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Observation Study

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Observation Study
Situation
I went to a Starbucks store near DU twice to conduct the observations. First, I went there on March 26 and stayed there from 8:00am to 9:30am. Then I went there on the next day and stayed there from 10:00am to 11:00am. I mainly observed the physical layout of this store, the in-store environment, the price of the coffee, the reactions of the customers and the performance of the staff. As for the performance of the staff, I observed their genders, ages, facial expressions, job content and work efficiency and also counted the number of them.
Objectives
Through the observation study, I want to know whether the physical layout of this Starbucks store is reasonable, have a clear understanding of the in-store environment, evaluate the efficiency of this store, and learn about whether the service attitude of the staff is nice and satisfactory.
Findings
I stayed in this Starbucks store on the first day and the second day for one and half hours and one hour respectively. I utilized not only contrived observation but also direct observation. At the beginning of the observation each day, I would pretend to be a customer and go to buy a cup of coffee. During the buying process, I communicated with the staff, observed their performance and calculated the time of the buying. This kind of observation can be classified as a contrived observation. Then I just sat at the table, observed the layout, environment, other customers and the staff and recorded what actually occurred without manipulating the situation. This kind of observation is a direct observation.
In order to improve the effectiveness of my observation, I developed a list of metrics to help me collect data and information. These metrics included both quantitative metrics and qualitative metrics. For one thing, I utilized five quantitative metrics: the amount of time spent on waiting

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