Reference no: EM133461069

One skill that is needed in criminal justice is the ability to objectively observe situations. One way to practice observation is to remove the ability to communicate. Without hearing what is being said or responding to perceived voice inflections, you can observe a situation without bias. Thus, the aim of the observation is to detect any patterns or styles that emerge that are missed or taken for granted on a day to day basis.

Here is your assignment. You are to go to a busy intersection in your town (either a red light or four-way stop). I am interested in traffic behavior/patterns. You will observe the intersection for 2 hours and write detailed notes of what you observe. Try to keep in mind that you should remain neutral and unbiased and allow your eyes to record what is going on around you. During the observation, some ideas/patterns that you can look for are: What the drivers are doing (Are they eating, on their cell phones, wearing a mask, etc.), what kind of car are they driving (car, truck, color, old v. new), how many people are in the cars (also are the drivers old or young), do they obey all traffic laws (stop completely before right-hand turn, slow down on yellow to stop, run the red light, etc.).

After the observation is complete, use your notes to look for patterns. should include:

The social setting you observed and where it was

A detailed analysis of your observations (ex. 20 cars had young drivers, 10 of which ran the red light. I noticed that some drivers ran the red light 5-10 seconds after the light turned red and traffic had started from the other direction).

What difficulties were encountered (rain, people thinking you were creepy)

Your conclusion should include your overall observations and what behaviors were dangerous.

Take a picture of your field notes to upload or if you are really bored, you could retype them and submit them.