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Hints and Techniques
A good questionnaire should:
- Find out the truth.
- Be easy to analyse.
Find Out the Truth
Avoid Bias
A biased question encourages you to answer in a certain way.
'Should we remain with our friends in the Common Market?' is
biased.
'Do you agree that no sane person wishes to remain bound to
the Common Market?' is biased the other way.
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a |
Which words make the two Common
Market questions biased? |
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b |
Which of these three questions
has the least bias?
'In our free country we should be allowed to smoke on
buses. (Agree/Disagree)'
'The foul habit of smoking should be banned in buses.
(Agree/Disagree)'
'Smoking should not be allowed on buses.
(Agree/Disagree)' |
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c |
Write three questions to find
whether people prefer to watch soccer or rugby. One
should be unbiased, the other two biased in different
ways. |
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d |
Write three questions to find
out what your friends think of their mathematics lessons.
One question should be unbiased, the other two biased in
favour and against mathematics. |
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e |
Write three questions, two
biased and one unbiased, to find out what your friends
think about school uniform. |
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f |
Write three questions, two
biased and one unbiased, to find out whether people
prefer ITV or BBC television. |
Be Simple and Clear
A simple and clear question is easy to understand, and is more
likely to be answered.
'Do you agree that it is the responsibility of all qualified
adults to exercise their democratic right at the ballot box in
general elections?' is neither simple nor clear.
'People should vote at general elections. (Agree/ Disagree/
Don't know)' is clear.
It is sometimes clearer to change a question to a statement
and ask if people agree or disagree.
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g |
Make the question simpler and
clearer. 'What is the metric distance between the soles
of your feet and the top of your head? |
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h |
Change this question to a simple
clear statement.
'Do you think that inhaling the toxic fumes of burning
cigarettes is liable to be unhealthy?' |
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i |
Make this question simpler.
'Do you think it is right to assess pupils at the end of
each academic year by submitting them to a formal
examination procedure?' |
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j |
Simplify this question.
'What is your opinion of the practice of some local
authorities in allowing cheap bus fares to children under
the age of 14 and not extending it to pupils of all ages
who attend school full-time?' |
Be Precise
A precise question shows the type of answer wanted. 'Height?'
is not precise. It could be in centimetres or inches. It does not
say how accurately to measure. 'Your height without shoes in
centimetres' is precise.
| k |
Make the following questions
more precise.
Age?
Weight?
How much television do you watch?
How big is your classroom?
How much maths homework do you do? |
Easy to Analyse
When we put our results in a table, we are ANALYSING the
results. It is often easier to do this if we list alternative
answers. These can sometimes be:
Yes / No / Don't know or Agree / Disagree / Don't know
Sometimes we need more possibilities such as:
Disagree strongly / Disagree / Don't know / Agree / Agree
strongly
Here are some different types of alternative answer:
Age in years: 10 1 1 12 13 Other please specify
Height to nearest cm:
120-129 130-139 140-149 150-159 160-169 Other
List alternative answers for the following. The first
has been done for you.
Include a 'Don't know' or 'Other' in case you have forgotten
something.
| a |
Seat belts should be worn whilst
driving.
(Disagree/Don't know/Agree) |
| b |
Smoking can damage your health. |
| c |
I like vanilla ice-cream. |
| d |
I prefer soccer to rugby. |
| e |
Time I arrived at school this
morning. |
| f |
Colour of my hair. |
| g |
A nurse is more important than a
disc jockey. |
| h |
I usually travel to school by
bus. |
| i |
Amount of pocket money I get
each week. |
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