HOW

DID THE STUDENT CROSS THE ROAD?: OBSERVATIONS OF A SAINT MARYS

CROSSWALK

How Did the Student Cross the Road?: Observations of a Saint Marys Crosswalk
Jessica Fahner
Saint Marys College of California

HOW DID THE STUDENT CROSS THE ROAD?: OBSERVATIONS OF A SAINT MARYS
CROSSWALK

The purpose of this study will be to explore the male and female interactions with
potential dangers or diversions while crossing the street at a cross walk located on campus. At
this stage in the research, the observation of male and female interactions while crossing the
street will be generally defined as interactions while crossing the street. I will be using several
different types of sampling, such as typical-case sampling and convenience sampling. I will be
using typical-case sampling to observe the crosswalk at high traffic hours, such as the afternoon
when students are walking to and from class. The major research question that I am asking is;
how does each gender interact with obstacles and other diversions when crossing the street?
Some sub questions include, are the majority of male students more distracted when crossing the
street, i.e. by cellphones? How do students display, or not display, signs of caution while
crossing the street, i.e. looking both ways? How do female students interact with a car when
crossing the street? Does a students gender determine whether they are more likely to walk out
into the street despite a car approaching? Do more male or female students j-walk? I will be
doing an observation of a public location because I want to observe the differences of actions
between two genders when dealing with a potentially risky situation. I think it would be
interesting to observe how male and female students respond to potential risks, take risks, and
their level of awareness of their surroundings when crossing the street.
My role as an observer would be to observe from afar. I would be a passive observer and
not interact with the students. My social function would not fall under the categories of
peripheral-member-researchers, complete-member-researchers, or active-member-researchers
because my main role would be an observer. I do not want to intrude or interfere with any of the
actions that the students choose to make. Of the tasks observed, I believe that I would find that
female students take more unintentional risks, such as texting while crossing the street, and male

HOW DID THE STUDENT CROSS THE ROAD?: OBSERVATIONS OF A SAINT MARYS
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students take more intentional risks, such as j-walking. Men are more privileged in society and
generally have less to worry about when it comes to their safety. Women are more likely to be
aware of their safety and surroundings because they are likely to face more threats in this society.
However, I think female students would most likely take part in actions that dont seem as
threatening, such as texting while crossing the street.
The series of observations took place between March 20th and April 9th. On March 20th I
observed from 12pm to 1pm and on April 8th I observed from 12:23pm to 1:23pm. These times
proved to be the most interesting to observe, as there were a lot more students who crossed the
street during the afternoon, and I was able to gather more data. April 9th I observed from 10am
until 11am, there were not a lot of students to observe during this time.
Interpretation
The major characters of this observation were male and female students. The students
were sophomores, juniors, or seniors, because the crosswalk was located adjacent to sophomore
and upperclassmen housing. The interactions took place at a crosswalk located directly in front
of the Syufy Performing Arts Hall.
There were many interactions that took place throughout the observations. Some of these
included interactions with cars, use of the crosswalk, checking for oncoming traffic, texting,
talking on the phone, and j walking. It should be noted that I observed more women than men,
and this could affect the comparison between the two genders in this analysis. The interactions
with cars were the most significant events that occurred throughout the observations; six
interactions with cars occurred at the crosswalk. The three out of the five women who interacted
with a car were very attentive and waited for the driver to stop. One woman was preoccupied
with her phone when interacting with a car and the car narrowly misses her. The one man who

HOW DID THE STUDENT CROSS THE ROAD?: OBSERVATIONS OF A SAINT MARYS
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interacted with a car did not appear rushed or noticeably concerned; he calmly continued to cross
the street despite the oncoming vehicle. More research would have to be conducted to further
observe the differences between men and womens interactions with cars.
When students walked in groups, most students who initially gravitated towards walking
in the crosswalk were influenced by their group or friend to move into the street if the group
chose to do so. In addition, when women were with their significant other, they appeared to be
less aware of their surroundings than the men. Also, the man seemed to take control and guide
the woman along. More of the women walked in groups of two or more as opposed to the men.
A small quantity of men and women did not check for oncoming traffic, this action was not seen
frequently. However, about an equal amount of men and women were observed j walking. The
majority of men and women were observed j walking as opposed to using the crosswalk.
Interestingly enough, the majority of men and women either committed to using the crosswalk or
not using the crosswalk. A small, fairly equal, amount of men and women start out using the
crosswalk and then move away, or vice versa. An equal amount of men and women checked for
traffic and exhibited some if not a lot of caution when j walking. Hardly anyone j walked without
checking for traffic; this could be because j walking is considered a risky enough action.
The majority of men used the crosswalk; I observed men using the crosswalk far more
frequently than I observed women using the crosswalk. A vast majority of men checked for
traffic when using the crosswalk than women. I also observed more men checking for oncoming
traffic than women as well. This would indicate that men are more cautious than women. This
idea can be seen in various literatures, for instance, The professional surveyed empirical reality
in fact indicates that fear is not particularly great, and that the gender difference is not that
startling (Banister, Ditton, Farrall, & Gilchrist, 1998). Furthermore, in Derksens (2014)

HOW DID THE STUDENT CROSS THE ROAD?: OBSERVATIONS OF A SAINT MARYS
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research of crime, he describes how men are actually more afraid of crime and being victimized
than women. The literature argues that there is not a big difference of fear of attack between the
genders. Also, if men were more afraid of being victimized, they would display more caution in
their lives, such as when crossing the street. Additionally, more women were observed texting,
talking on the phone, and wearing headphones than men. When not using the crosswalk, j
walking, more women were also texting, talking on the phone, and wearing earphones. This
again supports the idea that men display more caution than women.
In answer to the research questions, I found that there is not much variance between the
actions of men and women when crossing the street; the most noticeable difference that arose
from the observations was that mens actions displayed caution. When men were faced with the
potentially risky situation of crossing the street, they handled the situation with attentiveness.
The majority of male students were not distracted by technology, and the majority of women
were. When crossing the street students displayed signs of caution by checking the street for
oncoming traffic before crossing, using the crosswalk, and remaining aware of their surroundings
by not being distracted by technology. In terms of women interacting with cars, from what was
observed, the majority of female students waited until the car signaled that it was safe to cross
and waved when interacting with a car. Both men and women j walked an equal amount.
Documentary Analysis
The crosswalk is located directly in front of the Syufy Performing Arts Hall, students
cross in and out of the hall to access the crosswalk. According to the article, Saint Mary's
Dedicates Syufy Performing Arts Hall, found on Saint Marys website, Syufy Hall was opened
in 2007. The building is named after the Syufy family, who attended Saint Marys through its
generations. The Syufy family and an anonymous donor donated about $3.8 million to build the

HOW DID THE STUDENT CROSS THE ROAD?: OBSERVATIONS OF A SAINT MARYS
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performing arts hall. As stated in the article, Syufy Hall is connected to the College's LeFevre
Theatre and contains such amenities as music practice rooms, a dance studio, and a scene shop.
The building's design creates a gateway from the nearby residence halls to the central campus,
surrounding passing students in the performing arts.
Reflection
While conducting this project, I learned how difficult observing could be. I found it very
difficult to write everything down that I say. I found it frustrating that I could not observe from
all angles and I knew that at some points I was missing information. Also, during particularly
busy times, I felt that I missed a lot of crucial information because there was so much going on
and I could not keep track of it all. I felt that I missed observations about the majority of the
students because there was too much to watch in crowds. In addition, because I am a sophomore
and the crosswalk is located near the sophomore dorms on campus I observed many people that I
knew. I tried to remain objective when observing people I knew, but I found myself adding to
my observation notes information based on previous discussions with the person. However, I
thought that I learned a lot from my experiences observing and I would feel comfortable doing
observations for another project again.
In terms of what went well, I thought that the spot that I chose to observe from was a
good choice. I was situated a little farther back than I would have liked, but I did not need to be
close to listen to conversations and I could see the street very well. I was upstairs on the second
floor of Syufy Hall and that allowed me a better vantage point of the street. Most students could
not see me observing them, so I was able to observe them without disrupting them or
compromising the data. One aspect that did not go well was that there were not excessive
interactions with cars; I only observed six interactions with cars at the crosswalk. I was hoping to

HOW DID THE STUDENT CROSS THE ROAD?: OBSERVATIONS OF A SAINT MARYS
CROSSWALK

witness more interactions with cars because that was my initial idea for the project. I thought that
it would have been interesting to observe any differences or similarities with how women and
men interacted with cars. As only one out of the six students was male and the rest were female,
I was not able to compare the actions of the two genders based off of my observations.
When observing I focused on the gender of the student and whether or not they checked
for oncoming traffic, they used the crosswalk, or they were distracted by technology. I ignored
most large groups because there was too much to watch at the same time and the students in the
group hardly displayed any phenomenon. I also ignored anyone who crossed the street an
extreme distance away from the crosswalk. I mainly focused on the scope of the crosswalk
because I thought it was important to note that the students had the option to use the crosswalk
but chose not to use it. I thought that this displayed the students choose risk over caution. I
labeled and identified the students in my notes by their gender and physical characteristics. I
mainly wrote down what they wore. At first I did not write down the name of someone I
observed that I knew in an attempt to try and remain objective, but as the observations went on I
found that it was easier and quicker to use their name. Furthermore, I thought that it was
interesting that in my notes I chose to label men and women as boys and girls in my notes,
despite college students being adults.
The most surprising element that arose from my data was that I concluded that men were
more cautious than women. I assumed at the beginning of this project that women would be
more cautious because they are more threatened in society and are attacked more often than men.
If I was to expand on this project, I think that it would be very interesting to find out as to why
men are more cautious in this situation than women. According to the literature that I found, men
are more fearful of victimization than women, and women are only stereotyped as being more

HOW DID THE STUDENT CROSS THE ROAD?: OBSERVATIONS OF A SAINT MARYS
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fearful and cautious. I think that further observing the behaviors of men and women in other
types of risky situations might give more insight into the subject. Also, interviewing each gender
to understand the reasoning behind the choices of their actions might provide an answer.

HOW DID THE STUDENT CROSS THE ROAD?: OBSERVATIONS OF A SAINT MARYS
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References
Banister, Ditton, Farrall, & Gilchrist (1998). Women and the fear of crime: Challenging the
accepted stereotype. British journal of criminology, 38:2. Retrieved from, https://stmarysca.idm.oclc.org/login?url=http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA20632205&v
=2.1&u=mora54187&it=r&p=AONE&sw=w&asid=00af7bb47680e963fdea34b044c44f7
b
Derksen, S. W. (2014). Gender, social desirability, and fear of crime: Are women really more
afraid? Dissertation abstracts international, a: The humanities and social sciences, 75:4.
(1-145). Retrieved from http://ullr.lib.umanitoba.ca/handle/1993/8849