General Psychology: Behavioral Analysis Project
Project Description: This project requires you to
1. Complete analysis of a person(s) through observations
2. Write a paper about the observations, explaining your analysis. In other words, you will engage in “people watching” and analyze behavior or patterns of behavior you see. This is a descriptive research project.
Examples of people you may consider for observation and analysis:
• Workgroup or colleagues
• A Family Member such as a parent or sibling
• Peers from class or school
• Peers from church or a religious group
• Close Friendship(s) or Relationship(s)
• Person(s) joined to do a common thing (i.e., sports, online environments, gaming, music, etc.)
• A character(s) in a series or show–make sure it’s long enough to meet the 24-hour requirement
Project Instructions:
· Pick the person(s) you will watch and analyze and complete an observational plan.
· Choose one to three people to observe. If you choose to observe more than one person (2 or 3), all of them should be in a group or in the same setting at the same time. You can discuss how they influence one another
· After you have decided on who you will watch, you will start your observations. Your observations should lead to an analysis of behaviors you see by considering what you see through the lens of psychology.
· Do not tell the participant(s) that you are watching them; this may change their behavior! If you are writing about “real” people (not a character) you will use an alias to protect their privacy.
· You must engage in observations for a minimum of 24hrs. Take notes to help you write your paper. Your observations should build on each other and give you guidance on particular things you want to pay attention from one observation to the next.
· After you have completed your observations, you will write a 3-5-page APA formatted paper connecting what you saw in your observations to course concepts learned about in psychology. This length DOES NOT include your title, abstract, and reference page.
· You are required to write about five-course concepts (or more). Course concepts should come from the textbook, notes, videos, or other class materials. Be certain you can thoroughly explain each concept and provide specific “real life” examples or evidence that you saw during your observations. You should have a paragraph (or more) for each concept.
· Include a conclusion paragraph (minimum of 4-5 sentences) explaining how completing the analysis project has facilitated your understanding/awareness of psychology in your daily life.
·You will have a minimum of 7 paragraphs: An Intro; a paragraph for each of the five concepts; and conclusion.
·In addition you need a title page, abstract, and reference page in APA format.
· Include a reference to the textbook and any other sources you used for your writing. You should have a minimum of 3 sources.
