Soyeon+Seoulciology

=Seoulciology: Individuals v. Dyads =

April 27th 2010
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=Hypothesis: = = = If asked to lend a cell phone, people in a group of two, or in a dyad, will less likely lend their cell phones than individuals.

The above hypothesis was created after reading articles on the impact of groups on the behavior of individuals, and through the material that we learned in class. We had learned in class from our textbook that dyads are more intimate and are the most intense groups. On the other hand, a triad of three people breaks the intimacy although it strengthens the group. The interaction between the original two decreases, just as a couple’s intimacy decreases with the birth of a child. Therefore, I was able to hypothesize that when I, the third person, asked a group of two for a cell phone, the two would feel threatened and not lend me a cell phone, whereas individuals would have no reason to feel threatened.

=Research method: = = = I will go up to 1) 10 Individuals 2) 10 Dyads and ask if I can borrow a cell phone. I will then record the data.

For a research method, I chose an unobtrusive measure. I decided to ask 10 individuals for a cell phone and 10 groups of two or dyads for a cell phone. I would not tell them that it was for a project at school. However, once a person or group lent me a cell phone, I would give it back to them, informing them that I was doing a survey. I also was able to film some of the encounters. I used an unobtrusive measure in order to receive quantitative results on the number of people or groups that would lend me a cell phone. I wanted to prevent any type of skewed result that appeared in the Hawthorne experiment that could occur if the subjects knew that it was a experiment. I conducted the experiment in downtown Anyang at around 5:00 PM on Sunday May 23. I asked the question: I am sorry, but could I use your cell phone? to 20 subjects.

=Results: = Dyads that lent a cell phone: 9/10 (90%) Individuals that lent a cell phone: 6/10 (60%)

=Analyzing the Results: =  From the experiment, I was able to discover that the majority of people did lend a cell phone when asked. However, I found that more dyads lent a cell phone than individuals. Nine out of 10 dyads did lend me a cell phone when asked, while six out of 10 individuals lent me a cell phone. The results go against my hypothesis, as I had thought that the individuals would lend me a cell phone and show more kindness than dyads. However, I was proven wrong, as more dyads lent me a cell phone than individuals. My original hypothesis had been that less dyads would lend me a cell phone because their relationship would feel threatened by a third member in a group and because it is more beneficial to be selfish. The results, however show that more dyads in fact would help out a stranger. One possible reason for the results disproving my hypothesis is that when people are with another person, there is a need to impress or seem like a better person. I thought that the reason dyads were more willing to lend me a cell phone was that one person did not want to seem like a less amicable person. Therefore, they wanted to appear nice and impress the other person, which caused more dyads to lend me a cell phone than did individuals. A huge potential flaw was that the number of subjects that the experiment was conducted on was very limited. An experiment on 10 individuals and 10 dyads is not enough data to fully support the conclusion that my evidence comes down to. There was only a difference of three subjects that were willing to lend a cell phone from individuals and dyads. Thus, the number of subjects was too few, and I should have conducted the experiment on many more subjects. Another possible flaw is the age of the subjects. Although I purposely tried to target random age groups as my subjects, there is a possibility that I unintentionally asked more people from a certain age group to lend me a cell phone. I realized during the experiment that there was a tendency for older people to be more generous whilst the younger people were more reluctant to lend me a cell phone. Thus, if I had unintentionally asked more people from a certain age group, it could have affected the results that I received. Additionally, the gender of the subjects could have changed the results as well. Because I am a female, there could have been interview bias through which the subject’s decision might change based on his or her gender as well as my gender. Although this was not a gender sensitive topic, there is always a possibility that my gender could have caused more of one gender to offer to lend me a cell phone. Also, there is a possibility that I unintentionally asked more people of a certain gender for their cell phones, as I did not purposely try to distribute it equally. There is a possibility that my first impression could have changed the results of this experiment as well. The manner of asking the question could have differed from subjects and the way I dressed could have affected the results. I may have looked like I was younger than I am or that I was older than I was. My first impression could have affected the results of the experiment, as the first impression can heavily change whether someone would lend their cell phone to a stranger or not. Whether the dyads that I was asking for a cell phone were couples or were friends also may have changed the outcome of my decision. I did not purposely think about whether the group was a couple or two friends. However, the difference between the two could have affected my results. The possible explanation for the results mentioned above relies on the concept of relationships between the two people as well. In a couple, both may want to impress the other more than in a friendship. Therefore, the two different types of dyads could have changed the outcomes. The last potential flaw was the obviousness of my friend’s camera filming. On one occasion, the subject knew that she was being filmed and was extremely reluctant to lend me her phone. We had to stop filming in the middle of the experiment and continue because the subjects thought it was odd that someone was asking for their cell phone and became even more suspicious when they saw a camera. This could have affected the results, as they would be more or less willing to lend a phone when there is a camera filming them. Although the results of my experiment proved my hypothesis incorrect, I was able to learn a lot from the outcome. I was able to conclude that in groups, there is less selfishness and more kindness, and the extent of importance of group dynamics in society.

=Movie: = <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2E8rstT3zY

=<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Report: = <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">