Kegan,+Annie,+Yura

Q from Mrs. Gorski: Is your sample (observing one store for 20 minutes) large enough? A - I've agreed with my partners that if the first 20 minutes do not go well (give us enough data) we will reconduct the experiment and combine the two 20 minute segments. I've added a segment under the research plan. Comment from Ian: A weekday at 4 PM doesn't seem like a great time to observe the largest group possible. It may be better to choose a time closer to a meal. A - We can't go at noon, and we're catching the rush of people who are released from work. Question from Max: Where will you post the sign so that everyone sees it? A - we are posting **5** signs in several places, it will be hard for the customers to //not// see it. Comment from Katy: Is leaving trash on a table inside really littering? I'm not sure that that is your best option as far as words go. A- this isn't relevant to the Hawthorne effect, I agree that it isn't littering, it just doesn't make a difference to what our experiment is trying to accomplish. Comment from Blake: The Hawthorne Effect won't work if the people don't see the signs. A - same as Max's Comment from Wivine: Be sure that the people know that this is an experiment and that their right to privacy is protected. A - the signs clearly say that it is research, there are no names or any forms of intrusive research involved. It is simply observation. Comment from Kristen: Does gender or age play into this experiment at all? You also might want to make sure the person working there does not come around and pick up peoples' trays for them. If they did that people could expect that and leave their trash there. A - Gender isn't what we're trying to observe (although that could be an interesting aspect). And I will see who leaves their trash before the people pick it up anyway so that shouldn't be a problem.

__Go to a McDonalds in Bundang (because the one in Illinois is not in a busy city)__ - on a WEEKDAY - at 4 pm __Observe for 10 minutes__ - count how many people get up from the table and leave - count how many people leave their trash at the table - count how many people actually throw away their trash __Put up **5** signs that say "__ We're conducting research to see if people throw their trash away." __Observe for 10 minutes__ - count how many people get up from the table and leave - count how many people leave their trash at the table - count how many people actually throw away their trash
 * Research** **Plan**: (Annie and Yura)


 * IF** the first 20 minutes of observations get very few results (Less than 20 people in and out of the store) we will reconduct the experiment and combine for a total of forty minutes.

1/5 people will leave their trash at the table when NOT aware of the research 1/8 people will leave their trash at the table when aware of the research We chose this hypothesis primarily because we thought that more people would leave their trash on the table when they don't know that they are being studied. The numbers were just put there to make the hypothesis a little more specific as opposed to simply stating "More people would throw away their trash when they see the signs".
 * Hypothesis**: (Annie and Yura)

- Not enough time to observe enough people leave their trash/ throw away their trash - We may test on different days of the week so it might skew the result - Leaving trash might depend on what people eat
 * Possible Errors: (**Annie an Yura)

- See how valid the Hawthorne effect is by applying the effect on two seperate McDonalds (one in the US, one in South Korea). We will then compile results to see how the results differ between countries.
 * Topic:** (Kegan)

- Do people act differently when they know that they are being studied? Do they try to be better people (i.e. Not litter)
 * Problem:** (Kegan)

We will be conducting observations at two McDonalds.We are doing field research to witness how people act firsthand. Field research is the best way to address the problem because we can see exactly how people change their mannerisms when they realize if they're being watched. Observation provides us with an easy way to record the results of whether people throw away their trash or not.
 * Research Method:** (Kegan)


 * Literature Review:** (Kegan)


 * Data:**

Testing the Hawthorne Effect - leaving garbage in McDonalds
 * Annie & Yura**

We went to the McDonald's in Sunae on Wednesday, March 31st.

From 5:15-5:35 pm, we sat and observed people getting up after finishing their food. Here are the results we got from the 20-minute observation period:

17 people finished their food and left McDonalds. Out of those 17 people, 16 threw away their garbage, and 1 left his garbage on the table.

Therefore, the percentage of people who left their garbage on the table was 5.9%.

At 5:35, we went around the fast food restaurant and put up five signs that said "We are conducting a research experiment on people throwing away their garbage."

Then, from 5:40-6:00 pm, we again sat and observed people getting up after finishing their food. Here are the results we got from that 20-minute observation period:

21 people finished their food and left McDonalds. Out of those 21 people, all 21 threw away their garbage, and 0 left their garbage on the table.

Therefore, the percentage of people who left their garbage on the table was 0%.

Our results seem to support the Hawthorne effect, although they do not match our hypothesis perfectly. However, it could have just been a coincidence that one person happened to leave his garbage on the table during our first observation period, and the decrease in percentage had nothing to do with the sign.



Testing the Hawthorne Effect: **(Kegan Saajasto)**

Without signs a total of nine people got up to leave. Of those nine people who left, seven of those nine people threw all of their trash away. The remaining two people who left only threw some of their trash or none at all. I started the observations without signs at 4:00 and ended at 4:20. I extended the time period by 10 minutes because there weren’t very many people coming into McDonald’s at this time. This is a total of 22% of people who didn't throw away all of their trash.

After putting five signs saying “We’re conducting research to see if people throw their trash away” up, I began the second observation period at 4:25 and stopped when it was 4:45. With signs up at five very visible places the results changed. In this twenty minutes a total of twelve people got up to leave, and out of the twelve people who left, only one of those people didn’t throw away all of their trash. This is a total of 8.3% or people who didn't throw their trash away even with the various signs that were displayed throughout the store.

Some possible errors within this research include: coincidence, Not everyone speaks English, there's a small possibility that people didn't see the signs.


 * Analyze the results:**

**(Kegan Saajasto)** **(Kegan Saajasto)**