Primatologists, as the name implies, deal with the study of primates, also known
Primatologists, as the name implies, deal with the study of primates, also known as, ourselves, and our closest living relatives. The main method they use comes in the form of observation. A primatologist will go out and closely observe the species they are studying, similar to cultural anthropologists who use ethnography, primatologists use these same ideas when looking at the subjects they are observing. They will try to keep themselves hidden so that they may not influence the behavior of the primates they are studying. They jot there notes down in their journal or diary and analyze their notes after a days work. These notes can be filled with information pertaining to what their subjects were eating, how many of the group were present for a specific activity, how the group is structured, lineage, etc,. In this Final Observation Paper, each of you will take on that role of Primatologist within the scopes of the primates you choose to observe. Remember there is a 3 primate MINIMUM, meaning you can do more than 3 if you so wish.
You will watch one video for this class titled “Jane Goodall: Among the Wild Chimpanzees,” which you can use for your paper later. The video itself is a narration of not only Jane Goodall’s discoveries in Gombe, but of the chimpanzees she studied. This video also counts as a lab for the class and is worth 10 points. When writing your notes for this activity make sure you are paying attention to the actions and behaviors of the chimpanzees, as the narrator can sometimes focus solely on Jane Goodall, and for the parameters of this exercise she does NOT MATTER.
When it comes to your Final Observation Paper there is indeed a format it must follow, the Scientific Method. So when writing your paper you will incorporate Headings and Subheadings following the order of the scientific method. You will include:
Hypothesis/Introduction
Where students will “predict” or “guess” what will happen in the videos they will watch. For example, “For my observation, I think that primates will not do much and will simply just lay about on the ground.”
Methods
Tell us what videos you watched, what they were about, what websites you used, how you looked for and found these videos
Usually you would be able to go to the Zoo, however, that is obviously not an option anymore
Observations
Primate #1
Primate #2
Primate #3
Conclusions
Was you hypothesis correct? Were all primates you observed doing nothing and laying around? What would you do differently next time? Would you change which primates you observed next time? How would your methods change next time? Were the primates you observed similar in any behavioral way?
Bibliography/Work Cited
Citations for all the movies, videos, and clips you used
Each section is important to your paper and must be labeled accordingly.
Your Hypothesis section can include more than one hypothesis. Some students will include one hypothesis for every primate they observe and adjust each hypothesis for each particular species they are observing. However, remember that you have to also include a conclusion for each hypothesis you create at the end.
There are multiple ways you can go about writing your paper in terms of content. Students in the past have angled their paper towards their majors (i.e., a student who was majoring in Child Development did her paper on child-rearing in primate societies and focused her videos and observation on that particular subject). You can be as narrowed down as you want OR you can be as general as you want. It is really up to you.
The generalized format for this paper is for it to be at least 10-pages in length, double spaced, 1″ margins, 12-point font with Times New Roman font style.
You could also include pictures into your paper, however, they must correspond and belong to the video you are watching (screen-shotting scenes during your video is a good approach for this). The picture however must only fill 1/4 (one-quarter) of the page or less and cannot be any bigger.