phase taking approximately 20-30mins such that I
had approximately two minutes for each person. The second
phase was the most interesting since this is where I was asking
the questions and observing whether the persons would behave
in accord to their opinions and attitude. It should be noticed
that, at times I would make the observation then pose the
question about what I had observed just to see if their actions
would match their opinions.
Their entire time in the field was really interesting and mind
opening.
Ethical obligations and challenges
Every research will always have some challenges associated
with it. The challenges are even more when the subjects under
study are humans. This is because we humans have rights and
freedoms which ought to be respected and upheld.
My study had several challenges. However, such challenges
were tackled professionally such that my results were not biased
and no violations of whatsoever kind were made. My first

3. challenge was to target selection. With so many people in a
public setting, it is difficult to select a fair sample that would
be representative enough. In addition to this, gender and age
representation was yet another challenge in selection of my
subjects.
Another challenge that I had to deal with in the field was time
factor. Since I had only around 20-30mins per session, I had to
ensure time factored in my observations and interactions. With
such limited time, it is somehow difficult to obtain 100%
accurate results since observing and interviewing takes time.
This challenge was overcome by maintaining a professional way
conducting the research. By the fourth subject, it was almost
becoming natural in how fast I could make accurate and timely
observations.
The biggest of my challenges was the ethical obligation I had to
uphold. I had to ensure that the candidates I interviewed were
okay in participating in the research. It would take some time to
explain to them that it was a research. In addition to this,
explaining to people that I was conducting a research posed
another challenge. Such knowledge, if not delivered in a good
way would trigger behaviour chance hence affect the
naturalistic behaviour. I was able to overcome this challenge by
first making the observation before I approached the subjects
for the questions.
Another ethical obligation I had to deal with was personal space
and privacy. During my observations, which involved getting
close enough to gather as much information as I could in my
limited time, I had to ensure I didn’t violate their personal
space.
Observations
Two major observations were dominant during the entire period.
In most of the cases, I was able to observe that social media has
played a very major role in influencing our day to day lives and
interactions with others. For example, over 60% of all my
subject would at one point refer to their gadgets, especially to
their cell phones even amidst conversations with other persons.

4. Such gadgets would really pose as a challenge and interruption
in conversations. This trend triggered the subject I would
choose to find their attitudes towards such behaviour.
In most of the cases, persons who I had observed use their cell
phones amidst conversations would be against the idea of using
such gadgets in between conversations with others. It should be
noted that these same persons were not aware that I had been
observing them the entire period hence were not consciously
aware they had done it before the interview.
On another case, I would observe the reaction of the persons
who had to hold on their conversations while the other person
responded to their cell phones. Most of them would sub-
consciously get annoyed by the way they changed their facial
expressions. I would then wait to see if such persons would
respond to their cell phones when a chance presented itself. On
most cases, some would respond just like the other person. On
interviewing such persons on their attitudes towards the
behaviour, they would admit that they found it rude!
Lastly, I was able to observe that a small minority who were
against the cell phone interruption actually respected
conversations and ignored their gadgets when in conversation
with their fellow peers.
Results and Analysis
From my observation, the theme of conflict was dominant.
There exist and internal conflict between our opinions/ attitudes
and our actions. What we are against does not necessarily mean
we don’t practice it ourselves. A good example of this is the
case of those majority who were against the idea of using their
cell phones amidst conversations and yet used them when the
chance presented itself. This mere contradiction can say a lot
about human behaviour in general. Humans are creatures who
are prone to change at any one given moment to something else
in terms of opinions and action. This could hint something
about the string of thoughts that run in our minds. What the
mind has to offer may not necessarily be what we chose to act
on. Our actions are sometimes, most of the times independent of

5. our opinions and attitude towards something.
The main thing that was dominant from this observation was
that attitude does not necessarily predict behaviour (Ajzen &
Fishbein, 1977). Just because someone’s attitude is inclined
towards something doesn’t mean they would act in favour of
their inclination when the time to act comes. These results were
first discovered by LaPiere, in 1934 who from his several
researches on the relationship between attitude and behaviour
discovered that attitude is not necessarily a predictor of
behaviour. His best example was that, just because a person
think smoking is a bad habit and can lead to cancer does not
necessarily mean that the person in question does not smoke
(LaPiere, 1934). Such discoveries have continued to manifest
even in our modern society of advanced technology and social
media.
At another level, I would still argue that attitude can predict
behaviour, though the probability is very small. This would be
backed up by the minority group who actually acted in favour of
their attitudes. At the same time, I would argue that social
media has really played a role in modifying these behaviours.
Those that who behaved in accordance with their opinions and
attitudes could be seen as a minority representative of the small
portion left in society or are completely genuine with
themselves. It takes genuineness and a lot of confidence for
one’s inner to match their outer. These results could still be
calibrated against confidence and a lot deduced from the results.
On the other hand, the argument that attitude does not
necessarily predict behaviour could be used to explain the
conflict in behaviour and conduct that exist between the real
world and the virtual world. There is a very big difference
between who we are and what we wish/want to be (Jones &
Hofstetter, n.d.). Social media has rally played a role in
magnifying these behaviour and results. By introduction of a
virtual world to compare with a real world, the conflict between
our inner selves and our outer selves has been magnified and
exposed in a bigger and better dimension. The results can

6. always be scaled down to confidence. Are we confident enough
to express what we actually mean and feel?
References
LaPiere, R. (1934). Attitudes vs. Actions. Social Forces, 13(2),
230-237. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/2570339
Ajzen, I., & Fishbein, M. (1977). Attitude-behavior relations: A
theoretical analysis and review of empirical research.
Psychological Bulletin, 84(5), 888-918.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.84.5.888
Zimbardo, P., & Ebbesen, E. (1970). Influencing Attitudes and
Changing Behavior: A Basic Introduction to Relevant
Methodology, Theory, and Applications. Revised Edition.
Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, Inc., Reading,
Massachusetts, 01867. Retrieved from
http://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED054640
Jones, W., & Hofstetter, C. Social and Media Influences on
Growth Attitudes. Journal Of Environmental Systems, 18(4),
367-379. http://dx.doi.org/10.2190/x9k0-5jq4-ggqm-w4lm

7. Unit three assignment one. (U03A1)
Unit three assignment one. (U03A1)
Student:
Institution:
Professor:
Date of submission:
Introduction
This assignment will be focused on identifying a suitable
research topic as well as defining the purpose of the topic and
its appropriateness in this class. First, I would like to remind
ourselves of some previous major terms so as to ensure a mutual
understanding on the use of such terms in this assignment. First,
I would start by reviewing the term social psychology which
deals with the behaviour of a person in a social surrounding.
Secondly, a naturalistic methodology, which involves the study
of one’s subjects in their natural environment with minimal
interference if any. The last term would be social media. This is

8. a collection of networks and interfaces which allow a virtual
interaction among humans at different places. A good example
of social media would be Facebook. Though there are several
social media, Facebook would be our major focus since most of
the research would be carried out here.
Previous works related to my research directly or indirectly will
also be considered and discussed briefly in an attempt to
understand how the rest of the researchers view social media in
relation to social psychology. These previous researches would
also be used to relate to my theory and hypothesis. In addition
to this, their findings would be really helpful in designing my
hypothesis. Since every research is founded on some previous
knowledge or a theory, I would find such literature review
important in supporting my research topic.
Lastly, the assignment will commence on discussing some of the
issues I anticipate to face during my study. These would mainly
focus on the challenges I may encounter in the field. However, I
intend to solve the issues to my best of knowledge to ensure
accuracy of my work is optimum.
Research topic
My research topic is simple. It is formulated on a question
which would summarise the entire social psychology. “How
much is our confidence?” Is my research topic. I find the topic
interesting and my choice was based on several reasons which I
found appropriate and in line with the impacts of social media
in relation to social psychology.
First, confidence is a necessary ingredient in the everyday life.
How much confidence ne has is directly proportional to the
choices one makes with some other factors held constant. It
takes confidence to quit a bad or poisoning relationship. It takes
confidence to express oneself in such a way that they pass
across what they really mean. Confidence will always affect
one’s choices on everyday life.
Secondly, confidence owes its existence from social
psychology. For instance, I would argue that confidence is a
behaviour. It is like an inner dictator who determines how one

9. views and values themselves. The more confidence one has, the
bolder they are in their actions, decisions and behaviour. Thus,
confidence could be used to measure how you respond to your
environment hence fitting under a social psychology setting
which focuses on behaviour.
At another level, social media will have some influence on the
confidence of people. For example, some can learn confidence
from others through lessons delivered through social media sites
and as a result change their behaviour. At the same time, social
media can greatly corrode one’s confidence in the real world
whereas they may appear and act ‘confident’ in the virtual
world. Thus, linking confidence, behaviour, social media and
my research is an appropriate way of exploring social
psychology. I would conclude that I find my research topic
appropriate.
Research setting
I intend to conduct this research on one social media website,
Facebook. My choice of the setting is because Facebook is
among the leading social media websites with over a billion
participants from all over the world. In addition to this, since I
would like to research on all kinds of persons irrespective of
age, gender, race and religion, I find Facebook a suitable setting
for such. My data collection would be based on tallying similar
responses for similar situations. However, di-similar responses
will not be ignored. The second phase would include
questionnaires to random people on Facebook through a
common page whereby I would get a view of how certain
reactions make them respond. This method would not be relied
on too much since people are prone to lies when it comes to
issues about themselves (Wittkower, 2010).
This research setting has the following advantages. First,
Facebook has a wide coverage in terms of specimen. This would
ensure randomness is maximised hence reducing cases of
biasness. Secondly, Facebook is the only place I am guaranteed
to find all the types of persons I intend to work with. This
ranges from teenagers, celebrities to college persons who are

10. the most affected groups by the social media. In addition to
this, Facebook gives my subjects a really large social
surrounding and thus the results would be really good since
their responses will be influenced by a really large crowd.
Lastly, Facebook responses have records. Thus one can come
back, login and go through the responses that the subjects have
written. In such a way, it is convenient in terms of time.
Facebook as a research setting has its limitations too. For
instance, people have the choice not to respond to a response if
they don’t feel okay with it. As a result, their reactions would
be assumed to be none. At the same time, in such a setting,
people are prone to posting some information which is not
actually true about themselves. On such a case, the researcher
will capture data that it almost irrelevant. Another major
limitation associated with Facebook is that how people behave
in the virtual world does not always much with their true selves.
Some will selectively post only what is good about them. This
tendency somehow interferes with the natural behaviour where
both good and bad would manifest.
Despite the several limitations of this research setting, its
accuracy in terms of capturing general behaviour in a social
surrounding is quite high. This is because so many people are
used to the virtual world such that it has become part and parcel
of their natural lives. For example, what would be despised in
Facebook would also be despised in the real world.
Previous theories supporting my topic
Social psychology is a science that revolves around society. On
the other hand, social media is an interface that allows
interactions of persons in a virtual network. Over the years,
social media has evolved and is affecting almost every aspect of
our society today. Thus, social psychology tries to understand
and anticipate these technological changes in our society. By
investigating and understanding how the social media is
affecting our daily livelihoods, then we are able as
psychologists to comprehend the very essence of social
psychology. By understanding the new behaviours by studying

11. them, we are able to adjust such that this virtual world does not
make us robots and puppets of the technology.
Previous theories that have helped me formulate my research
topic have found out that social media is really getting in
between almost every activity. The study shows that a large
percent of the human population is extremely dependent on their
gadgets such as mobile phones and tablets. On a random, even
in real social gathering, one would notice people actually on
their gadgets instead of socialising! Every now and then they
would look at their gadgets to see if there are new updates.
Other studies have revealed that social media has infected our
youth to the extent of forgetting how to actually socialise in the
real world. We have more online friends than we have in the
real life. In addition to this, some extreme cases reveal that
there are friends who interact in social media but are not
courageous enough to interact with the same friend in the
streets!
My study will be based on behaviour in this virtual world and
comparing such findings with the real world behaviours. At the
same time, it is aimed at gauging how deep humans are into the
virtual world at the expense of the real world.
Issues anticipated in study
The major issue I expect in this study would be sincerity of my
subjects (Kirkpatrick, 2010). Not everyone who posts that they
are having a lovely Sunday are actually having one. One can
simply post such information from the comfort of their blankets.
However, I intent to tackle the issue by considering the posts in
response to a certain stimuli such as comment by a peer.
Another issue may be the tendency of people to delete bad
comments in Facebook. This means that if the comment which
may have given some useful information about my study subject
is deleted before I get to it, then some useful data would have
been lost. The issue however, will be tackled by frequenting the
website as much as I can as well as setting a reminder to
indicate when my subjects respond.
The last issue I anticipate is the choice of my subject.

12. Sometimes it’s a bit difficult to choose a fair representative
especially from such a large number of persons (Aydin, 2012). I
will ensure that my choices are the best possible representative
I can get.
Despite the issues I may come across during my study, I am
positive they would be appropriately handles and that the
research will be a success.
References
Aydin, S. (2012). A review of research on Facebook as an
educational environment. Education Tech Research Dev, 60(6),
1093-1106. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11423-012-9260-7
Kirkpatrick, D. (2010). The Facebook effect. New York: Simon
& Schuster.
Pezzulo, G. (2008). The challenge of anticipation. Berlin:
Springer.
Wittkower, D. (2010). Facebook and philosophy. Chicago: Open
Court.