Overview

Students look at survey questions and decide what is good or bad about them. They then think of some general rules for writing survey questions.

Objective

Students will understand the basics of developing survey questions and write some general rules for writing survey questions.

Standards Addressed

Mathematics — Data Analysis

Grade 5

Data Collection, Benchmark E

04. Determine appropriate data to be collected to answer questions posed by students or teacher, collect and display data, and clearly communicate findings.

 

Procedure

1. Divide students into five groups.

2. Distribute the student handouts, Asking Good Survey Questions and Surveys: Asking the Questions, and ask the class to write answers for the first four questions.

Answers:

1. The word “family” is not defined and is open to many interpretations.

2. You are giving one of the choices a better chance of being selected because you’ve made the other seem less desirable.

3. The question “leads” the person to the answer you want.

4. The word “forbidden” is much stronger than the word “allow.” People tend to not want to “forbid” something.

3. Assign one section of the fifth question to each of the groups. Each group will arrive at a group opinion and present their answer to the class.

4. Ask students to think of rules that they should follow when writing survey questions. Make a master list of rules, which might include the following:

Make sure all of the words in the question are defined.

Don’t use emotionally charged words.

Make sure the question will generate the type of answers that you need.

Don’t ask questions that you think people will answer in a way to please the questioner.

Try not to ask personal questions. People will hesitate to answer them or may not answer them at all.

Don’t put your own value judgment into the question.

5. Ask each group to select a topic of interest to them and write two survey questions about the same topic — one that is biased in some way and one that they think is good. Ask your first question to about 20 people and record the results. Now ask your second question to about 20 different people and record the results.

6. Write one paragraph that tells about the results of your responses to these two questions.

Evaluation

Rubric for Paragraph on One-Question Survey

Category	4	3	2	1
Focus on Topic (Content)	There was one clear, well-focused topic. Main idea stood out and was supported by detailed information.	Main idea was clear but the supporting information was general.	Main idea was somewhat clear but there was a need for more supporting information.	The main idea was not clear. There was a seemingly random collection of information.
Support for Topic (Content)	Relevant, telling, quality details gave the reader important information that went beyond the obvious or predictable.	Supporting details and information were relevant, but one key issue or portion of the storyline was unsupported.	Supporting details and information were relevant, but several key issues or portions of the storyline were unsupported.	Supporting details and information were typically unclear or are not related to the topic.
Conclusion (Organization)	The conclusion was strong and left the reader with a feeling that they understood what the writer intends.	The conclusion was recognizable and tied up almost all the loose ends.	The conclusion ws recognizable but left several loose ends.	There was no clear conclusion; the paper just ended.