Breaching Experiment
Breaching Experiment
Introduction to Sociology (980:001:02)
David P.
In this modern day and age it seems as if everyone has a cell phone, and when people are in public places, especially places like a study lounge in a residence hall, it is a social norm to turn your phone either off, on silent or on vibrate. But for my experiment I decided to break this social norm by going into a study lounge and to have my phone turned on full volume and see what the reactions of the people around me were. Some of the reactions of the people that were in the study lounges with me surprised me, while others did not. Their reactions made me wonder about how much you can trust a person to aid you in a time of need, and why people act in the way that they do.
For my experiment that I did this Sunday afternoon, I went into a study lounge in Campbell hall where I live, put my earphones in (as to make people think that I was actually listening to music) and started to study. A few minutes later, my co-observer came in so that he could help me observe the reactions of the people around me (after the experiment he informed me what he had observed). He helped me to observe the people around me because at the time I was looking down at what I was studying. He was also in the room with me as to prevent me having to look up to see the reactions of the people around me. This helped make what I was doing in this experiment less obvious, and to ensure the best result in my breaching experiment.
My coobserver and friend Josh, was also the one that was calling me, but as he informed me after the experiment, he accomplished this task of calling my phone by making it look as if he was text messaging, and from what he observed, none of the people in the room noticed that we were connected, until after the experiment when I let them know what I was doing. Once I was informed that my phone was ringing, I exited the room to make it look as if I was calling the person back. A few minutes later, I came back to see what the people in the room caught onto what I was doing, and what they thought of what had just happened.
I did this experiment twice. The first time, I went into a study lounge on the first floor of my dorm where there were already two people studying (one male, one female who were there for the entire experiment). As I mentioned above, I sat down, put my music in, put my phone on the table that I was studying at, and a few minutes later Josh came in. After having settled in, the first call came, my phone rang five times, and there was no reaction from any of the people in the room. A few minutes later, he called again, my phone rang five times, and I didn’t answer (because I couldn’t “hear” it), and the other people in the room did not react or let me know that my phone was ringing.
Finally, on the third call, the phone rang twice, and finally the male that was in the room let me know that my phone was ringing. Once he let me know, I left the room to make it look as if I was going to go see who was calling me and call them back.
Once I came back and asked the other people in the room if they had noticed or realized what I was doing, they said they did not know that I was doing it on purpose or that it was set up. They said that they had thought that I couldn’t hear it because the music that I was listening to drowned out the sound of my phone ringing, and yet they didn’t respond.
This part of my experiment really surprised me, to know that if my phone was ringing (and that if it was actually something important), and that if I could truly not hear it, that they would not have let me know the first or second time.
The one that let me know that my phone was ringing was actually my resident assistant from last year, and since I was well acquainted with him over that time, I thought this might have affected the outcome of this experiment. I believe that if he was not there, that the girl (who I didn’t know), who also in the room studying would not have let me know that my phone was ringing even on the forth or fifth call. I think this partially because after the experiment Josh let me know the she never looked my way, or made an attempt to let me know that my phone was ringing the first two times my phone rang.
For the second part of the experiment, I went into the computer lounge in my residence hall, where there were already two females and one male in the room. I went in to sit down, logged onto, and started working at the computer I was at, put my earphones in, and turned my phone onto full volume and waited for the first call to come. A few minutes later, Josh came in, sat down, logged onto a different computer across the room and acted as if he was not connected with me.
This time on the first call, after three rings (out of five), the male that was on the same side of the table as me, let me know that my phone was ringing. I then went on to exit the room, and act as if I was calling the person back.
Once I came back, and let the people who were in the room beside me and Josh know that I was doing a breaching experiment, I asked the person that who had told me that my phone was ringing what he thought of what had just happened. He told me that he just figured that I couldn’t hear my phone, so he decided to let me know. However, the other people that were in the room did not let me know that my phone was ringing. This was partially because I was notified that my phone was ringing on the first call, but also because they thought that I was just ignoring the person who was trying to call me, and that I just couldn’t hear it because of the music that I was listening to.
The second part of my breaching experiment made me feel as if I was in a real life situation like this, and that if my phone was ringing, that I could trust a person to tell me. However, the person who told me that my phone was ringing was an acquaintance that I had met this year, which made me wonder about what would have happened if he was not there.
I broke a social norm in my breaching experiment by having my phone on full volume; in situations where a person would normally have their phone either turned off or turned on silent. I already knew that this was the case, however it made me wonder why it has become a social norm to not let a person know that their phone was ringing even if they were seemingly unaware?
One possible explanation that I came up with was that the bystander would think that the person was just ignoring their phone because they didn’t want to talk with the person who was calling them. Another possible explanation is that it has just become a social norm for a person to not be courteous of the people around them, as much as to turn their phone on vibrate, silent, or off. It might be that the people around a person whose phone is ringing are just too afraid of what might happen if they confront the person whose phone is ringing. Things that could result from letting a person know their phone is ringing could be things such as embarrassment or feeling as if there might be “awkward” consequences.
If these things are true, I believe that we have come to a sad point in our modern day society, where even if a person can’t hear their phone ringing, they would not be able to know just because of how it might make the other person feel. I believe that these things should be changed, so that we may all be more of a fully functioning cohesive group as a society, and not a group of individuals who are afraid to interact with one another because of the often-harmless consequences of our actions.
I think that other factors such as the number of people, gender, age, and race of the people in the room might have also changed the outcome of this experiment. I did not study the effects of varying circumstances and surroundings, but the fact that people are not willing to let others know of things happening, even if they are not friends of acquaintances, is a troubling thought.
In breaching experiments, we have to take a look at what is around us and to realize that we are living in a society in which take so much for granted, can tell us a lot about who we are, and how we act in situations that break the social norm. I believe the fact that people are not willing to go outside of their comfort zones to break a social norm, even in harmless situations, should be changed, so that we may all be more of a fully functioning cohesive group in a society.
Introduction to Sociology (980:001:02)
David P.
In this modern day and age it seems as if everyone has a cell phone, and when people are in public places, especially places like a study lounge in a residence hall, it is a social norm to turn your phone either off, on silent or on vibrate. But for my experiment I decided to break this social norm by going into a study lounge and to have my phone turned on full volume and see what the reactions of the people around me were. Some of the reactions of the people that were in the study lounges with me surprised me, while others did not. Their reactions made me wonder about how much you can trust a person to aid you in a time of need, and why people act in the way that they do.
For my experiment that I did this Sunday afternoon, I went into a study lounge in Campbell hall where I live, put my earphones in (as to make people think that I was actually listening to music) and started to study. A few minutes later, my co-observer came in so that he could help me observe the reactions of the people around me (after the experiment he informed me what he had observed). He helped me to observe the people around me because at the time I was looking down at what I was studying. He was also in the room with me as to prevent me having to look up to see the reactions of the people around me. This helped make what I was doing in this experiment less obvious, and to ensure the best result in my breaching experiment.
My coobserver and friend Josh, was also the one that was calling me, but as he informed me after the experiment, he accomplished this task of calling my phone by making it look as if he was text messaging, and from what he observed, none of the people in the room noticed that we were connected, until after the experiment when I let them know what I was doing. Once I was informed that my phone was ringing, I exited the room to make it look as if I was calling the person back. A few minutes later, I came back to see what the people in the room caught onto what I was doing, and what they thought of what had just happened.
I did this experiment twice. The first time, I went into a study lounge on the first floor of my dorm where there were already two people studying (one male, one female who were there for the entire experiment). As I mentioned above, I sat down, put my music in, put my phone on the table that I was studying at, and a few minutes later Josh came in. After having settled in, the first call came, my phone rang five times, and there was no reaction from any of the people in the room. A few minutes later, he called again, my phone rang five times, and I didn’t answer (because I couldn’t “hear” it), and the other people in the room did not react or let me know that my phone was ringing.
Finally, on the third call, the phone rang twice, and finally the male that was in the room let me know that my phone was ringing. Once he let me know, I left the room to make it look as if I was going to go see who was calling me and call them back.
Once I came back and asked the other people in the room if they had noticed or realized what I was doing, they said they did not know that I was doing it on purpose or that it was set up. They said that they had thought that I couldn’t hear it because the music that I was listening to drowned out the sound of my phone ringing, and yet they didn’t respond.
This part of my experiment really surprised me, to know that if my phone was ringing (and that if it was actually something important), and that if I could truly not hear it, that they would not have let me know the first or second time.
The one that let me know that my phone was ringing was actually my resident assistant from last year, and since I was well acquainted with him over that time, I thought this might have affected the outcome of this experiment. I believe that if he was not there, that the girl (who I didn’t know), who also in the room studying would not have let me know that my phone was ringing even on the forth or fifth call. I think this partially because after the experiment Josh let me know the she never looked my way, or made an attempt to let me know that my phone was ringing the first two times my phone rang.
For the second part of the experiment, I went into the computer lounge in my residence hall, where there were already two females and one male in the room. I went in to sit down, logged onto, and started working at the computer I was at, put my earphones in, and turned my phone onto full volume and waited for the first call to come. A few minutes later, Josh came in, sat down, logged onto a different computer across the room and acted as if he was not connected with me.
This time on the first call, after three rings (out of five), the male that was on the same side of the table as me, let me know that my phone was ringing. I then went on to exit the room, and act as if I was calling the person back.
Once I came back, and let the people who were in the room beside me and Josh know that I was doing a breaching experiment, I asked the person that who had told me that my phone was ringing what he thought of what had just happened. He told me that he just figured that I couldn’t hear my phone, so he decided to let me know. However, the other people that were in the room did not let me know that my phone was ringing. This was partially because I was notified that my phone was ringing on the first call, but also because they thought that I was just ignoring the person who was trying to call me, and that I just couldn’t hear it because of the music that I was listening to.
The second part of my breaching experiment made me feel as if I was in a real life situation like this, and that if my phone was ringing, that I could trust a person to tell me. However, the person who told me that my phone was ringing was an acquaintance that I had met this year, which made me wonder about what would have happened if he was not there.
I broke a social norm in my breaching experiment by having my phone on full volume; in situations where a person would normally have their phone either turned off or turned on silent. I already knew that this was the case, however it made me wonder why it has become a social norm to not let a person know that their phone was ringing even if they were seemingly unaware?
One possible explanation that I came up with was that the bystander would think that the person was just ignoring their phone because they didn’t want to talk with the person who was calling them. Another possible explanation is that it has just become a social norm for a person to not be courteous of the people around them, as much as to turn their phone on vibrate, silent, or off. It might be that the people around a person whose phone is ringing are just too afraid of what might happen if they confront the person whose phone is ringing. Things that could result from letting a person know their phone is ringing could be things such as embarrassment or feeling as if there might be “awkward” consequences.
If these things are true, I believe that we have come to a sad point in our modern day society, where even if a person can’t hear their phone ringing, they would not be able to know just because of how it might make the other person feel. I believe that these things should be changed, so that we may all be more of a fully functioning cohesive group as a society, and not a group of individuals who are afraid to interact with one another because of the often-harmless consequences of our actions.
I think that other factors such as the number of people, gender, age, and race of the people in the room might have also changed the outcome of this experiment. I did not study the effects of varying circumstances and surroundings, but the fact that people are not willing to let others know of things happening, even if they are not friends of acquaintances, is a troubling thought.
In breaching experiments, we have to take a look at what is around us and to realize that we are living in a society in which take so much for granted, can tell us a lot about who we are, and how we act in situations that break the social norm. I believe the fact that people are not willing to go outside of their comfort zones to break a social norm, even in harmless situations, should be changed, so that we may all be more of a fully functioning cohesive group in a society.
posted by Alan at 12:52 PM
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