Criminal Justice Research Field Observation: Research Paper

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Indeed, during my second observation, which would occur during peak commuter hours, between 7:30 and 8:30 AM on a Thursday, I would see this process repeated 7 times. Trains would run more frequently and crowds would be thicker during this time. Where I estimated roughly 40 people at the most at any one time during my preliminary observation, the same station contained what I estimated to be 400 to 500 people at this time.

There was a sort of convergence of informal and formal behavior, with individuals tending to display pointed self-interest when descending to the train tracks and, conversely, tending to organize around the collective goal of descending in an orderly and safe manner. Indeed, all commuters appeared to know this process well and to actively engage it at their own respective paces.

I also noted that individuals all tended to carry items which pointed to their purpose. Most women carried purses as was expected. Some also carried valises indicating professional purposes. Students and younger travelers carrying knapsacks. Many men and some women carried briefcases indicating work purposes. Many others still carried all many of luggage, from wheeled suitcases with extending handles to army duffle bags. At one point, in fact, during my observation, five young men dressed in full military uniforms emerged from the South 15th flight of stairs. They proceeded to the sports bar.

This points to two phenomena which are interesting to observe while at the train station. The first denotes that roughly 30 seconds of peak population which occur each train pulls into the station. Here, an audible sound of the train squealing into the station can be heard. Seconds later, a stream of people will appear in a stairwell, with most immediately choosing and moving toward an exit. Some, like the soldiers, will break off toward one of the many consumer destinations within the station.

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These denote the second phenomenon which is the variance of activities which individuals engage to pass time while waiting for trains. Some read newspapers or nap on benches. Some drink in the bar. Some wander the corridors on their cell phones. Others appear to aimlessly pass from one store to the next, grabbing a coffee here, a magazine there, a snack at yet a third place.

It was particularly in this element of the observation that I felt somewhat anxious and even a little voyeuristic. I would select particular individuals who piqued my interest and watch their actions for the course of their time there. I watched a middle aged gentleman sit at the bar for fifteen minutes sending messages through his cell phone before taking his first sip of a beer. He eventually wasted half his beer, left a tip and walked to the newsstand. He purchased a packet of aspirin and a copy of a Forbes Magazine.

As I watched him, I began to feel that I was engaging in a behavior that was at least marginally invasive. I wondered whether he was aware that he was being watched, and I simultaneously fabricated a narrative around the man's behavior. Ultimately, such observations would denote the highly speculative nature of my observations. Indeed, the arbitrary nature of such matters as the time of my observations, the duration and the vantage selected all denote the imperfect nature of any investigation approached thusly. Therefore, I would suggest that further observation in a more consistent and scientific manner be conducted to pin down more revealing patterns of behavior.

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