Jessica+Seoulciology

Seoulciology: A Microsociological Study //How do people react to strangers or forgotten acquaintances?//

Jessica Yun Sociology G Block April 27th, 2010

Hypothesis: From personal experience and feedback from my mom, I hypothesize that people react abnormally in these sticky social situations. They often take a few seconds to think back as to where they have met this “forgotten acquaintance” and try to put a name to the face before them. Even if they fail to do so, if they are approached enthusiastically, people often greet the stranger as well, frantically trying to remember who they are talking to. I predict that only a few will have the courage to say they do not know this forgotten acquaintance or ask their name.

I will be testing this hypothesis by approaching randomly selected individuals in the subway station and enthusiastically greeting them in Korean: “Hi! It’s been such a long time!”. I will likely get a range of qualitative data from these individuals. I feel that this is the best way to solve this defined problem because I am directly testing the reactions. However, this experiment can have several loopholes. To begin, I need to have consistency. I have to greet each individual as enthusiastically as I did the last, no more, no less. I also have to find a spot in the subway station that will get a broad range of individuals, ensuring its randomness. Lastly, another obstacle would be the camera. I feel that if the camera is not well-hidden, the subjects will shy away from returning the greeting.