Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
March 9, 2017
COM 380
The study instructed the observer to sit in one spot for 10 minutes or more, and note the
movements people performed. The observer was then asked to guess whether the movement was
purposeful and meant to send a message. Finally, the observer was to take note of the messages
For the observational study 7.1, I sat at one of the group study/tutor tables in the library
and observed college age students. Most students were undergraduate members of WLC - age
18-22 and primarily white.I sat in the same general area twice for about 5-10 minutes each time,
first at 1:23-1:33 and then at 6:40-6:45. Both times I sat down to conduct a naturalistic
observation and proceeded to take note of movements in Google Sheets to look as natural as
possible.
The students I observed were primarily studying by themselves or with only a small
group of friends. Each seemed to have their own space and their own busy midterm week to
attend to. However, the during the 6:40-6:45, students were getting help from the various tutors
and there were a few more clusters of people studying together and there definitely more crowd
During the first 10 minutes in the area, the majority of movements, 6/10, seemed
purposeful.These included typing, texting, reaching up, flipping through pages, unbuttoning
coats, waving and cracking the neck. Most of these actions seemed obviously intentional, but
not all of them were intended to send a message. Many of these were perceived as efforts to
When I returned to the area at 6:40, the same was concluded, and of the movements
seemed purposeful. These movements included walking to the back of the room - I assume to see
friends, lifting chair feet, and gesturing across the room. These seemed to be intentional and for
This study analyzes the intentionality of nonverbal messages and proves that nonverbals
are both intentional and unintentional. Nonverbal communication is continuous and innate as
well as learned. Nonverbal messages can be difficult to control, while verbal communication can
be paused and is all learned. As seen in this study, every nonverbal movement and gesture can be
interpreted as a message even when the sender is unaware of the majority of their messages.