User:Antrho33Project

This is the project page for a group project for Anthropology 33 at UCLA. If using this space for such a purpose is against Wikipedia guidelines, someone please let us know and we will take it down.
For the group: Make sure to save any work you submit to here (barring minor changes) so that it doesn't mysteriously disappear in case someone else is simultaneously working on it.

Jobs

Steve: Singles vs. Groups
Jessy: Drawbacks
Collin: Gender?...
Jocelyn: Diagram, Footing and Stance
Christie: Collecting speech data data for supplementing these areas, most specifically Singles vs. Groups and Gender

Paper Outline

This is taken pretty much EXACTLY from the handout we got from class. But please mark it up with ideas and whatnot.

Introduction

Describe the field site
Explain the interactional phenomenon you documented
Describe your observational methodology.

Data Presentation and Analysis

Give concrete examples of the phenomenon you were observing
Make generalizations about the data
Relate your observations to the work of scholars you have read in class (and cite appropriately)
It is always good to have conclusions that show the importance of ethnographic analysis of linguistic phenomena for understanding human interaction.

Data Collection

Physical Space
- Physical features demarcating social interaction
  - Railings
  - Counter
- Material artifacts playing a role
  - Cash registers: Transactions can't take place anywhere; they're bound to the placement of the cash register
  - Those little glass counters above the cash registers
    - I JUST saw this JUST now:

Cashier: (with coffee in hand, between counters 1 & 2) "Fernando!"
Fernando: (closer to counter 2) "Ya I'll take that right here."
Cashier: (puts coffee down on the little shelf thing at counter 1) "It's over here"

NOTE: Counter 1 was that counter that was closest to our table which is normally used as the "pick-up" counter.

- Clothing used to differentiate social function of interaction participants
  - Uniforms
  - Nametags
Recording data
- Where does the speech event occur?
  - Maps, sketches
  - How does physical space organize interactions?
- How does the speech event begin and end?
- Are there repetitive sequences?
- Are conversational turns in complete sentences? Gap and overlap? Back-channeling?
- Who initiates the speech event? How is turn-taking determined?
- Where do participants look? Equal access to relevant viewpoint (ex: cash register) How much eye contact?
- How close are participants to eachother? Gestures?
- Mood and stance of participants bye facial expressions, intonation and pitch patterns, etc.
Hyme's SPEAKING model
- S
- P
- E
- A
- K
- I
- N
- G
Strengths and weaknesses of recording data without video or audio recording equipment
- How would introduction of these materials affect data collection and analysis? (Positively AND negatively)

Appendices

Graphical Depictions (Jocelyn & Steve .....Mostly Jocelyn)

The PAPER

Introduction

Put intro here

Data Presentation and Analysis

Put data stuff here Connor Driscoll

Formality/Age At Kerkhoff I observed that the interactions between the different genders and ages of cashiers and customers were all very much different. I found that a 20-year-old male cashier helping a 20-year-old male customer is much different than the way helps a 50 year old man, or a woman. I also found that the way a 20-year-old woman cashier, unlike the male cashier, interacts with every customer in generally the same way, no matter what their gender or age. My first coffee order observation was between the cashier, who was a male about twenty years old and a male customer around fifty years of age. Cashier: Hi sir, how can I help you? Customer: Yeah, can I get a regular coffee…….. black Cashier: Sure……That will be three dollars. Would you like any cream or sugar? Customer: No thanks The cashiers stance and footing during this interaction were very formal and respectful. The cashier’s posture was very upright, and he made eye contact the entire time with the customer. The way the cashier addressed the customer as “sir,” and then asks what he can do for him shows formality and respect. The interaction between the two was very focused on the task at hand. What I mean is, nobody asked a question, like a personal question that could get them off of the topic of buying the coffee. This is like the Korean cashier in Bailey’s article. The Korean cashier was just focused on the task at hand, not on socializing. My second observation was between the same cashier and a 19 year-old-male. What I noticed was how much more laid back or less formal this interaction was than the on the cashier had with the fifty year old customer. Cashier: What’s up? How you doin” Customer: Good, you? Cashier: Good, what can I get for ya? Customer: Could I get an iced, blended, mocha drink? Cashier: Ha, you mean a mocha blender? Customer: If that’s what it is called, yes I observed a few differences between this interaction and the one between the cashier and the older man. First of all, the cashier’s stance, and footing changed dramatically from the previous conversation. Instead of the cashier standing so upright, and looking the customer in the eyes the entire time, he was a little bit more relaxed and casual about their conversation. He also did not initiate the interaction with the customer with a formal, “Hi sir,” he instead saw that the customer was at the same social status level as him, so he could be informal with his greeting and said, “What’s up.”

Jocelyn Fan - Comparing Stance/Interaction Between Workers and Customers

When observing a single person or group of people’s stance, there are a number of things that allow the evaluation of their attitude towards the people and environment around them. The counters and display cases establish a boundary that separates the workers and customers of Kerckhoff Coffee House. Workers use obvious indexicals to differentiate themselves from customers, such as uniforms consisting of polo t-shirts and caps that carry the UCLA logo. This form of body language, which is a more conscious choice, creates a closed social network from customers, who are from an open social network. In addition to the uniforms that the workers must wear, there is also an enforced standard among them to incorporate politeness when engaging in serving customers. These boundaries separate the customers and workers and affect the interaction between these two groups, which can be observed through both sides’ stance.

As a customer waits their turn to place their order and be served, the railings used to organize the formation of lines already creates a formality which is not typically present in other settings. The majority of the customers occupy themselves with a variety of things: ogling items for purchase, contemplating drinks to order, fumbling through their wallets, perusing through songs on their iPod, or chatting away on their cellular phones. The common theme between all of these actions is the tendency for each customer to keep to themselves. Even at the counter when placing their order, restraint politeness is practiced, similar to the example of Korean store owners in Bailey’s article. Minimal eye contact is projected throughout the entire transaction and often times there is also an avoidance of any body contact. After completing their order, customers move to Counter #1, a designated pick-up counter, and continue their previous activity from waiting in line. Customers who arrive in groups exhibit a difference of forming a small, enclosed huddle, where they continue to carry out their conversations, as opposed to single customers who keep to themselves with a seemingly unenthused attitude. Their stance is often times much more relaxed than those who come in by themselves. Their arms and hands are more unlikely to be crossed or placed within their pockets; instead they employ plenty of hand gestures and almost constantly make eye contact with those within their group.

Employees also execute restraint politeness, making little or no small talk with customers and focusing on keeping the waiting lines short. Although very little interaction is made with customers, within the closed social network of workers, more conversation, comments, and jokes are made. This exhibit of friendly banter only among other workers creates another boundary that is not enforced by the employers. People are always drawing social boundaries, and when comparing the time and level of interaction between workers or workers with customers, it is not surprising that they would create their own boundaries that designate a differentiation between workers and customers. As observed, as soon as the workers receive an order, often times they will quickly leave the counter to prepare the order, thus turning their back on the customer and being enclosed within a space restricted to workers. In some cases, as a customer fumbles through their wallet to produce a method of payment, the worker does not wait around and stand idly. Whether the reason is a form of politeness, so as not to embarrass the customer, or a personal preference of avoiding any risk of potentially awkward situations, there is often minimal contact between the two social networks.

Groups Vs. Individual Customers

(Steve's Section)
One of the most striking elements of behavior in the Kerckhoff Coffee House is the difference in the way individual customers act as compared to those customers who were with another person or a group of people. This difference was exemplified in the way these two groups waited for their orders at counter #1 (See Figure 1), which was functionally the “pick-up counter.”

Differences/Similarities in Speech Styles

The most striking difference in the speech styles of the two groups was that the individual customers would remain completely silent while they awaited their coffee whereas the groups of customers would engage is nearly constant dialogue. At first glance this point seems perfectly normal, almost trivial. However, what is interesting is that the individual customers did not only remain silent, but altogether avoided conversation altogether by aligning their footing away from other individual customers also waiting for their order and standing with their arms crossed. In one instance, I could see the knuckles of a particular customer who had been waiting for a long time turn white because she was gripping her backpack straps so tightly.
The groups had a similar reaction to the possibility of interacting with other groups or with individuals. The groups used a substantial amount of in-group communication. In one instance, a pair of men spoke to each other completely in French, but when picking up their respective orders, spoke to the employee serving them in English. During another instance, transcribing a particular group of men’s conversation proved to be a challenge because they used terms such as “I-triple-E (or IEEE) standard,” which is a term related to computer science. By engaging in in-group communication, these groups of customers were doing functionally the same thing as those individuals who were shifting their alignment away from others: choosing (as a unit) to remain “silent” in terms of their communications with other groups and individuals. So while it may have at first appeared that some individuals and groups were more talkative than others, they were in fact all remaining “silent” in one way or another.

Negotiating Space

Since both the groups and individual customers had chosen to remain “silent” to one another, it was interesting to see how they negotiated amongst themselves without directly speaking to one another. One example of this can be seen in how the customers negotiated space. The waiting space in front of counter #1 (the “pick-up counter”) is enclosed on all four sides by the counter, the swinging door between the kitchen and the dining room, a table, and the line of customers, which is in turn governed by the handrails farther into the dining room (See Figure 1). This space had enough space for about 4 people to stand comfortably. During peak business hours this capacity was often met or exceeded, so space had to be negotiated, most often by certain people moving out of the way of newcomers or newcomers finding some space outside the general waiting space. The interesting phenomenon was that groups of customers would often appear not to be involved in this negotiation while individual customers would be very involved, in some cases moving almost constantly out of the way of other individuals or groups. In fact, the groups were involved in these negotiations by holding their ground. They would cause individuals to move around them to find space. What was more interesting is that the individuals customers seemed to share in a mutual understanding of this priority of the groups because they would often take it upon themselves to move out of the way for groups of customers who had just ordered their coffee.

Appendices

I guess there's not much of a way to put the diagrams here... I guess whoever ends up compiling the whole thing should just add them to the end of the document.