Essay Instructions: Observation some people or a person.
This is example.
Observation
Location: 1327 D, Norman Hall
Begin time: 11:32 a.m.
End time: 12:25 p.m.
Date: Monday March 31, 2008
We are seated in 1327 D, one of the clinical lab rooms housed within the Counselor Education Department. I am told that this is where they typically meet for supervision, and it is vital to accommodate their comfort. I am seated on a navy blue couch, approximately 3 feet from Joe, the supervisee, and 4 feet from Sue, the clinical supervisor. The room is about fifteen feet by fifteen feet, and behind Joe there is a window that looks out eastward. The room is lit with elongated fluorescent bulbs, with little sunshine making its way into the room. It seems to be overcast outside. Within the room are three navy blue pieces of furniture. I am sitting in one of them, a couch. Sue is sitting in a one-person chair, and Joe is sitting on a couch that appears to be slightly longer than the one I am sitting on. To the right of Sue’s chair is a half-full bottle of water. About two feet to the right of Joe is a book entitled “Highs.” To his immediate left is a chocolate table with some papers. On the wall to Sue’s left is a green chalkboard with nothing written on it.
Joe is wearing a purple buttoned shirt, with 6 white buttons buttoned. He is wearing black pants, along with a black belt as well as black socks and black shoes. He is wearing glasses, and has light blue eyes and shortly cut blond hair. He has no rings or visible jewelry. Throughout supervision, he reviews some of the papers to his left on the table and provides answers to some of Sue’s queries.
Sue is wearing a blue jean jacket and khaki pants. She has on some tan shoes with what appears to be heels, elevated at about 1 or 2 inches. Sue has two rings on her left hand, one on her middle finger, and the other on her ring finger. On her right hand is one ring, located on her ring finger. Sue has two earrings in each ear, one of them a hoop ring and the other a stud. She has brown eyes and dark blond hair that extends past her neck, wearing it in a pony tail.
I am wearing a green polo shirt and blue jeans. I wear brown shoes and brown socks. I have no visible jewelry. I have black eyes and shortly cut brown hair. I have a notepad in my lap and a pen in my left hand, and write what I observe throughout Sue and Joe’s supervision sessions.
Joe and Sue are positioned to each other during supervision, with Joe alternating between sitting at a 90 degree angle (upright) and leaning back into his chair. Sue generally takes the same position as Joe, sometimes moving from the left corner of her chair to the right corner of her chair. I notice that they spend a good deal of time making direct eye contact, and I notice that it is easy for me to see all of the interaction, as I’m sitting far enough back so that my perspective isn’t focused solely on either Sue or Joe. This is a marked change from the observation assignment, where I was standing fifty feet away from the two men I watched. I can more accurately monitor what is happening, such as when their eyes make direct contact or when they slightly look off in different directions. This sort of detail was lost on me the last time. Since I am able to hear them in conversation, I can match it somewhat to their body movements. I note that when Joe goes into the specifics of a particular case, he uses his hands in differing motions to describe activities he engages in with his clients. I also have a much easier time seeing how they use their hands. I look back at my notes and read that he uses his hands frequently, while Sue does not.
I am not certain if this imbues too much interpretation on my part, but I never heard either of their voices elevate to a tone I would personally consider to be frustrated or flummoxed. There is laughter on a few occasions, but their tone seems to be rather matter of fact. I do not write down any details of their conversations, and given the intensity of this form of data collection, I couldn’t really keep up with their body movements and the room’s environment to be able to write anything that would approach cohesiveness. It was hard enough to pay attention to both of them at the same time, much less do much else. I also see that neither of them looked at me once. After their supervision session was over, I mentioned this to them, and they both informed me that they were both focused on the client discussions.
When I do this sort of data collection in the future, I will need to develop some sort of short hand. It will save me time and energy.