College Essays-Do adults look at their phones more than teenagers? Are people more likely to smile at passersby when in groups or when alone?
Spend approximately 1 hour observing people somewhere in the world – this could be out on campus, in the library, at work, or anywhere else where there are people. As you observe their behaviors, try to identify patterns. Do adults look at their phones more than teenagers? Are people more likely to smile at passersby when in groups or when alone?
After your observation, come up with a hypothesis. That is, a prediction. Try to make a prediction about a general pattern you would expect to see in the social world. This should be an EXPLANATORY hypothesis, which means that you need to propose a psychological mechanism. As to the above observations, I might predict that people are more likely to smile at passersby when they are alone than when they are in groups, because they are seeking social connection.
