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COMMUNICATION 202 Assignment #2 (32.5%) Fall 2025

Fieldwork: Observer Participant /  the Implicit and Explicit Communication of Rules

Instructor: Dr. Kirsten McAllister

TAs:  Sayed Baqir Hussaini and Alan Ropke

Deadline December 5 2025

OVERVIEW OF BASIC INSTRUCTIONS

For this assignment you will OBSERVE THE RULES GOVERNING (1) ACTIVITIES AND (2) HOW PEOPLE BEHAVE or “conduct themselves” at a venue that is open to public

There are strict rules about what venue you can choose. The course does not have legal clearance for the following activities: interviewing people, asking them questions, photographing them or trying to make them react or interact with you (other than to do what is expected of someone taking part in the activity at your venue, for example, buying coffee, doing polite “small talk” with the barista, ask where the bathroom is located).

SELECT ONE OPTION – TRY TO SELECT AN OPTION YOU HAVE NOT VISITED BEFORE

a self-serve coffee shop or bubble tea (not a restaurant and not a bar);

a food court (e.g., Crystal Mall, Aberdeen Centre, Granville Island or Lonsdale Quay Market)

a busy bus stop;

a public lecture at SFU or UBC;

an event programmed in a theatre (a play, dance performance, music performance) where the audience sits down in seats (ie not a concert where people are standing, dancing, etc.)

It can not be a location where criminal activities take place; alcohol is served; people are engaged in personal/private activities (like dating) or a location that serves children, vulnerable or marginalized individuals (e.g., elderly, immigrants, unhoused people, ill people, people receiving health services or people from racialized, Indigenous, queer and disabled groups).

Do not photograph individuals – you can photograph “the venue”, the event (if permitted), etc. and if there are crowds etc. in the photo that is alright but you can not  take photos of individual people or groups  (ie families, groups of friends, groups of work colleagues, staff taking breaks, couples, etc).

MAKE OBSERVATIONS about

the communication of rules about how to use the venue, how to take part in the activities, and behave in the venue.

and the extent to which people comply to these rules

include observations about your own efforts to use the space, take part in permissible activities in the venue & understand the rules

4. THE RULES might include institutional, social and cultural rules that are:

implicit rules / norms of behaviour (Foucault)

explicit rules

You will take on the role of an OBSERVER AS PARTICIPANT or PERIPHERAL MEMBER (Lindlof 147-149)

SPECIFIC INSTRUCTIONS: STEPS

PREPARATION

Chose a venue; try to choose a venue you are not familiar visiting

Ensure that the event fits the criteria specified, otherwise it will violate ethical codes. This is serious!

Before you visit the venue:

review the assignment and think about the type of info you need to gather;

decide how you are going to discreetly make your fieldnotes (Lindlof and Taylor 155-159)

think of some of the difficulties you might encounter and how you will resolve them, including curious people and employees (be honest about what you are doing if asked and be non-confrontational--see Lindlof and Taylor; Atkinson)

think about what you expect to observe

in terms of “impression management” (Atkins 4-7), think about what you are going to wear; think about how your “personal characteristics” (Atkinson 13) might influence how people interact with you.

Chose a time/day to visit the venue; go when there will be other people; depending on the time/day, different people will be there.

Prepare to go early to learn about the layout of the venue and where you can sit / observe

Spend enough time at the event to ensure you can observe a range of rules and activities (at least 1.5 hours)

 IN THE FIELD

walk around the venue and familiarize yourself with its layout, the types & number of workers (or absence of workers, etc.) – sketch the layout and photo document the venue and yourself at the venue (also as evidence you were there!)

find a location where you can observe, from a distance, the general activities

if you are attending an event, sort out when & how it is okay to take notes (you likely will need to turn your phone off - and write notes); if you are in a cafe, sort out how you can discreetly write fieldnotes etc.

write fieldnotes (either jot down "scratches" or write longer descriptions) describing key details of what you observe (draw on the readings to get guidelines on how to do this Lindlof 155-163)

the different types of workers/staff; the different groups of people using/visiting the venue

the activities/actions of the workers and the visitors (do not stare or be intrusive)

describe how staff or other visitors interact with you (nonverbally as well) – what do their interactions signify about how you think they have categorized you (a student? a tourist? or?); what are the implicit rules for how you should behave? Are there explicit rules that you learn about while you are visiting this venue? do you accidentally break one of the rules (whether that is dropping you coffee on the floor or waiting in the wrong place or wearing the wrong clothes).

are there implicit rules (the unspoken rules) that are shared by most people regarding the activities (what they do) and their behaviour?

what are the explicit rules (there might be signs with instructions, staff might give people directions, the design of the venue might guide people to stand in particular places, sit etc. )

do people follow or ignore the implicit and explicit rules (including yourself)

write down what you smell, the sounds, the temperature and how you feel (see Lindlof 138-139; Moldes; Yoshimizu) – does impact how you understand the venue and the interactions?

4. REMEMBER: remain at a distance; do not interrupt or disturb people; do not gather info by asking questions

5. When you return to your home from your fieldnotes more fully describe what you observed in DETAIL (Lindlof 155-163)

WRITING UP YOUR FINDINGS

Your write-up will include 4 sections. Write an account of your observations from your fieldnotes in a “story” format with you as a “character” (see sections from Atkinson, Yoshimizu, Moldes and Yin for examples of how to do this)

Introduction: ½-1 page approx.

the purpose of your study

introduce venue and why you decided to select this venue

explain if you were familiar with the venue, and how you prepared for your research, including whether you prepared yourself in terms of impression management (SEE SECTION ON PREPARATION)

Methodological Details : 3 pages approx

describe your method of observation, how you wrote fieldnotes and where you sat etc.

describe what you observed

reflect on your role as an observer & the success of your “impression management” & people’s response to your “personal characteristics”

from their interaction with you, how do you think they categorized who you? how did you feel about this?

what expectations were there about your behaviour given what they assumed was your “identity”?

Was there anything you smelled, heard, or felt that affected how you observed and understood the activities at your venue?

were there challenges your faced (including practical details, like taking notes while trying to “fit in”)

ASSESSMENT OF DATA: 2 pages; weave your analysis into your description/story (B. above). For your analysis be sure to discuss:

the implicit/explicit rules you observed

how the rules were communicated and enforced (you could use Foucault here – were the norms/rules communicated and enforced through social pressure / through self-surveillance or by staff?)

whether you and others followed or broke the implicit and explicit rules? Did the rules apply differently to different people (children in contrast to middle-aged couples)?

are there ethical issues you faced while conducting research (Culhane, Atkinson, Lindlof).

SELF-REFLEXIVE ASSESSMENT OF YOUR STUDY: 1/2 page (or integrate into the body of your story)

Reflect on how your observations and analysis might be affected by subjective factors (your identity and views; your personal characteristics, etc.) – do they make it possible to be more empathetic and understanding - or gain more insight because of your different background (as more of an outsider)? or do they result in bias? (see readings).

RECOMMENDATIONS: 1/2 page How you would re-design your study to improve it: e.g., what other types of information would help improve it if you had the time to collect more data (more observations? city laws? etc.); how would you change the method or research?; the length of the study, etc.

HAND IN: 1. Your essay and in an appendix that includes 2. a photograph of  you at the venue & 3 photographs of the venue (paste them onto one page); 3. your sketch of the layout of the venue; 4. On one page include  4 photos of your fieldnotes.

USE  AT LEAST FOUR READINGS BY DIFFERENT AUTHORS FROM WEEK 11-13 OF THE COURSE

NUMBER OF WORDS: 2,100-2800 double-spaced

DEADLINE: December 5 11:59 PM; hand in to Canvas

FORMAT: Use essay format with an introduction and a conclusion. Type and double-space.

REFERENCES: Ensure that you properly cite all references that you make to articles or books in the body of your essay and include all references in a bibliography.

NOTE SFU’s & the course’s plagiarism and AI regulations.

FORMAT FOR REFERENCES: Use MLA or Chicago. Use in-text citations. See the SFU’s Library website.

COPIES: Make 2 copies of your assignment; keep 1 for a backup – remember to regularly save your file.

Helpful Reference Books on Reserve in the Bennett Library:

Researching Communications: A Practical Guide to Methods in Media and Cultural Analysis /David Deacon, et. al.

Research Decisions: Quantitative and Qualitative Perspectives / Palys, Ted

Qualitative Research in Action: a Canadian primer / Deboroah K. Van den Hoonaard.

Becoming Qualitative Researchers: an introduction / Corinne Glesne.

Indigenous Methodologies: characteristics, conversations, and contexts / Margaret Kovach.

For on-line examples of ethnographies from the SFU library on-line journals, see Cultural Anthropology; The Journal of Contemporary Ethnography; Ethnography, American Anthropologist, Transforming Ethnography, etc.