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Project Summary
| Difficulty | 6 |
| Time required | Average (about one week) |
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| * Note: This is an abbreviated project idea, without notes to start your background research or a procedure for how to do the experiment. You can identify abbreviated project ideas by the asterisk at the end of the title. If you want a project idea with full instructions, please pick one without an asterisk. |
Abstract
Maybe this has happened to you: you're going shopping with one of your parents and the parking lot is really crowded. You're helping out, scouting for an empty space. You see someone heading toward their car, taking their keys out, and you point them out. At last, you're going to get a spot. You wait for the person to pull out so you can park. Does it take them longer because you're waiting? Do they move out faster? Or does it just seem that they do? For information on people's perceptions, you can conduct a random survey. You can find out what actually happens by doing an observational study. Time people leaving parking places in lots, both with and without someone waiting. Or perhaps you can think of another, similar situation to observe repeatedly. In any case, you'll have to pick a standard method for deciding when to start running the clock (in the case of parking, perhaps when the person leaving first touches their car). Safety note: be sure to position yourself safely on a sidewalk, away from the moving cars. (Burnette-McGrath, 2004)Bibliography
Burnette-McGrath, M., 2004. "Poky Parking: Does It Take Longer to Vacate a Parking Spot When Someone Is Waiting? Perception vs. Reality," California State Science Fair Project Abstract [accessed February 1, 2006] http://www.usc.edu/CSSF/History/2004/Projects/J1702.pdf.Variations
- For more science project ideas in this area of science, see Sociology Project Ideas.
Last edit date: 2007-03-07 19:43:23
Career Focus
If you like this project, you might want to think about career opportunities in
Sociology.
Any time there is more than one person in a room, there is potential for a social interaction to occur or for a group to form. Sociologists study these interactions—how and why groups and societies form, and how outside events like health issues, technology, and crime affect both the societies and the individuals. If you already like to think about how people interact as individuals and in groups, then you're thinking like a sociologist! Learn more about this career: Sociologist.
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