Group Work

Today is a typical day at my field site. The environment is a little cold which is the norm here at this location. I came to my field site in the afternoon and the first thing I notice is there are a group of individuals sitting in section that is surrounded by couches and it seems like they are rehearsing or studying something as a group. These individuals look like students but I’m not too sure if they are at the high school or college level of education. The group looks like it consists of just Hispanic and Caucasian descents when it comes to ethnicity. Ironically all the women expect for one seem shorter than five foot seven, the other female looks like a volleyball player, and the three gentlemen are actually really tall averaging at least five foot ten. Everyone in the group looks older except for one female who is with one of the gentlemen but she doesn’t look like she’s associated with the group. I’m guessing that the younger female and older male are siblings and she is just there cause she has to be. I came to this assumption because everyone else is somewhat engaging in the group conversation except for her in which she has some headphones in and is also seated out of the group. As I observe their behavior it seems like some of them seem to be really social while others are more isolated. For example there are a couple of specific males and females who seem to be the “leaders” because they are organizing the whole situation while the others are taking the command. It’s not that those individuals are bossy; as I observe their interaction longer it looks as if they are guiding the group instead of ordering the rest of the group on what to do. It looks as if the “leaders” are still part of the group instead of them being tutors which was my first assumption. The other individuals in the group who don’t seem as social as the rest of the group seem to be more busy on their phones but I doubt their looking up information that’s relevant to their group because they seem to use their phones more to break the awkwardness within the group. The longer I observe their group the more I notice that when those certain isolated individuals are conversing within the group their answers seem shorter or they are simply just agreeing with the majority of the population. It’s like being here at this occasion is either not important to them or their just socially not wanting to participate. As I observer their discussion it is now clear that they are working on a presentation as they are all surrounded around one computer which explains why each person had a different place in the discussion. It wasn’t so much that some of the individuals were socially awkward but that it wasn’t their turn to put their input in the project. As I turn my attention away from the group the rest of the environment looks as usual. There are random customers throughout the store along with purchasing a beverage or food. Seated around me are a couple of individuals who are by themselves which seem to be enjoying the alone time. As a result it was interesting focusing on a group that was working on a presentation and watching how the social norms change in time and throughout the conversation between all the individuals.