Observational Essay Essay Example for Free

honoringal Essay EssayObservations are a pillowcase of primary inquiry that involves spending time watching people or other creatures interact with each other and the world around them. Observations are used in nearly every field and suffer be incredibly useful in gathering information.Types of ParticipationBefore observing, consider how you as an observer may alter the purget beingness discover.How fully will you participate in the event? provide you simply sit, watch, and take notes with no interaction?Will you interact with the histrions?Will you become a participant yourself?These different choices trick radically change what you end up observing. The mere figurehead of an observer may alter the eventsand if you interact with participants, you further risk changing what takes place. The other side to this is that by not fighting(a) in an event, you may not gain a complete understanding of that event.How to ObserveWhen observing, it is especially main(prenominal ) to separate observations from your feelings or reactions to observations. A good dash to do this is to take your observations in a double-entry notebook. A double-entry notebook has two columns, one for what is directly observed and one is for what the observer interprets from the events. Here is an example Observation The teacher walks around the circle and speaks to each student individually. Interpretation The teacher seems to want to make trusted that each student understands the assignment. If you are observing a group that is not found in exoteric (such as a group of card players, a sports team, or a special-interest group), it may be perspicacious to plan to spend multiple sittings with the group. This will allow the group some time to adjust to your presence (and hence, for you to get more accurate observations).Recordings vs. Note-takingHow will you be observing? Will you be taking notes in a notebook? With a laptop? Will you be recording your observations in some way (with a digital camera, video camera, digital recorder, etc? How you choose to observe isanother important consideration that can affect the quality and results of your observations. Remember that you cannot capture everything that takes place with a recording or by even by taking detailed notes.What to ObserveObservational skills require some practice The key to being a good observer is to pay attention to the details of a situation, write as more as you can, and write it as detailed as possible. Before you observe, you should consider how you will focus your observationsbecause you sanctimony focus on everything Research is required for this essay. Read the sample observational essays and note how the students integrated research into their work. source http//owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/559/07/Write an observational essay about an intriguing place, person, or performance in your community. Your essay may be a brief profile of an individual based on one or two interview s a description of a place or activity observed once or twice or a longer, more fully developed profile of a person, place, or activity based on observational visits and interviews conducted over several days. Observe your subject closely, and and then present what you have learnedin a way that both informs and engages readers. Use lots of description. Possible topicideas for observation (see your school text for more ideas) -a church or temple (interview the minister/members)-a classroom (interview teacher/students)-a popular hangout-a hospital-any place thats different or gets you outside of your comfort zone-a ride along with an military officer-an AA meeting-a protest-a jail-hospice-homeless shelter-shelter for abused women with children