Singh 1

Trisha Singh
Introduction to Sociology
Dr. Hoffman
24 July 2017
Sociology Research Paper
1) Hypothesis:
a) Topic:
i) Gender and color
b) Define the Problem:
i) Younger men tend to be more violent and have increased levels of
aggressiveness because they are not yet fully developed, in terms of mental
ability. Young males develop more slowly than females because their prefrontal
cortex is a bit immature. Also, young males are prone to be violent because they
are around the age of puberty in the teen years, so they try to act more macho
and what American society considers to be more masculine. This may even
lead to them having a preference for darker colors, which are shades 75% darker
than the original neutral (50%) color. For an example, young male teens might
pick dark colors such as black, navy blue, or black, whereas older males past
their twenties will pick more lighter colors and neutral shades, such as pink,
light blues, greens, etc.
c) Review the Literature (text):
i) Gender socialization
ii) The self
(1) looking -glass self
(2) Self-fulfilling prophecies
iii) Generalized other
d) Identify the Variables (Independent and Dependent):
i) Independent variables
(1) Different colors (color preferences or choose from certain colors)
(2) Certain object (colored card) that is presented
(3) Questions asked
 Singh 2

ii) Dependent variables

(1) Participants preference of color
e) State the Hypothesis:
i) Males over 20 years will be two times more likely to pick darker colors than
males over 20 when offered different shades of neutrals, darker colors, and
lighter colors.
2) Research method: experiment
a) Make a set of random colors, and then make 5 sets in total.
i) 50% shades: neutral; 75% shades: dark; 25% shades: light
(1) Can obtain color cards from home supplies store (ex: Home Depot),
where you can pick the color (50% neutral), and the darker shade of the
original color will be a larger percentage (75%) and the lighter shade will
be have a small percentage (25%) of the original color.
ii) In each set, there will be 3 corresponding colors (neutral, dark, and light), and
there will be 5 sets in total.
b) When approaching the individual, offer the sets to them to pick their favorite color from
each set.
i) Be sure to show one set at a time!
(1) Also, remember to ask each individual the exact same thing, otherwise
asking them a different phrase while questioning them will potentially
lead to a wrong answer.
ii) Ask the individual for age to put the data into the correct table.
c) After collecting the data, record the percentages of each individual based on how
frequently picked the darker colors compared to the neutral or light colors.
i) Record the average percentage for each individual in a data table.
(1) One data table is for males below 20, and one data table will be for males
above 20.
3) Data Collection:
a) My experience with collecting the data went very well. Before actually going out in
public to conduct the experiment, I had actually practiced this with a few of my male
friends beforehand to know what to say and how to approach someone. Initially in my
 Singh 3

procedure I was going to compile data with the percentages of all shades of color
(including neutral, dark, and light), but I decided to just use the dark color
percentages because my hypothesis specifically addressed the concerns of darker colors
in relation to neutral and light shades. After conducting the experiment itself, I realized
that there could have been a potential problem because of my appearance. When I
approached the individuals while conducting my experiment, I was wearing a black
shirt. I feel like my black shirt couldve caused people to pick a darker color. So, if I
could do the experiment differently, I would do a second trial while wearing a white
shirt to see if the color of the shirt Im wearing does have any significant impact on
what shades the individuals will pick (and compare it with this first trial).

4) Analysis:
a) Data Table of 10 American males below the age of 20 years and their average
percentages of the darker colors being chosen (based on all 5 sets of colors).

Participant # Average % of dark colors

chosen from all 5 sets

Participant #1 7%

Participant #2 33%

Participant #3 22%

Participant #4 57%

Participant #5 35%

Participant #6 14%

Participant #7 22%

Participant #8 26%

Participant #9 42%

Participant #10 39%

 Singh 4

b) Data Table of 10 American males over the age of 20 years and their average
percentages of the darker color being chosen (based on all 5 sets of colors).

Participant # Average % of dark colors

chosen from all 5 sets

Participant #1 13%

Participant #2 8%

Participant #3 17%

Participant #4 23%

Participant #5 6%

Participant #6 14%

Participant #7 7%

Participant #8 9%

Participant #9 35%

Participant #10 12%

c) At first glance, it does seem that the males over 20 actually did pick the darker color
less, because their average percent of them choosing the dark color was very small
(which means that the other larger percent went to the preference of lighter colors or
neutrals). However, there were a few outliers. For an example, there was a male under
20 who barely chose a dark color, since they had only 7%! On the other hand, a male
over 20 had a whooping average of 35% preference for darker colors! On top of that,
the percentages for the males over 20 were quite varied. I wanted to see if the total
averages of the males over 20 and males below 20 would have a major difference,
somewhere around twice the amount (as I claimed in my hypothesis). After this data
was produced, I calculated that the average male below 20 years had a 29.7%
preference for darker colors, while the average male over 20 years had a 14.4%
preference for darker colors.

5) Conclusion:
 Singh 5

a) The information from Analysis: c) proves that my hypothesis was accurate because I
believed that the males below 20 would have twice as much preference for darker colors
compared to the men over 20, although the actual ratio was 2.1 times more likely. Like I
mentioned before in the data collection, I believe that my appearance couldve caused
more preference for darker colors, so if I could do another refined version of the
experiment, I would like to try to do the exact same thing, except approach the
individuals while wearing a white shirt instead of a black one to see if there is any
correlation between the type of colors I am wearing and the preference for a certain
shade of color.