Devise, conduct and report on a small-scale observational study of
the greeting and parting behaviour of students.
For general guidance about what is expected in your essays for this module,
see the
general criteria.
Please remember to avoid footnotes and to include an
alphabetical list of 'References' which have been cited in the text
(not a Bibliography of anything you have read for the essay). This list should include
author's names, date, book titles (in italics), place of publication and publisher.
Within the text always cite author's surname, date and page number. Double-space your
text and number your pages. For more detailed notes on writing essays in this
department, click
here.
Advice for this particular assignment:
Focus primarily on non-verbal communication. Watch in particular for body movement, gestures, postures, touch,
facial expressions and rituals. What are the most common patterns of nonverbal communication associated with
greeting and with parting? In what ways does this relate to particular relationships and contexts?
There's nothing wrong with involving your own friends - as long as they don't mind.
Note also that this is an assignment for which the
inclusion of relevant pictorial illustrations is essential. These should
be inserted electronically into your Word document rather than cut-and-pasted in.
You can scan such illustrations in from print sources, save them from
disk-based sources, download them from online sources (such as my Powerpoint slides) or even create them from
scratch in a graphics package. Use them to help you to make points more effectively. Label each one,
'Figure 1' etc. and add a caption.
If you take photographs featuring identifiable individuals you must obtain permission first: use a
consent form explaining that you are doing this for educational and research purposes only.
Anyone featured will need to sign such a form granting you permission to use such photographs for these purposes only; pixelate out faces
of bystanders where you have no such form. Any consent forms used must form part of your submission.
Do not take photographs in commercial premises without asking permission first. On campus is probably more practicable than at somewhere like the railway
station since you would need to get further permission from station staff.
Some suggested reading
- Argyle, Michael (1988)
Bodily Communication, 2nd Edn. London: Routledge
- Argyle, Michael (1994)
The Psychology of Interpersonal Behaviour, 5th Edn. London: Penguin
- Argyle, Michael & Mark Cook (1976)
Gaze and Mutual Gaze. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
- Armstrong, Nancy & Melissa Wagner (2003)
Field Guide to Gestures. Philadelphia, PA: Quirk Books
- Benthall, Jonathan & Ted Polhemus (1975)
The Body as a Medium of Expression. Harmondsworth: Penguin
- Birdwhistell, Ray L. (1971)
Kinesics and Context: Essays on Body-Motion Communication.. London: Allen & Lane
- Burgoon, Judee K, David B Buller & W Gill Woodall (1989)
Nonverbal Communication: The Unspoken Dialogue. New York: Harper & Row
- Canary, Daniel & Kathryn Dindia (1998)
Sex Differences and Similarities in Communication. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum
- Eakins, Barbara Westbrook & R Gene Eakins (1998)
Sex Differences in Human Communication. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin
- Ekman, Paul (2003)
Emotions Revealed: Understanding Faces and Feelings. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson
- Firth, Raymond (1973) 'Bodily Symbols of Greeting and Parting'. In Raymond Firth (1973)
Symbols: Public and Private. London: Allen & Unwin, pp. 299-327
- Guerrero, Laura K , Joseph A. Devito & Michael L. Hecht (Eds) (1999)
The Nonverbal Communication Reader: Classic and Contemporary Readings. Long Grove, IL: Waveland Press
- Hall, Edward T. (1988)
The Silent Language. New York: Bantam Doubleday Dell
- Hall, Edward T. (1990)
The Hidden Dimension: Man's Use of Space in Public and in Private. New York: Bantam Doubleday Dell
- Hall, Judtih A (1990)
Nonverbal Sex Differences: Accuracy of Communication and Expressive Style. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press
- Hall, Judith & Mark L. Knapp (2005)
Nonverbal Communication in Human Interaction. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth
- Hecker, Sidney & David W Stewart (Eds) (1988)
Nonverbal Communication in Advertising. Lexington, MA: Lexington Books/D C Heath
- Henley, Nancy (1987)
Body Politics: Power, Sex and Nonverbal Communication. New York: Simon & Schuster
- Hinde, Robert A. (Ed) (1972)
Non-Verbal Communication. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
- Kendon, Adam (Ed) (1981)
Nonverbal Communication, Interaction and Gesture. The Hague: Mouton
- Knapp, Mark L & Judith A Hall (Eds) (2002)
Nonverbal Communication in Human Interaction. Florence, KY: Wadsworth
- LaFrance, Marianne & Clara Mayo (1978)
Moving Bodies: Nonverbal Communication in Social Relationships. Monterey, CA: Brooks/Cole
- Malandro, Loretta A, Larry Barker & Deborah Ann Barker (1989)
Nonverbal Communication (2nd Edn). New York: McGraw-Hill
- Marsh, Peter (1988)
Eye to Eye: How People Interact. Topsfield, MA: Salem House
- Mayo, Clara & Nancy M Henley (Eds) (1981)
Gender and Nonverbal Behavior. New York: Springer-Verlag
- Mehrabian, Albert (2007)
Nonverbal Communication. New Brunswick, NJ: AldineTransaction
- Montagu, Ashley (1971)
Touching: The Human Significance of the Skin. New York: Harper & Row
- Morris, Desmond (1971)
Intimate Behaviour. London: Triad/Granada
- Morris, Desmond (1985)
Bodywatching: A Field Guide to the Human Species. London: Jonathan Cape
- Morris, Desmond (1994)
Bodytalk: A World Guide to Gestures. London: Jonathan Cape
- Morris, Desmond (2002)
People Watching: The Desmond Morris Guide to Body Language. London: Vintage
- Remland, Martin S (2000)
Nonverbal Communication in Everyday Life. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin
- Richmond, Virginia P., James C. McCroskey & Steven K. Payne (2008)
Nonverbal Behavior in Interpersonal Relations. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall
- Rutter, Derek R. (1984)
Looking and Seeing: The Role of Visual Communication in Social Interaction. Chichester: John Wiley
- Scheflen, Albert E. with Alice Scheflen (1972)
Body Language and the Social Order: Communication as Behavioral Control. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall
- Weitz, Shirley (Ed) (1979)
Nonverbal Communication: Readings with Commentary. New York: Oxford University Press
Note: Treat with extreme caution sources labelled with this symbol!