2. Theory According to Em Griffin- A set of systematic, informed hunches about the way things work. Theories function to explain and predict unusual events, and they are applied constantly in our day to day life.
4. Men’s public restroom urination predictability theory When using a public restroom, men are often presented with many options in terms of which urinal they will use. Despite the abundance of options, men tend to pick specific urinals for every state of occupancy the restroom is experiencing.
5. If men selected urinals randomly, we would expect to find each urinal used roughly the same amount of times in a given day. However this is not the case! Urinal # 5 was by far the most popular, The second most popular urinal was urinal # 1
7. 0 Occupants Using the restroom is a private matter and it can be said that men generally like their privacy respected, especially in the restroom. That said, upon entering an empty restroom, men significantly tend to use the urinal farthest from the door. I term this the door rule. This is likely due to the wall protecting a man’s privacy from the right side, while at the same time maintaining as much distance from the door as possible.
8. 1 Occupant Well, upon entering a public restroom with 1 other person present, the situation completely changes. The door rule no longer applies, instead, men place as many possible stalls between himself and the other male. This I term the male space rule.
9. 2 Occupants When a man enters a public restroom and there are 2 other occupants already present, the man generally uses urinal #3. This is again an application of the male space rule maximizing privacy by keeping a 1 urinal buffer between himself and the other men.
10. 3 Occupants When a man enters a public restroom with 3 other occupants present, the 1 urinal buffer option is no longer available. He thus falls back onto the door rule, in which he selects urinal # 4, optimizing all potential privacy.
11. This theory all began at Arizona Stadium during a Wildcats football game. I went to use the restroom and was surprised to see they had installed automatic sensors to flush the urinals, and even better, each urinal was equipped with a flush counter, giving a readout of the number of times it had been flushed. Interested, I checked out all the counters on the urinals and was surprised at how much they varied.
13. So I had an unusual event that needed explaining. Why did urinal #5 flush nearly twice as much as urinals #2 and #4? All the urinals were completely equal in quality so what led to the differences? From here I began thinking of my own preferences, noting which urinals I used and considering why I made the decision. After much contemplation and field studies in public restrooms across the county, I finalized the theory.
14. The theory revolves around the idea that men’s restrooms are private areas, and that men using these facilities try to maximize the privacy they have. With that in mind, the theory unfolds, door rule taking form. I recall numerous occasions in badly designed bar restrooms in which I, forced to take the urinal closest to the door, had to make awkward eye contact with everyone in the bar every time the door swung open. From experiences such as these, I think men tend to shy away from urinal # 1 and instead when presented with an empty bathroom, head for the far urinal.
15. The next step was figuring out what most men do when there is another man present. For this step I just put myself in the restroom patrons shoes. You couldn’t just go take the stall right next to the other male. It would be an unnecessary breech of privacy. Instead, I make claim that most men would pick the urinal farthest from the current patron. The idea of a personal bubble is common in our society.
16. Scientific Standard 1: Explanation of Data Men’s public restroom urination predictability theory is a product of data. The theory was born from the flush counters on automatic urinals. The unusual event was the amount of variance in flushes between the different toilettes. The theory looks to explain how those numbers came to be.
17. Scientific Standard 2:Prediction of Future Events Men’s public restroom urination predictability theory predicts future behavior very accurately. Since it is a data based theory, it can be applied to predict future events. The flush counters provide the number of times each urinal has been flushed in the past and that data can be used to gleam insight into future usage. The theory allows one to know with good certainty which urinal someone is going to use, thus predicting that event.
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20. Scientific Standard 5: Practical Utility The theory can be applied to every occasion one finds themselves at a public restroom. In looking to abide by the social normal you would apply the men’s public restroom urination predictability theory. A lot of men do this naturally, subconsciously, but for those that don’t, application of the theory would help avoid awkward social moments. With practical utility in mind, I have 3 real life examples of when this theory could be applied.
21. Kyle Saunders works at a local restaurant which performs regular maintenance checks on all bathroom utilities. However, the men’s urinal farthest away from the door is constantly broken. If Kyle Saunders applied the men’s public restroom urination predictability theory at his restaurant, he would recommend to management that they perform the maintenance checks more frequently on those urinals which are used more. These preventative measures save companies a lot of money, and on a large scale, can really impact a companies bottom line.
22. Although there are only 4 urinals in the restaurant Kyle works, the theory still applies. The rules are not dependent on the number of urinals. The men’s public restroom urination predictability theory would say that the farthest urinal from the door should receive the most regular maintenance checks, followed by the 1st urinal.
23. This theory could help Kyle predict culpability. In the case of water leaking all over the restroom floor, which urinal would most likely be the culprit. Increased usage results in increased wear and tear, and applying the men’s public restroom urination predictability theory could save valuable time in repair jobs where the leak source is unidentified.
24. Frank Quill Frank Quill is a family acquaintance who suffers from Asperger's syndrome. This syndrome effects social behavior and Frank has trouble staying within the social norms. This theory could be applied to his life as a logical rule set which would help him avoid many awkward situations. The Men’s public restroom urination predictability theory serves all men who currently find their urinal selection out of the norm, and by applying it to his life, Frank would be able to enjoy maximum privacy in public restrooms.
25. Frank’s odd social behavior could get him into trouble in the real world. Particular to this would be the male space rule. If Frank entered the restroom to find one other male at the farthest urinal, using the urinal directly adjacent to the other male could give the wrong intentions, as well as being dangerous. Men react differently when their personal space is violated, and it can be assumed that some react violently.
26. The final real life example is taken from a field study at the Leucadian, a local bar. Kyle Saunders found himself heading to the restroom and was presented with an empty bathroom yet was preoccupied and chose out of the social norm. Kyle chose the urinal closest to the door. What consequences would this have? Due to poor bathroom design, whoever uses the closest urinal to the door is left standing behind a waist high barrier looking at the entire bar every time the door swings open. A side note would be the inclination humans have at glancing up every time a door opens. Getting eye contact from 40 strangers as you urinate is very unsettling.
27. Learning from the process of developing my theory, I realized that the rules in my theory; door rule and male space rule, can be applied to many different facets of human communication. Whether your deciding where to sit in a bar, or picking a seat at the movie theater, a spot to set up a romantic picnic, or where you lay your towel down at the beach. The fundamentals don’t really change. When presented with options, people tend to pick those that offer the most privacy.
28. Through the developing of my theory I also realized how theories can spread to bigger ideas. I found my theory constantly evolving and being tweaked until it fit the unusual event perfectly. As well, through the process of developing my theory I gained insight into completely different theories. For instance, in the development process, stemming off from my theory, I theorized that all decisions, even those as generally subconscious such as urinal selection, have motive behind them. There is a reason one makes decisions, even if not thought through. And that led my to the idea that the human brain rationalizes every decision we make.
29. It was interesting moving from the beginning of the project to the end. I spent a lot of time initially trying to think of a theory and found myself having a lot of trouble with it. After the project, I have theories spilling out of my ears. Just in going through the process of development, I found myself branching out and seeing potential theories everywhere.
30. Works Cited Griffin, E. (2008). A first look at communication theory. McGraw-Hill HumanitiesSocialSciencesLanguages
