Personal Space

581 Words2 Pages

Personal Space

My project is about personal space. It is about finding out why people

tend to have their own personal space. Personal space is the region

surrounding a person. Each individual has their own personal space.

Distance from strangers varies than distance from families and

relatives. Method used will be participant observation which is a

qualitative method. It is one of the most popular and widely used

research methods. The main advantages of participant observation is

that it allows you to have an insight on how the individuals of a

society perform and the ways in which they think and why.

I chose to investigate into this area because this topic is quite of a

challenge. The main advantages of participant observation are that it

allows the anthropologists to obtain a deeper and more experienced

insight on the activities that the individuals of a society perform

and the ways in which they think and that it also allows the

anthropologists to gain a good overview of how and why a society

functions. The disadvantages of participant observation are that it is

sometimes unwelcome by the society being studied, as they often feel

disturbed and that the anthropologist is invading their privacy. It is

also often difficult for the ethnographer to go native, and, even when

he does; problems arise as he may begin to lose objectivity after

becoming too much a part of that society. The problems that can arise

due to Participant observation include:

· Gender - certain genders are more welcome than others into different

societies. Women can be seen as inferior/ be threatening to men/ can’t

integrate w/ men.

· Ethnicity- ethnogra...

... middle of paper ...

...lse to sit. People who are usually crowded have a smaller

personal space than those not used to crowded places.

The personal space is not due to a case of bad breath or body odor,

but because closeness leads a sense of intimacy that is at odds with

their relationship to the other individual. In conclusion:

* The personal space is larger if you are talking to a stranger.

* The better you know the person you're talking to, the smaller the

space may be.

* The personal space is usually larger for two men than for two

women.

* The personal space may be very small for a man and a woman if they

are in a relationship.

* The personal space may be larger than normal for a man and a woman

who are strangers to each other.

* The personal space size may differ for different cultures.

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