Naturalistic observation in behavioral research

Naturalistic Observation

The observation took place at a college between two of my friends. I joined them for lunch at 14:00 in the afternoon on a Wednesday in July. The weather was pleasant and sunny. The subjects are one male and one female, both in their early twenties and fairly attractive. We booked a table at a popular restaurant, and I recorded data during the period while waiting for our food, and also during the meal. The hypothesis that I constructed and tested over the recording period was that my two friends were beginning to develop romantic feelings for each other. Knowing them in a social setting, I know that they have been friends since they were children. They may therefore not be aware of their feelings at this time, but as a third-party observer, their non-verbal and verbal behavior made this clear.

During the first ten minutes, I observed non-verbal behavior. The female smiled at the male and often lowered her eyes. She frequently touched the male's hand when emphasizing something that she was saying. She focused more of her attention on the male than on me, and also looked and smiled at him more frequently. When he reciprocated her behavior, she appeared slightly more lively than when interacting with me. Her behavior was therefore different when interacting with the male than interacting with me. She often touched her hair and stroked her neck when speaking to him. These behaviors were absent when speaking to me. During this part of the recording, I observed that the female displayed specific behaviors towards the male that she did not display towards me.

The same is true for the male. During the first ten minutes of the observation, he leaned forward towards the female when speaking to her. When she touched his hand, he would reciprocate by stroking her fingers lightly. He also smiled more frequently when speaking to the female than when speaking to me. When speaking to her he would look deeply into her eyes until she responded to his conversation. When listening to her, he seemed to give his/her undivided attention until she finished the conversation.

The verbal behavior was recorded during the next 10 minutes. The male and female shared the same frequency of conversation. On the surface, the subject of the conversation revolved around everyday matters such as the beauty of the weather and the atmosphere in the restaurant. They also spoke about things that concerned their college lives. They discussed mutual classes, friends and lecturers that the liked or disliked. They observed that it was beginning to be less difficult to be far away from home, and that it helped to be in close proximity to each other, as they have been friends for a long time. This proximity provided them with an anchor of familiarity among all the unfamiliar and new experiences during their college lives. The food arrived during this part of the recording. Both male and female observed that they were enjoying the food and that they would definitely visit this restaurant again. The male suggested that the female accompany him to the restaurant on Friday. She agreed. The first twenty minutes of the observation is complete at this stage. At this time the strongest support for my hypothesis is the non-verbal behavior and the final sentences of the conversation.

The hypothesis was tested and confirmed during the second twenty minutes of the conversation. The male and female continued to display non-verbal behavior that supported the hypothesis regarding their developing feelings for each other. They frequently touched hands and looked into each other's eyes. They also smiled more frequently at each other than at me and gave more attention to each other than to me. When speaking to each other, both the female and male leaned forward slightly and focused their attention on the other.

In terms of conversation, the subject of the conversation continued to revolve around college life and how this contrasted with their lives at home. They appeared to agree that they were grateful for each other's company in the new setting. The male observed that the only problem was the infrequency of their visits. The female responded that their studies kept them very busy, but that she would also like to see the male more often. They agreed that their date on Friday was a good beginning. Both were silent for a while as they considered the use of the word "date." The male considered whether they should consider the outing as a date between boyfriend and girlfriend, or whether they were simply going out as friends. The female was quiet for a short while and then responded that she would like to think of it as a date. They agreed. The rest of the conversation revolved around their new status as romantic partners rather than platonic friends. Both appeared excited at the prospect. The lunch ended at approximately 14:50, with both subjects agreeing on a time and place to meet for their date on Friday. They parted with a kiss.