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Writing Surveys

It’s not as easy as you think!. Writing Surveys. Purpose of surveys. To get information from your targeted sample population To prove or disprove your 3 hypotheses To introduce you to the concept of “real” social research. General guidelines to survey writing.

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Writing Surveys

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  1. It’s not as easy as you think! Writing Surveys

  2. Purpose of surveys • To get information from your targeted sample population • To prove or disprove your 3 hypotheses • To introduce you to the concept of “real” social research

  3. General guidelines to survey writing • Start your survey with the easy questions • Keep your survey short (preferably no more than 1 page single side) • Make sure your questions are clear/ will not be misinterpreted • Do NOT ask open ended questions! • Ask a colleague to “test-drive” your survey before distributing it

  4. Writing the questions • Use the following guidelines to help you decide if a question should be included in your survey: • Is the question necessary/useful? • Is the question specific enough? • Do your survey participants have enough information to answer the question? • Is the question biased in the way it is worded? • Will your survey participants answer the question honestly?

  5. Formatting the questions • Your questions should be structured in one of the following ways: • Yes/No or True/False • Ranking order of importance • Continuum of agreement (strongly dis/agree) • Multiple-choice/circle the answer • Basically, you want to make sure you provide the answers to the questions and all they have to do is choose the one that applies to them

  6. Need some concrete examples? Remember the hypotheses from the last powerpoint? • The more frequent a student’s use of ANY illegal substance, the lower their G.P. A. will be. • Students that are currently enrolled in at least 2 AP classes will use marijuana less frequently than those students enrolled in less than 2 AP classes. • Students’ that use cocaine, ecstasy (MDMA) or acid at least once a month will have an average grade point that is 1 point lower than the average GPA of students’ who have never tried cocaine, ecstasy (MDMA) or acid

  7. Would these be good questions to include in your survey? • What’s your GPA? • Are you in any AP classes? • Do you do drugs? • What drugs have you tried? • How often do you use drugs? • Would YOU answer these questions honestly on a survey?

  8. How could these be improved? • What’s your GPA? • Specify overall/cumulative vs. current • Give ranges (2.0-2.5, 2.6-3.0, etc.) • Are you in any AP classes? • Ask how many AP classes they’re currently enrolled in, provide options to circle You need to ask about drug experimentation in order to prove one of your hypotheses- ASK CAREFULLY!

  9. The tricky hypothesis • Students’ that use cocaine, ecstasy (MDMA) or acid at least once a month will have an average grade point that is 1 point lower than the average GPA of students’ who have never tried cocaine, ecstasy (MDMA) or acid • What kind of questions need to be asked to get the information you need?

  10. Final Reminders • Start with the easy questions (grade, gender, GPA) • Only ask what is NECESSARY • Ask questions that are objective/not biased • Don’t give participants the opportunity for free-response • Make sure you’re getting the data you need to answer ALL of your hypotheses!

  11. A few details… • You need to survey at least 100 SCHS students • Do NOT survey classes already taken by other groups • Have someone in class take your survey to make sure it’s clear what you are asking • Make arrangements with the teachers that are convenient for THEM • Keep your survey as brief as possible • Give finalized survey to your teacher for copies at least 1 day before you intend to give them out

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