Psych 208 Systematic Observation 18 January 2011 I. Problem Females tend to spend longer washroom breaks than males.

. Washroom break is defined as a stop in an activity or travels to use a bathroom. It is also called comfort break and comfort stop. Washroom break is the time spent by employees in the washroom/restroom during the 8 working hours. There are some institutions that limit washroom breaks on employees, especially when it will disrupt the continuous operation or process of work. On this instance, limit is not imposed. Theres a common belief that females usually expend more time in using the washroom than males. The observation is conducted to find proof to support or oppose this belief. Prior observations on my co-employees reveal that females tend to stay in washrooms in an average of 3 minutes as compared to the average stay of 1 minute by males. Site Description The observation is done on the 24th floor of the Orient Square Building located in Ortigas Business Center, Pasig City. Washrooms are to be found on the north side of the floor, just behind the elevators. The consulting firm is right beside the ladies washroom and along the corridor that leads to the washrooms. I, being the observer, am positioned in the receiving area of the consulting firm, a place wherein you can see all the employees that will come and go of the washrooms. The observed are individuals who walked to the corridor that leads to the washrooms. Participants I chose to observe employees working on the four offices on the said floor who make use of the washrooms. Employees are consisted of Lawyers, their secretaries, Insurance agents, Engineers, Consultants, office staff and messengers. Visitors and maintenance staff are excluded in the observation. Employees are distinguished by the uniforms they wear. Lawyers are always on suits and formal wears. Engineers wear clothes with their company logo printed. Maintenance staffs are also on uniforms but they are not allowed to use the common washrooms. Number of male employees observed is larger than the female employees. This is because the construction firm has their own ladies washroom. Their female employees need not to use the common washroom. One reason also for this is the construction firm is a male dominated office.

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Observer I took on the role of the observer. My work station is temporarily located on the receiving area. I am facing north, allowing me to see all the activities on the corridor. I record the details of the observation once someone walks into and out of the corridor. The employees, once done with their activity on the washroom and out on the corridor, tend to look at my place. It gave me the feeling that somehow, they know they are being observed. Observation The observation lasted for 3 days. It started January 12 and ended January 14 of the current year. The period chosen is from 8:30 in the morning to 12:00 noon. 8:30 AM is the start of office hours and 12:00 noon being lunch time. I preferred observing during those hours because it wont be possible for me to monitor the employees washroom breaks for the whole day. The reason behind this is I leave the office earlier on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays. I decided to record all the behavior for the whole 3.5 hours per day because I wanted to get as much evidence in 3 days. The observation is done in one place, the observer on the receiving area of the consulting firm, the observed on the corridor leading to the washrooms. The consulting firm to where I am working, as mentioned earlier, is situated beside the ladies washroom. The office has a big glass door, positioned along the corridor heading to the floors washrooms, allowing a clear view of all the individuals that will frequent the washrooms. My position is the best place to carry out the observation. The corridor is leading to 3 doors; ladies, gentlemens and restricted room for authorized building admin personnel. Method Duration measure is the method used in collecting and recording the observational data. I opted to measure the duration of washroom breaks by recording the time when someone enters and exits the washrooms. I made use of the clock on my cellular phone to determine the time interval. Use of timer and stopwatch was not possible because there were instances that 2 or more individuals simultaneously enter the room. Results The observation records included repeated trips to the washrooms. This means that, for example, 18 employees were not really 18 different individuals. All employees on the said floor went to washroom more than once per day in 3 days, and counted as one independent observation. On the first day of observation, January 12, 18 females from the four offices entered the washroom and accumulate a total of 66 minutes in the period of three and a half hours. On the average, 1 female employee spent 3.6 minutes per visit

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inside the room. On the other hand, 27 males went into the washroom and gathered a total of 57 minutes. On the average, 1 male employee stayed for about 1.96 minutes per visit. On the second day of observation, January 13, 23 females from the four offices entered the washroom and accumulate a total of 77 minutes in the period of three and a half hours. On the average, 1 female employee spent 3.35 minutes per visit inside the room. On the other hand, 31 males went into the washroom and gathered a total of 43 minutes. On the average, 1 male employee stayed for about 1.39 minutes per visit. On the third day of observation, January 14, 20 females from the four offices entered the washroom and accumulate a total of 71 minutes in the period of three and a half hours. On the average, 1 female employee spent 3.55 minutes per visit inside the room. On the other hand, 21 males went into the washroom and gathered a total of 46 minutes. On the average, 1 male employee stayed for about 2.19 minutes per visit. On the first day, there are 15 out of the 27 observations on males indicating just a 1 minute stay as compared to 3 1-minute observations on females. 14 minutes is the longest washroom break recorded in females as against to the 9 minutes of males. On the second day, 2 males and 1 female are recorded to stay in the washroom in less than a minute. 2 observations in females are in the extremes (13 and 12 minutes). Most of the remaining observations range from 2 to 4 minutes, with few observations from 5 to 8 minutes. On males, observation span from 0 to 4 minutes. On day 3, 17 minutes is the longest for females and 13 minutes for males. 12 1minute observations are recorded on males and only 4 on females. Day 1 18 27 Day 1 3.67 1.96 Minutes 66 57 Day 2 3.35 1.39 Day 2 23 31 Day 3 3.55 2.19 Minutes 77 43 Day 3 20 21 Minutes 71 46

Female Male Average Female Male Longest Interval Female Male Shortest Interval Female

Day 1 14 9

F 2 1

Day 2 13 4

F 1 1

Day 3 17 13

F 1 1

Day 1 1

F 3

Day 2 0

F 1

Day 3 1

F 4

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15

12

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Interpretation Information and data shared on the internet usually report that most women urinate or pee faster than men. One explanation is we have shorter and wider urethra. In addition, location of the female bladder is said by some to empty totally. But if it so, why do they stay longer in washrooms? Females do bond in the washroom. When done urinating, females will wash their hands, and then proceed to re-apply perfume, make-up, lip-gloss, comb their hair, make sure the mascara didn't smear, etc. This gives us plenty of time to strike up a conversation with the girl standing next to us, especially if we are familiar with that person, an officemate perhaps. Women talk about anything and anybody in the washroom. They discuss which men they like and which men they dont, and any personal problems they are having or their friends On the other hand, men dont tend to make friends in bathrooms. Bathroom talk is awkward to them. This is a universal unwritten rule. They always choose urinals on one end, farthest from the possible urinal the others may choose. After peeing, they go to the sink to wash their hands and leave. The data gathered supports that women really stay longer in washrooms than men. As shown by the averages computed in 3 days, females stay 3 to 4 minutes in washrooms, while males stay for about 1 to 2 minutes only. Differences on duration on washroom breaks variation may be due to their activity inside the room. Urinating will consume a little amount of time but defecating usually takes longer. This may be the reason for some of the long intervals observed. Female employees usually carry paraphernalias when they enter the washroom. Common things they bring along are tissue, make-up kit, hair brush or comb, and toothbrush. This indicates clearly their activity inside the room. These also states the reason for their prolong stay in the washroom. I didnt see any males who bring along anything on their trips to washrooms during the 3 days observation. Difficulties The observation done may be simple but there are still difficulties encountered. The following were the troubles I came across during the systematic observation: My area in the office excuses me on looking to whoever will appear on that part of the corridor. But looking on those people is quite uncomfortable to me, and maybe also to them. But I cant observe if I wont do that. My work requires attention on my personal computer. All the records, database and reports are to be found in it, and most of my time is consumed in doing reports and updating database. This made it difficult for me to notice all the visits done to the washrooms. I positioned my computer to a spot that will allow me to encode and update my reports and at the same time I can observe in my peripheral view.

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The main door access is placed on my table. My co-employees often use it to open the door when they go out of the office, either to use the washroom or go down the building, instead of using their proximity cards. This permits them to see anything on my desk. To secure my data from being seen, I made sure to hide it on a folder once an observation is done. Sometimes I need to leave my area to get supplies, or to communicate some messages to my officemates, or to print some materials. These may have prevented me from recording all the possible visits done in the washrooms. To minimize its possibilities, I tried hard to reduce my departing from my area. Since I was measuring washroom breaks, I might not record some washroom breaks, especially those of the males, if I enter the ladies washroom. To avoid this, I use the washroom before I start observation. Then, my next visit was after the end of observation for each day. These difficulties somehow affected my data, especially the 4th one. If you may notice, observations on the 3rd day are fewer that the first 2 days. This was due to my workload during Fridays. I wasnt able to stay in my area in as much as the first 2 days. I needed to roam around the office during that morning to discuss things with my supervisor and get updates from each department. X. Evaluation of Method The method of systematic observation is a very good tool for research. The measuring instrument or ways are easy to carry out. It gives you detailed record of the behavior being measured. And this offers a good material for making summary and inferences.