On 20 November 2016 I will be conducting an unobtrusive ethnography at the Palisades mall to meet the requirements of PL371 class. I intend to preserve my anonymity as a researcher by conducting all observations in civilian clothes, rather than in cadet uniform. I plan on visiting a variety of stores, acting as a shopper, and observing the characteristics of the shoppers. All notes will be made away from the observation site, again in an attempt to maintain anonymity as a researcher and eliminate any unnatural changes of behavior by the subjects due to the Hawthorne effect. All observations will be reviewed and codified as soon after the completion of the field research as possible and used to answer the following research questions: Overall, are there more male or female shoppers in the mall? Are there certain stores whose patrons are mostly a single race? Is multiculturalism seen in the mall through observable diversity in its patrons?
My hypothesis, in an attempt to answer these research questions is: The majority of shoppers observed in the mall will be female. Certain stores will show trends of racial homogeneity in their patrons while others will not. I expect larger stores with a more diverse range of products (for example Macy’s etc.) to have more diverse customers. I expect that clearly identifiable cultural groups will be seen among the shoppers.
My research will address the sociological concept of gender socialization, specifically how the culturally accepted feminine behaviors manifest in the shoppers at the mall. In American culture, many girls are socialized to view shopping as a woman’s role and even as a socially acceptable hobby. If this facet of female gender socialization is in fact a reality, I believe it will show in my research as many more females shopping at the mall than males.
I will also address social variance based on race, in this case the possibility of separation of social groups by corporations that target them as customers. I plan to examine if stereotypical patterns of dress (business attire for white males, street clothes for black males) actually manifests within the businesses that sell them at the mall.
In my own experience I have witnessed that a shopping mall can be an excellent environment for cultural diversity. Thanks to the sheer number and variation of goods and services sold, patronage of the mall is not necessarily limited to a single cultural group. I expect to see multiculturalism, a multitude of ethnic groups sharing equally (in this case specifically) in economic life, at the mall. I do not know which minority ethnic groups will be observed but I have witnessed enough diversity in this region to believe that diversity will appear in almost any environments
The hypotheses and methods given in this proposal are subject to change once all data collected during field research is reviewed. Expect the final project to address some of these issues, not all, and perhaps some new ones.
