SYSTEMATIC OBSERVATION

Psych 208 Introduction to Psychological

Research Methods

An Observation on Washroom Breaks of Males and

Females
In A Work Setting

Submitted by:

OCTIA, MARIA VICTORIA B.

Psy 208 TNOP
I. Problem
Females tend to spend longer washroom breaks than males.
Washroom break is defined as a stop in an activity or travels to use a bathroom. It is
also called comfort break and comfort stop. Washroom break is the time spent by
employees in the washroom/restroom during the 8 working hours. There are some
institutions that limit washroom breaks on employees, especially when it will disrupt
the continuous operation or process of work. On this instance, limit is not imposed.
There’s a common belief that females usually expend more time in using the
washroom than males. The observation is conducted to find proof to support or
oppose this belief.
Prior observations on my co-employees reveal that females tend to stay in
washrooms in an average of 3 minutes as compared to the average stay of 1 minute
by males.

II. Site Description

The observation is done on the 24th floor of the Orient Square Building
located in Ortigas Business Center, Pasig City. Washrooms are to be found on the
north side of the floor, just behind the elevators. The consulting firm is right beside
the ladies washroom and along the corridor that leads to the washrooms.
I, being the observer, am positioned in the receiving area of the consulting
firm, a place wherein you can see all the employees that will come and go of the
washrooms.
The observed are individuals who walked to the corridor that leads to the
washrooms to take their washroom breaks.

III. Participants
I chose to observe employees working on the four offices on the said floor
who make use of the washrooms. Employees are consisted of Lawyers, their
secretaries, Insurance agents, Engineers, Consultants, office staff and messengers.
Visitors and maintenance staff are excluded in the observation.
Employees on the insurance agency and secretaries on the law firm are
distinguished by the uniforms they wear. Lawyers are always on suits and formal
wears. Engineers and employees in the construction firm wear clothes with their
company logo printed. Maintenance staffs are also on uniforms but they are not
allowed to use the common washrooms. Familiarity on the faces on the 24 th floor in
my 3 working years made me differentiate the visitor from the employees.
Number of male employees observed is larger than the female employees.
This is because the construction firm has their own ladies washroom. Their female
employees need not to use the common washroom. The construction firm also is a
male dominated office.

IV. Observer
I took on the role of the observer. My work station is temporarily located on
the receiving area. I am facing north, allowing me to see all the activities on the
corridor. I record the details of the observation once someone walks into and out of
the corridor. I made a log in and a log out. I note the time they appear into the
 corridor as the log in, and the time, after doing their activity on the washroom, they
exit the corridor.

V. Observation
The observation lasted for 3 days. It started January 12 and ended January 14
of the current year. The period chosen is from 8:30 in the morning to 12:00 noon.
8:30 AM is the start of office hours and 12:00 noon being lunch time. I preferred
observing during those hours because it won’t be possible for me to monitor the
employees’ washroom breaks for the whole day. The reason behind this is I leave the
office earlier on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays. I decided to record all the
behavior for the whole 3.5 hours per day because I wanted to get as much evidence
in 3 days.
The observation records included repeated trips to the washrooms. This
means that, for example, 18 observations were not really 18 different individuals. All
employees on the said floor went to washroom more than once every morning in 3
days, and counted as one independent observation.
The observation is done in one place, the observer on the receiving area of
the consulting firm, the observed on the corridor leading to the washrooms. The
consulting firm to where I am working, as mentioned earlier, is situated beside the
ladies washroom. The office has a big glass door, positioned along the corridor
heading to the floor’s washrooms, allowing a clear view of all the individuals that will
frequent the washrooms. My position is the best place to carry out the observation.
The corridor is leading to 3 doors; ladies’, gentlemen’s and restricted room
for authorized building admin personnel. On my 3 days of observation, no admin
personnel paid a visit to the restricted room.

VI. Method
Duration measure is the method used in collecting and recording the
observational data. I opted to measure the duration of washroom breaks by
recording the time when someone enters and exits the washrooms. I made use of
the clock on my cellular phone to determine the time interval. Use of timer and
stopwatch was not possible because there were instances that 2 or more individuals
simultaneously enter the room.

VII. Results
On the first day of observation, January 12, 18 females from the four offices
entered the washroom and accumulate a total of 66 minutes in the period of three
and a half hours. On the average, 1 female employee spent 3.6 minutes per visit
inside the room. On the other hand, 27 males went into the washroom and gathered
a total of 57 minutes. On the average, 1 male employee stayed for about 1.96
minutes per visit.
On the second day of observation, January 13, 23 females from the four
offices entered the washroom and accumulate a total of 77 minutes in the period of
three and a half hours. On the average, 1 female employee spent 3.35 minutes per
visit inside the room. On the other hand, 31 males went into the washroom and
 gathered a total of 43 minutes. On the average, 1 male employee stayed for about
1.39 minutes per visit.
On the third day of observation, January 14, 20 females from the four offices
entered the washroom and accumulate a total of 71 minutes in the period of three
and a half hours. On the average, 1 female employee spent 3.55 minutes per visit
inside the room. On the other hand, 21 males went into the washroom and gathered
a total of 46 minutes. On the average, 1 male employee stayed for about 2.19
minutes per visit.
On the first day, there are 15 out of the 27 observations on males indicating
just a 1 minute stay as compared to 3 1-minute observations on females. 14 minutes
is the longest washroom break recorded in females as against to the 9 minutes of
males.
On the second day, 2 males and 1 female are recorded to stay in the washroom in
less than a minute. 2 observations in females are in the extremes (13 and 12
minutes). Most of the remaining observations range from 2 to 4 minutes, with few
observations from 5 to 8 minutes. On males, observation span from 0 to 4 minutes.
On day 3, 17 minutes is the longest for females and 13 minutes for males. 12
1-minute observations are recorded on males and only 4 on females.

Minute Minute Minute

Day 1 s Day 2 s Day 3 s
Female 18 66 23 77 20 71
Male 27 57 31 43 21 46

Averag
e Day 1 Day 2 Day 3
Female 3.67 3.35 3.55
Male 1.96 1.39 2.19

Longest
Interval Day 1 F Day 2 F Day 3 F
Female 14 2 13 1 17 1
Male 9 1 4 1 13 1

Shortes
t
Interval Day 1 F Day 2 F Day 3 F
Female 1 3 0 1 1 4
Male 1 15 0 2 1 12

VIII. Interpretation
Information and data shared on the internet usually report that most women
urinate or “pee” faster than men. One explanation is we have shorter and wider
urethra. In addition, location of the female bladder is said by some to empty totally.
But if it so, why do they stay longer in washrooms?
 Females do bond in the washroom. When done urinating, females will wash
their hands, and then proceed to re-apply perfume, make-up, lip-gloss, comb their
hair, make sure the mascara didn't smear, etc. This gives us plenty of time to strike
up a conversation with the girl standing next to us, especially if we are familiar with
that person, an officemate perhaps. Women talk about anything and anybody in the
washroom. They discuss which men they like and which men they don’t, and any
personal problems they are having or their friends
On the other hand, men don’t tend to make friends in bathrooms. Bathroom
talk is awkward to them. This is a universal unwritten rule. They always choose
urinals on one end, farthest from the possible urinal the others may choose. After
peeing, they go to the sink to wash their hands and leave.
The data gathered supports that women really stay longer in washrooms
than men. As shown by the averages computed in 3 days, females stay 3 to 4
minutes in washrooms, while males stay for about 1 to 2 minutes only. Differences
on duration on washroom breaks variation may be due to their activity inside the
room. Urinating will consume a little amount of time but defecating usually takes
longer. This may be the reason for some of the long intervals observed.
Female employees usually carry paraphernalia’s when they enter the
washroom. Common things they bring along are tissue, make-up kit, hair brush or
comb, and toothbrush. This indicates clearly their activity inside the room. These
also states the reason for their prolong stay in the washroom. I didn’t see any males
who bring along anything on their trips to washrooms during the 3 days observation.
And as discussed earlier, females chat on washroom breaks, especially when
they enter the washroom in group, which is very common.

IX. Difficulties
The observation done may be simple but there are still difficulties
encountered. The following were the troubles I came across during the systematic
observation:
My area in the office excuses me on looking to whoever will appear on that
part of the corridor. But looking on those people is quite uncomfortable to me, and
maybe also to them. The employees, once done with their activity on the washroom
and out on the corridor, tend to look at my place. It gave me the feeling that
somehow, they know they are being observed.
My work requires attention on my personal computer. All the records,
database and reports are to be found in it, and most of my time is consumed in
doing reports and updating database. This made it difficult for me to notice all the
visits done to the washrooms. I positioned my computer to a spot that will allow me
to encode and update my reports and at the same time I can observe in my
peripheral view.
The main door access is placed on my table. My co-employees often use it to
open the door when they go out of the office, either to use the washroom or go
down the building, instead of using their proximity cards. This permits them to see
anything on my desk. To secure my data from being seen, I made sure to hide it on a
folder once an observation is done.
 Sometimes I need to leave my area to get supplies, or to communicate some
messages to my officemates, or to print some materials. These may have prevented
me from recording all the possible visits done in the washrooms. To minimize its
possibilities, I tried hard to reduce my departing from my area.
Since I was measuring washroom breaks, I might not record some washroom
breaks, especially those of the males, if I enter the ladies washroom. To avoid this, I
use the washroom before I start observation. Then, my next visit was after the end
of observation for each day.
These difficulties somehow affected my data, especially the 4 th one. If you
may notice, observations on the 3rd day are fewer that the first 2 days. This was due
to my workload during Fridays. I wasn’t able to stay in my area in as much as the first
2 days. I needed to roam around the office during that morning to discuss things
with my supervisor and get updates from each department.

X. Evaluation of Method

The method of systematic observation is a very good tool for research. The
measuring instrument or ways are easy to carry out. It gives you detailed record of
the behavior being measured. And this offers a good material for making summary
and inferences.

XI. Appendices

Site illustration
Observation details