Ethnographic Study Essays Example

The location of my ethnographic study was in a restaurant located near to my school. The primary role of this study was to identify the differences in behavior of the workers when the manager was present and when he was absent. According to Kirby and Hope, norms refer to the rules that people in a particular setting are expected to follow (25). On the other hand, behavior is constitutes an individual’s actions that are visible to others (Erinoak kids par.1). The research questions included: How do the staffs behave differently when the manager is present and when he is absent? The biases were that the staffs were more reluctant and relaxed when the manager was away. The observed actions were that when the manager was absent the workers would sit at table in the corner as they waited for customers to arrive. At this table, some would be surfing the web on their phones while others listened to music using their earphones. The interview questions included - Why are you reluctant when the manager is absent? Is the manager very strict? Do you prefer the assistant manager to the manager of the restaurant? Do you think the way you behave is right? What do you think should change?
My observation took three days to complete. During these three days, I observed a difference in behavior in the staffs. I observed that each employee was given a task in respect to his or her gender. The male employees were given heavier tasks compared to the female employees. Apart from the waiters, there were other staffs like the cashier, three cooks, one cleaner and one assistant manager. This particular restaurant is small, serves only students, and has just a few employees. The waiters are mainly females who serve the customers with food and attend to all their requests. On the other hand, the males were tasked with heavier jobs that included lifting bags of potatoes, or gallons of milk from the trucks and into the restaurant’s storeroom. The management consisted of the owner, the manager, and the assistant manager. For the three days, that I was there was only the assistant manager. The owner was absent on business while the manager had gone for a sick leave. The manager returned to work on the third day of my observation. The rules of the restaurant included no sitting down idle and especially no listening to music or browsing on the phone. It is crucial for the manager to set a good example for his employees as well (Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, par.5), additionally he should strive to motivate his employees (Sirota, Mischkind and Meltzer, par.1). I observed that for the two days that the manager was absent, the waiters would sit down at the table in the corner and talk or use their phones. Additionally, in most cases, the workers would form groups of up to six and idle for up to two hours, during the manager’s absence. Besides, they would watch the television and have loud discussions about the programs airing.

Work Cited

Association of Certified Fraud Examiners,. 'Tone At The Top', n.d. Web. 23 Mar. 2015.
Erinoak kids,. 'Behaviuor Basics'. N.p., 2012. Web. 23 Mar. 2015.
Kirby, Mark, and Tanya Hope. Sociology In Perspective For OCR. Oxford: Heinemann, 2000. Print.
Sirota, David, Louis Mischkind, and Michael Meltzer. 'Why Your Employees Are Losing Motivation'. Harvard Business School, 2006. Web. 23 Mar. 2015.