Observation Research Proposal

Alexis, Janneen, LeeAnne, Maryann, Priscilla

Introduction and Brief Literature Review
According to a website dedicated solely to the buddy bench, (www.buddybench.org), the
buddy bench was first introduced to the American society in the fall of 2013 by Christian Bucks,
a seven-year-old boy from York, Pennsylvania. The purpose of the buddy bench is to promote
prosocial behavior, such as inclusion, compassion, and empathy. It is intended to provide an
opportunity to resolve conflicts, and is a physical reminder to use these skills on a daily basis.
When a school first gets a buddy bench, the school has an assembly to teach the
students how the bench is used. To use the bench, which is placed on the school playground,
one must simply sit on it. This is a sign to everyone else on the playground that this individual
needs a friend. It is then up to the other students to invite the individual on the bench to play
with them. The buddy bench program has spread quite quickly across the United States. One
reason why this bench is being embraced so readily is because it provides an opportunity to
practice prosocial behaviors in an environment where the students feel safe.
However, does the buddy bench truly foster prosocial behavior? Or in other words, are
children taking the opportunity to exhibit helping behavior to those who have identified
themselves as needing attention? Michael Lewis, director of the Institute for the Study of Child
Development at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, research has focused on how
prosocial motivation affects emotions. He discovered that the emotion affected by prosocial
behavior is empathy. He mentioned that empathy is triggered by another emotional state and
that the greater and the more intense [a childs] empathic distress is, and the more intense the
victims actual distress is, the quicker they are to help (Lewis, 2008). Thus, we wanted to see if
Michael Lewis statement is true and is demonstrated with the buddy bench program.
We think that empathy plays a keen role in determining who would be most likely to
approach a child sitting on the bench and wonder if a childs sociometric status is also a relevant

factor in answering the question of who is approaching the children sitting on the bench.
Employing empathy by exhibiting prosocial, or helpful, behavior seems like a factor in
determining a childs sociometric status. In a study that aimed at describing the different
relations between empathic responsiveness and participation in bullying and defending
behavior, it was found that the prosocial behavior of victim defenders was positively associated
to high levels of empathy (Gini, et al, 2007). They found that the children who intervened in
victim and bully interactions had higher levels of empathy. It would make sense that those
children who are helpful to others will also be the ones who are well liked by their peers.
There are a myriad of factors that contribute to a childs level of distress at school. We
do not seek to enumerate or explain them in this proposal. However, for the sake of an
example, we will mention bullying. Bullying is a widespread emotional and social problem that
plagues children all across the country. In a study done in 2000, researchers estimated that 1.6
million children in grades 6 through 10 in the United States are bullied at least once a week
(Ericson, 2001). A successful peer-support program, a form of defending through training in
how to respond to a peers distress, can help students deal with social exclusion and rejection
by peers (Cowie, 2011). Since the buddy bench program is a peer-based intervention program,
we were interested to know if it is working to lower the effects of distress-causing events and
experiences, such as bullying, in the schools in which it is employed. However, despite its
popularity, there has not been any research done on the buddy bench. Therefore, we cannot
observe any outcomes, or claim any type of causal relationship, if there are no descriptions of
what happens on the bench and who is using it.

Statement of Research Problem

It would seem that the rapid growth of the buddy bench movement would be due to
success in its application and desired outcomes. However, there has been no research to prove
that is the case. Therefore, the purpose of our proposed research is to act as a foundation from

which further research questions and hypotheses can be tested and answered in regard to the
buddy bench. Our study aims to describe and explain what goes on at the bench, who sits on it,
who approaches and responds to the child on the bench, and the behaviors that they exhibit
while there.
Piagets theory of cognitive development explains the role of egocentrism in each stage
of development. Children from the ages of 7-11 are in the concrete operational stage. In this
stage, egocentrism is still present, but in lower levels. Once the child moves into the formal
operational stage, ecocentrism lessens even further as a child becomes able to consider
another persons thoughts or point of view (Elkind, 1967). As egocentrism lessens in the later
concrete operational stage, we wondered if childrens ability to show empathy will rise. We
chose to study fifth graders, ages 10-11, who are right at the end of Piagets concrete
operational stage, as this is when egocentrism lessens and empathy may rise, to see if they
would be likely to approach a child sitting on the buddy bench, and if their sociometric status,
which seems to be related to whether they exhibit prosocial behaviors, has any influence on
whether they approach a child on the bench.

Methodology
Research Hypotheses
Based on the research by Gini, we have reason to believe that kids who exhibit prosocial
behavior do so because they have higher levels of empathy. We also think that the kids who
show empathy will be liked by their peers. Therefore, we believe that the students who
approach a child who sits on the buddy bench may be most likely to have been rated as
popular on the sociometric scale. On the other hand, we also acknowledge that since we do
not know if the buddy bench is used as it is intended, for peer inclusion, we cannot make
assumptions that it is. The situation in which a child sits on the bench for reasons other than
needing a friend, cannot be ruled out. Our proposal is descriptive in nature and we will be

looking at all types of behavior and social status information of both the children who sit on the
bench, as well as those who approach them. For this reason, we do not claim a hypothesis.
Research Design
Observation is the best-suited research method for our buddy bench observations.
When doing observation research, researchers are able to see how participants actually behave
without manipulating an independent variable. Being able to watch how students interact with
their peers while they are at the buddy bench is more valuable than any other type of research.
We are able to see the different types of behaviors by those that use the buddy bench and
those that approach the individuals sitting at the buddy bench.
With our research design we are able to take a naturalistic and selective approach. We
are able to see the behavior and events of the participants. This will help us discover the level of
empathy in fifth graders and how much, or little, the buddy bench plays a role in that. With a
more selective approach we are also able to see and focus on specific characteristics that will
help us determine who uses the buddy bench.
Subjects
Because there are so few schools in Utah that have implemented a buddy bench
program, it becomes possible to use each of these schools as the population for our study. We
will focus specifically on the fifth graders in the three following Utah schools: Grant Elementary
in Murray, Hillcrest school in Richfield, and Eastlake Elementary in South Jordan. The
population of fifth graders is small enough that we can bypass random sampling and study the
whole population. We recognize that we cannot generalize to any larger population. Instead,
the data we collect from these subjects has potential to be added upon by other similar studies
in areas across the country. As mentioned above, the reason why our focal point of this study is
fifth graders (ages 10-11) is because of Piagets stages of development and the decline of
egocentrism in the latter part of the concrete operational stage (ages 7-11) (Elkind, 1967). Will
fifth graders start regarding empathy towards other people other than themselves? We hope to

identify whether the population of fifth graders in these Utah schools will express their concern
for others by approaching the bench, and if they are more prone to approach the buddy bench if
they have been identified by their teacher as having a popular sociometric status.
The type of sampling that we will be using is called Event Sampling, Although it can be
a difficult task, this type of sampling is when the observers record everything that is happening
in the situation. The situation that we will be sampling in our proposed study is the buddy bench.
We are only interested in what happens at, and around, the bench. Researchers will start
observations when a student approaches the bench to wait for a peer to come, and continue to
the point when the student, or students, leave the bench. The researcher should record the
sociometric status of each child, as identified by their teacher nomination questionnaire, and
what kind of interactions happen between the students. The situation on the buddy bench can
be recorded by having the observer write everything down in that specific situation for the data
that they are trying to collect. Specifically, researchers are looking for any kind of interaction at
the buddy bench. Hence, our samples become only those students who, during their recess, sit
on and/or approach others sitting on the bench.
Operational Definitions
Items and terms that need to be defined before doing this study are a key factor to
determine how we will be measuring what is going on and how we can essentially use that
information for future reference. These definitions include: sociometric status, situation,
approach, interaction and length of it, fifth grader, and empathy.
Sociometric status is a measurement of being liked or disliked by peers (Ryan, Wentzel,
et al, 2009). Receiving many positive views can be related to them being more likeable as a
whole, while negative views can indicate the opposite. The different types of sociometric status
include the following:

Popular: receiving many positive and few negative views by peers

Average: receiving an average number of positive and negative views by peers

Neglected: receiving few positive and few negative views by peers; not noticed

often.
Rejected: receiving few positive and many negative views by peers
Controversial: receiving many positive and many negative views by peers
We will be measuring these sociometric statuses by giving the teachers a teacher nomination
questionnaire for them to fill out for us.
Situation will be addressed as the entire event including before the approach (when a
child sits on the bench), the approach itself, and the interaction involved between the peers.
Some of the things that we will have to address are who sits on the bench (sociometric status if
student is a fifth grader) and how long they sit on the bench before someone approaches them.
Approach for this study will be defined as how the fifth grader approaches the child on
the bench which signals the start of an interaction. Fifth graders could either stop and stand
near the bench, sit down on the bench, or crouch or kneel on their knee(s) next to the bench. A
fifth grader will be identified as a child who is wearing a button given to them by the researchers.
Interaction will be defined as when a fifth grader begins communicating with their peer
who is sitting on the bench. Length of interaction will begin after a fifth grader has approached
their peer on the buddy bench and has started communicating with them. The length of
interaction will then end when the fifth grader stands up and leaves the bench. At this point, we
will watch the manner in which the fifth grader leaves: alone or with the child on the bench.
Because the focus of this study is interaction on the bench, we are not concerned with what
happens next.
Empathy, according to the merriam-webster dictionary, is defined as the action of
understanding, being aware of, being sensitive to, and vicariously experiencing the feelings,
thoughts, and experience of another. We can also place empathy in a rating scale such as:
0- Fifth grader shows no signs of empathy. They may simply walk past the buddy
bench and not interact with their peer at all, or yell, call out, or gesture in a negative manner .

1- Fifth grader shows moderate signs of empathy. They may approach the bench, but
then turn away without talking with their peer. Or, they may talk with their peer for a short time
but not leave with them.
2- Fifth grader shows high levels of empathy. They approach their peer. They talk with
their peer and leave with them.
Coding checklists will also be included in our observation. Some of the things that we
will be looking for with the child who approaches include: whether or not they were a fifth grader,
whether the fifth grader was male or female, which approach the fifth grader was taking
(standing, sitting, and/or crouching), how long their interaction was (less than two minutes,
between two and four minutes, and five or more minutes), and which sociometric status they
were categorized into (information given to us from questionnaire, which will be described in the
instruments section). This will help us to determine how often a fifth grader approaches the
bench compared to the other grades when there is a mixed grade recess.
When coding for those who are sitting on the bench we need to include the following: if
they are a male or female, whether or not they are a fifth grader, sociometric status if they are a
fifth grader, and how long they were sitting on the bench before someone approached them
(less than two minutes, between two and four minutes, and five or more minutes).
Instruments
One of the instruments we will use to collect data is a teacher nomination questionnaire
that determines what sociometric status a child best fits. The questionnaire we will be using is
reliable because it has been used repeatedly since 1934. Since it has been used for such a long
time, it has become more valid and reliable due to the many alterations it has been under. It is
also reliable because it contains a series of questions regarding social behaviors and peer
status. Social behaviors are measured by having teachers answer questions that ask to rate the
children on how frequently they demonstrate a certain behavior. Peer status was calculated by
having the teacher nominate students who were most liked and least liked by their peers.

Together they provide adequate information to place each child in the most appropriate
sociometric status. It is a valid research tool because it will ensure that we are measuring
sociometric status which we plan to use to answer the question of who we are studying. This
instrument is appropriate for our research study because it allows us to answer this question in
a manner that will not influence how the child behaves on the playground (Yvonne 2015).
Because we wish to look at prosocial behavior and empathy as well, we will also have
the 5th graders fill out 2 more questionnaires. One is called the Basic Empathy Scale (BES)
which uses a Likert scale to assess self-perceived empathy. The other questionnaire is the
Prosocial Behavior Scale (PBS) which assesses prosocial behavior, using a Likert scale. This is
an important instrument in our study because empathy is considered an integral part of
prosocial behavior. Both of these questionnaires have been used in many studies and have
been proven to be both reliable and valid, in that empathy and prosocial behavior, respectively,
are both being addressed (Abiero, et al. 2009).
Another instrument that we will use is a combination of coding and rating scales. It is
appropriate to combine these two as we observe the participants because some items we wish
to observe can be collected more accurately by one scale over the other. The combination
creates better reliability because the selected observations are clearly labeled. This will reduce
researcher bias because observers will be trained on what behaviors they are to watch and how
to record what they witness. Making sure all trained observers think and see alike will maintain
reliability. Validity can then be achieved because occasional regroups help fine tune the coding
and rating scales, as needed, to assure that we are operationalizing what we wish to study.
Procedure
Observer Training: Before beginning the study, in order to ensure inter-rater reliability,
there will be observer training. Training will begin with defining empathy, prosocial behavior,
and sociometric status, all of which will be measured by questionnaire and coded by
researchers, and explaining and discussing the behaviors that will be included in our coding

system. We will then have several test runs, in which the observers will each code and rate
what they observe. We will compare notes afterward and discuss and make changes, if
necessary, until we are all on the same level of understanding. Throughout our month of
observation, we will meet half way through, or as a need arises, to discuss and re-train
observers in order to avoid observer-drift.
Permission and Preparation: We want to do this explanatory and descriptive study at a
school that has already explained and implemented the buddy bench program to their students.
There are three such schools in Utah, as mentioned above. Because there are so few, we will
conduct our study in each school at the same time. As we are particularly interested in fifth
graders, we will be observing all fifth graders during their recess times. We will make our
research goals known to the school and will get permission for participation from all fifth grade
students, their parents, their teachers and pertinent staff.
After we have received the necessary permissions, we will distribute sociometric status
questionnaires to all fifth grade teachers. They will have two weeks to fill them out, for their
students who are participating, and return them to us, along with a class list with pictures printed
on it. Also, the two questionnaires measuring prosocial behavior and empathy will be handed
out to the fifth graders who gave their consent to be a part of the study. They will fill them out in
their regular class time and immediately return them to the researchers. In addition, during
these two weeks, name tags will be produced for all fifth graders who have agreed to be a part
of our study. We will use the name tags and class lists to aid us in deciphering which
sociometric status, according to the questionnaires, each child that we observe at the bench is
assigned. Also during this time, observers will begin standing out on the playground near the
area of observation so the children will be more used to seeing them on the playground. We will
do this in an effort to protect against reactivity.
Study: When all questionnaires are returned, we will begin our study. One observer will
be observing children on and at the buddy bench at each of the three schools during all fifth

grade recesses for 1 month. In addition, in order to boost our efforts of reliability, every fifth
observation session will employ a second observer. The data that is collected in those sessions
will be analyzed to assess the extent of similarity between observers understanding of
behaviors observed. We will observe all recesses to account for different times of the day.
Because there is potential for a change in the perception of friendship relationships from the
beginning of the school year to the end, we will observe for one month during the fall, near the
beginning of the school year, and one month in the spring, closer to the end of the school year.
This will account for both seasonal factors and influences, and progression of the school year.
We will be looking at name tags, (to determine that they are indeed in fifth grade and to
reference sociometric status), sex of the child, the way in which a child approaches a child
sitting on the bench, and if and how the child on the bench leaves with the child who
approaches them. We will also note how many times a specific child sits on the buddy bench
and/or approaches a child sitting on the bench. We will keep track of these things using a
coding system. As we collect data, we will chart our findings daily, making summary of data
easier at the end of our observation.
Statistical Analysis
The data that we will be gathering is quantitative. The scores on the questionnaires,
numbers of males and females who use the bench, and ratings and codings from our
observations can all be numbered. We will use descriptive statistics to lay out our data, in
order to determine if the buddy bench is associated with empathy. Our data will consist mainly
of univariate variables because our observations focus on one variable at a time. We can chart
frequency distribution to show how many children of each sociometric status group sat on the
bench, and how many times children in each sociometric status group approached a child on
the bench. The best measure of central tendency for our study will be mode because it allows
us to see, in another way, which children used the bench the most. The mode will tell us if girls
or boys use it more, as well as which sociometric status group used the bench the most. This

will be helpful to determine how the bench is being used by students. The best measure of
dispersion for our study will be range and it will be used to measure how long interactions at the
bench took place, as well as the range of empathy ratings of the children who approach the
bench. We can also determine the mean and the standard deviation, which will help us to define
a confidence level.
Strengths and Limitations
One key aspect of our study is the group of subjects that we are observing. Because we
are employing event sampling, only observing the fifth graders who approach the buddy bench,
there are a few residual limitations. First, we recognize that our data cannot be generalized to a
larger population. Second, we will not observe the same amount of fifth graders consistently
over the period of our study, and there is potential for several different students to be observed.
Students get sick throughout the year and they have medical appointments during the school
day and thus our study will experience experimental mortality because of these events in the
participants lives. However, the length of our study should ensure that the students who may
miss recess occasionally will still have a chance to participate in our observations. We
recognize that we can only include the children who go outside for recess, or those who are in
attendance during the month that we are conducting our study. We expect that those who do
approach the buddy bench, however, will be students that are most relevant to our study, as we
are looking at prosocial behavior and sociometric status.
Another limitation is that, despite our study being conducted in both the fall and the
spring, we may not see the bench being used during our study period. For example, some
students may need a friend at the beginning of the school year and use the bench to gain a
friend, thus they may not need to use the bench as often at the end of the school year, though
friendships may not be static and have potential to change often. Another possibility is that
some fifth graders may lose or forget to wear their buttons. If they are not wearing a button and
are outside during the specified fifth grade recess, then they will be assumed as a fifth grader

and will be included in the study. Likewise, if they are not wearing their button during a mixed
grade recess, they will not be considered a fifth grader in our study. There will be extra buttons
to give out when we become aware of lost buttons.
Regarding strengths, because of the naturalistic observations we are making, getting the
same amount of subjects and results will vary from observation to observation. However, we
still consider these naturalistic observations to be ideal, as we are able to observe children in
their natural school recess setting. Another strength, as a result of the type of study we are
doing, is that an in-person observation will allow for greater peripheral vision of what is occurring
on the playground, more than what can be seen through a camera len. Thus we can take
narrative notes of other observations that may be applicable to our study. Also, by doing it in
person we do not have to worry about obtaining permission to use a camera at the school.
Through the data that we collect from our descriptive observational research study about
the buddy bench, we expect that some questions can be answered in the future with regard to
the success of the buddy bench in doing what it claims to do, which is provide opportunities for
peers to include others on the playground. As future studies continue to build upon this study, it
will increase reliability and validity and could further help to justify the monetary cost of
implementing a bench, as well as providing a reliable and valid option of peer-support
intervention to address school issues such as bullying and peer-exclusion.

Ethical Considerations
A few ethical considerations must be addressed before approaching observations on the
buddy bench. It is important for researchers to get consent from the schools that we are
collecting data from to observe the students. Researchers should also inform parents of the
events that will be taking place at the school. It is also necessary for names (if being used) to be
changed for confidentiality purposes. Reason being, it can be an invasion of privacy if any of
these ethical considerations are violated.

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