Your methods seem fairly well planned out. I would say maybe the First Run Idea is a bit too much. I think it will be hard to get data there that is not tainted in some way. I think almost every student there is inibriated. But it is an intresting idea. Maybe you could perch out at one of the intrences to Shriver Center. A lot of people have to have close contact with people at the doors there.
I think that with your current hypothesis, your data when interpretted will answer your Hypotheses. You are definetly onto the right track with a very intresting subject area. I think that with experience throughout the semester you will probably change some of your questions on your survey to better fit your needs. I don't really have any good suggestions, I just feel that you will change a few things. It is the natural scientific process!
This topic is definetly appropriate! Smiling plays an extremely important role in not only mate selection but also in many social situations as well. If an individual does not have the ability to smile well, or to not look really make then he or she may struggle socially. Your study will be very intresting in the interactions between the opposite sex. Maybe you could try to find how same sex meetings cause different smiles?
THis is definetly theoretically grounded. Smiling is definetly from our deep ancient past. Facial expressions came way before language, so they have been studied extensively. They are important to our evolution and our langiage that exists today. Also, smiling and other facial expressions are almost universal in meaning, so somhow it appears that we all learned them from one common source.
This is definetly related to the course. No question. It deals with our nature in social situations in which we almost sub-conciously act.
THis is also interdisiplanary. It could be applied to psycology, education, and natural science fields. Smiling is a good demonstrater of a person is feeling and what mood they are in. This ties to education and psycology. Also, when observed in the wild primates, it is a social interaction as well.
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