Ethnography: Traffic Trends Concerning Turn Signals

This Ethnography done by myself and Zach Edens is going to study the correlation between cars and the use of turn signals. The three main aspects of the car that we want to record are:

• Type
• Make
• Color

After getting this data we can easily compare makes with each other to see which ones used their turn signals more or less, and we can do the same comparisons for type and color. After doing these initial measurements, we want to move into a more qualitative look and compare things such as:

• Length of turn signal
• Popularity of make
• Average price of car per make
• Color and its association with personality type
• The use of blinkers when people are alone or surrounded by other cars

That sums up the majority of the study, but we also have some notes that we are considering such as how we want to induct this:

• We are looking into finalizing what qualitative comparisons we want
• We want to put a minimum on the number of cars that are required to enter the study to represent that make.
• We are thinking of doing the tests during the day, afternoon most likely on a weekend.
• In order to best capture the data we are thinking of using some tools such as binoculars and perhaps a video camera.
• With the two of us working on this, we were thinking of using two different viewpoints to help reinforce the data.
• Another thing we are considering is doing the test not only at the exit off 2818 onto University, but perhaps at an intersection with either traffic lights or just stop signs.
• The last thing we wanted to make note of is to include lots of sources to back up our qualitative comparisons, especially since some will be based off of assumptions and such.