Yura+Seoulciology

Yura Jung Due Date: Tues 25 May Topic: Would people accept more pamphlets on the street if they are told that they are being studied?

Problem: On any busy street of Seoul, there are many people handing out pamphlets to advertise a restaurant, an academy, or even a nail shop. Yet, many people refuse to accept these; thus, the people handing them out have a hard time completing their job.

Hypothesis: If people are told that they are being observed whether they accept the pamphlet or not, they will accept it more than when they are not aware that they are being studied.

I formulated the hypothesis by imagining how I would feel when somebody tells me that I am observed whether I take the pamphlet or not. Often times people, including myself, simply ignore the people giving out the pamphlets. Nonetheless, if I were to be told that I am being observed, I would be more pressured to take the pamphlet. The reason for such reactions may be because it is an act of kindness to accept the pamphlets.

Research Method: Unobstrusive measure would be used in the first test to secretly observe people’s natural behavior towards the pamphlet offers on the streets. Hawthorne effect will be used to form a cause and effect relationship. During the second test, there will be a sign near the person giving out pamphlets, explaining that they are being observed whether they accept the pamphlet or not. Hence, at the end, it should be evident that people act differently when they are aware that they are being watched. Hawthorne effect seems to be the best way to test my hypothesis as it creates a “before” and a “after.” Thus, it is easier to see whether the awareness of being studied affects the actions of people.

Potential Obstacles: There are many different types of pamphlets and many people handing it out. Therefore, it would be fairly difficult to determine which pamphlet has the least bias. Moreover, as people are rushing down the street, it might be hard to count the sample population. In addition, because there are many people on the streets of Gangnam, it may be that they pass by without seeing the sign.

=media type="youtube" key="DgQFMj5S7ok" height="344" width="425"= =Change of Topic= Does gender affect whether a cigarette seller checks an underage smoker’s ID? Yura Jung May 25th 2010 Sociology G

In the year 2009, there has been an increment of smokers in South Korea. A percent of smokers have increased from the previous year; it went from 22.3 percent to 23.3 percent in 2009. Moreover, the rate of male smokers and female smokers both have risen as male smoker rate went from 40.9 to 43.1 and female rate went from 3.9 to 4.1. Yet this statistics is only based on smoker of age 19 and older. Thus, it does not count the adolescent smokers. And surprisingly, out of the 3000 people who participated in the survey, 68.8 percent have claimed to have tried to quit smoking but failed to do so. However, not all smokers smoke because it is a habit. 32.6 percent of the smokers (based on the 3000 smoker sample) smoke due to overwhelming stress although the rest consider smoking as a habit. Nonetheless, due to the increase of smokers in South Korea, its health ministry has claimed to take measures to decrease the smokers in the upcoming years. Evidently, South Korea has a lot of smokers. It is a fact that smoking is unhealthy and with increasing numbers of smokers, more people are affected by secondhand smoking. In addition, the sight of smokers as a common image stirs adolescents to start dong so as well. Hence, it can be concluded from the article that underage smokers have increased too along with the rest of the smokers and this is relevant to my study as it shows how lenient the law imposed on underage smoking is. http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/world/2010-01/05/content_9268528.htm
 * Relevant Article**

- If a female underage smoker tries to buy a pack of cigarettes, she is 90% unlikely to get her id checked. - If a male underage smoker tries to buy a pack of cigarettes, he is 90& likely to get his id checked. In Seoul, female teenagers often look older than their age due to the way they dress and make-up. On the other hand, male teens look about their age or even younger. Therefore, normally female underage smokers are less likely gets their ids checked before purchasing a pack of cigarettes. Meanwhile, the male teens are more likely to get their ids checked before buying cigarettes. Another factor that affects the vending of cigarettes to underage smokers is the traditional idea that male teens are more likely smoke than the females, which is why vendors are more suspicious of males with an adolescent appearance. As a result, I wanted to test whether there is gender bias when selling cigarettes to underage smokers and also to observe how strictly the vendor enforce the law of checking ids of buyers before selling cigarettes.
 * Hypothesis**

Unobtrusive measure was used to carry out the test. The first ten convenient stores near Gangnam station were randomly chosen as samples for this test. Sungwoo and I went into the ten same convenient stores and tried to purchase cigarettes to see whether they asked for our ids before selling the cigarettes. We went in at different times so it would not be obvious to the vendor that we were trying to observe them in any form. Thus, it was an unobtrusive measure as the vendor was not aware that he or she was being observed for a sociology experiment.
 * Research Method**

Convenient Store ID check (Sungwoo) ID check (Yura) 1 N Y 2 N Y 3 Y Y 4 N Y 5 N Y 6 N Y 7 N Y 8 N Y 9 N Y 10 N Y
 * Data**

After sampling ten convenient stores (7/11, Buy the way, and GS 25), the results were lucid. I was not asked for my ID when I asked for a pack of Marlboro. All of the workers at the convenient stores assumed that I was nineteen or older and did not question whether I was an underage smoker or not. Meanwhile, Sungwoo was asked for his ID in all but one convenient store; the workers evidently were suspicious of his age. Sungwoo and I were both dressed like a college student and not like a typical high school student in Korea. Moreover, we are both eighteen, but still not old enough to buy a pack of cigarettes legally. Nonetheless, when I tried buying a pack, workers of all ten convenient stores casually handed me a pack although I did not buy it after all. Yet, the vendors were not so lenient when Sungwoo tried to trick them and casually asked for a pack of Marlboro. As I predicted in my hypothesis, the cigarette vendors are much more lenient when a female tries to purchase cigarettes; if a male looks young, they feel the need to check the ID. Thus, there is gender bias. However, it cannot be hastily claimed that they did not check my ID solely due to gender bias. Although Sungwoo and I both dressed more mature than our age, I perhaps looked older as I had my nails polished in black and with eye make-up. In a typical Korean high school, neither make-up nor nail polish would be allowed. Hence, these aspects have automatically given the idea that I am over nineteen years old. In addition, it was easier for Sungwoo to look like a typical high school student since there were no specific aspects that stood out to make him look older although his attire was more mature than other male students of our age. And as mentioned before, it is quite possible that the vendors suspect male smokers to be underage more than female smokers since male adolescent smokers are more common than female. Or perhaps, I simply look older than Sungwoo. Gangnam is one of the core areas in Seoul. It always filled with people. It is packed with young adults. It is a city that follows trend. Ten random convenient stores in Gangnam would be a good sample to represent Seoul since it embraces a lot of the city’s people and culture. However, due to its modern and young setting, the people working at convenient stores may have different perspectives than those of other areas. For example, a convenient worker might be less suspicious of the young smokers as many people at Gangnam despite the age differences dress similarly. Moreover, Gangnam is a place where even middle school students dress up to go. On the other hand, because even the young students dress maturely, the vendors might be more suspicious of young cigarette buyers. Hence, the location might have an effect of the data. As a result, the data is flawed. Despite the unobtrusive measure applied and the random sampling at a well-representative area in Seoul, the data and results of this research is not completely accurate. First of all because I always went in before Sungwoo, it might have affected his chance of getting a cigarette without getting his ID checked. The reason is because although they gave me the cigarette without asking for my ID, I did not buy the pack of cigarettes, which may have caused them to be more conscientious when selling cigarettes to younger looking customers. Also, the number of male and female vendors might have skewed the data as well. It is often said in Seoul that male vendors are usually more lenient with female customers in different ways and cigarettes would be one example. In my experiment there were eight male vendors and only two female vendors. The exceeding number of male sellers might have caused the data to result as Sungwoo getting his ID checked nine out of ten times. Lastly, the voice and the tone of the way we asked for cigarettes might have influenced the vendor’s decision to check our IDs or not. It may be that Sungwoo’s voice and tone sounded younger than the way I talked, which may have caused the vendors to suspect him as a underage smoker. And after all, I am a few months older than Sungwoo, which could have made me look older than him. Overlooking at the possible flaws, the two hypotheses I made were proven by this research although the numbers were not completely accurate. Thus, there is a gender bias when underage smokers buy cigarettes; females are less likely to get their IDs checked but the opposite for males. Moreover, the law imposed on underage smoking is not strictly followed, according to the research.
 * Analysis**