Introduction
A simple walk to class could be made much more enjoyable if someone is having
fun while doing it. Many people experience boredom on a daily basis; its one of the most
common emotions (Danckert, 2005, paragraph 1). Since boredom is such a common
emotion what can we do to minimize it? Can there be a way that will make a simple walk
to class more enjoyable? This could affect a large amount of people because everyone
participant in the experiment. All of our participants were college students who go to the
University of North Carolina Charlotte, making that the only demographic in common
among all of our participants. The reason that this demographic was chosen is because
boredom and depression is commonly associated with college students. Many students
get tired of the same routine every day, causing them to be less happy. This could
eventually cause a decline in their health. The goal was to target an audience that could
be significantly affected by the experiment. It was believed that college students had
much to gain from this experiment.
Measures
For the measures, people were observed and each person that participated in the
hopscotch course or walked by it was recorded. The gender of the person was also
recorded, so it can be compared whether males or females are more likely to participate
in a physical activity. The results were recorded while sitting in a place where the
hopscotch can be observed without letting the participants know that its an experiment.
The hopscotch course was placed so that it can be viewed clearly, and analyzed easily.
Procedure
The procedure for this experiment began with drawing a hopscotch course using
chalk in a designated location. The location was in a well-traveled area so the experiment
would have a sufficient amount of participants. It was also placed in a location with a
nearby area, which would work to be able to observe and record from.
Any student who took notice to the course or participated in it was recorded as a
participant in the experiment. How many students participate in the course compared to
how many walked by it was recorded, along with each of those students genders. The
experiment was testing to find how much more likely people are to participate in the
hopscotch course when someone else is already on it, in comparison to how many will
participate when no one else is on the course. The likeliness of a male to participate in
participated. The amount of women that participated in the course was actually over
double the amount of men.
83
90
80
70
74
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Participants
26
17
Hopscotch course with
nobody on it
Non-participants
13
28
Men
Women
Discussion
This experiment has shown that fewer people will participate in an activity no one
else is participating in. It could be assumed through the results that most people are less
likely to lead and more likely to follow others.. Many people may not want to participate
if theyre going to be the only one. This backs up Olivers article, showing that people
dont want to be singled out in a crowd. They would rather do what everyone else is
doing.
The experiment also shows that women are much more likely to participate in a
physical activity than men. However, this experiment was not perfect. One way the
experiment could be improved is by using a different activity. Although it may not be
scientifically proven, Hopscotch is an activity that is considered to be more popular
among girls. This would explain the lack of interest by the men for this activity. An
interesting idea which also could have improved the experiment, would be to have a third
section of the experiment which tested to see how many people participated after being
informed about the opportunity before they saw the hopscotch course. If the participants
were approached and told about the opportunity to participate in a fun activity that they
can do on their way to class, and also about all of the benefits of exercising, the results
would have most likely shown more people involved in the activity.
Another observation from the experiment is that people, who did participate,
seemingly had a much better time than the others. This was the entire goal of this
experiment, to see if the activity would make people have more fun while on their way to
class. The people that participated in the course continued to laugh and talk about it and
also look back to see if anyone else did it well after they had completed the course. The
people that didnt participate just looked at it then ignored it and continued to go on, they
didnt seem affected in any way by the course.
References
Cohen, G., & Shamus, E. (2009) Depressed, Low Self-Esteem: What can exercise do for
you? The Internet Journal of Allied Health Sciences and Practice, 7(2), 1-4.
Danckert, J. (2005) Time flies when youre having fun: Temporal estimation and the
experience of boredom. Brain and Cognition, 59(3), 236-245.
Oliver, P. (1984) If you dont do it, nobody else will: Active and token contributors to
local collective action. American Sociological Review, 49, 601-610.