Creating Community

Unit Task IDC 4U/4O

Page 1 of 6

Social Trends Survey

Culminating Task This task addresses the following overall expectations:
TF4 demonstrate the skills and strategies used to develop leadership and mentorship products and activities. PMR1 be able to plan for research, using a variety of strategies and technologies; PMR2 be able to access appropriate resources, using a variety of research strategies and technologies; PMR3 be able to process information, using a variety of research strategies and technologies; PMR4 be able to assess and extend their research skills to present their findings and solve problems. IEIC1 implement and communicate information about leadership and mentorship, using a variety of methods and strategies; IEIC3 analyse and describe the impact on society of interdisciplinary approaches ( leadership and mentorship) and solutions to real-life situations;

Task Description
You will design a survey to collect and analyze information about social trends within our grade nine population. Sample issues include: Peer pressure Time management Smoking Diet Drinking Exercise Drug use Appearance Sex Influence of the media Social networking Communication (e.g. texting)

Task Rationale
The primary purpose of this assignment is to discover a social trend within our population of grade 9s and to use this information to: Better communicate existing social assistance programs Develop and/or contribute to existing school-based and/or community social assistance programs Develop Link activities (e.g. information assemblies, health fairs, guest speakers, etc.) for the grade 9s

Instructions
1. Design a survey with a minimum of 5 questions. Be sure to follow the guidelines for designing a good survey (attached). 2. Submit the survey to your teacher for evaluation. DO NOT pass out surveys to students until you have gained approval from the teacher. 3. Survey the grade nine students. Obtain your survey results. 4. Analyze your data. Using tables and graphs, determine reasonable relationships between data sets. Your final report should include graphs that illustrate the relationship between variables to determine trends in the grade 9 population.

Creating Community
Unit Task IDC 4U/4O

Page 2 of 6

5. Research your survey topic using appropriate sources of information (e.g. books, journals, articles, interviews, approved internet web sites). Find at least three sources of information that substantiate the relationships you determined by analyzing your survey results. For example, suppose you found a connection between the number of girls who buy Cosmopolitan magazine every week and the number of girls who are very unhappy with their body image. Find at least three sources of information that confirm the connection between media and body image. 6. Your report should have the following format: Length page Content A brief discussion of: The question you are asking Why you are asking the question The social significance of your topic A blank copy of your survey Tables of information that summarize the survey results Graphs that illustrate relationships between variables A research-substantiated discussion of: The results of your survey, specifically: - What do they mean? - How are the results socially significant? - What are the social forces behind the trend you discovered? - What is the strength of the relationships between the variables you compared? Any bias in the execution or results of the survey e.g. measurement bias, response bias How the survey could have been changed to acquire more useful information (e.g. different questions, respondents, measurements, variables, etc.) Application of results / Future planning How will you use this information in our school? What are your next steps in terms of: - Improving communication of existing social programs - Developing a new social program - Creating a Link activity Use multiple, varied, appropriate and reliable sources Use an appropriate and consistent style of referencing, in-text and bibliographic

Introduction / Background Information Survey Results

Variable

Discussion of Survey Results

2 pages

References

page

Creating Community
Unit Task IDC 4U/4O

Page 3 of 6

Designing a Survey
Purpose / Question
Think carefully about the purpose of your study. Formulate a question what exactly do you want to find out? The question must be as specific as possible. Suppose we wanted to know how much Canadian teenagers spend every week on average on leisure activities. Things to think about Which teenagers? Those of all ages? Genders? Nationalities? Social groups? Economic groups? Etc. etc. etc Which activities? Sports? Movies? Music? Etc. etc. etc

Writing Good Survey Questions

Adapted from: http://www.irss.unc.edu/irss/bwiggins/shortcourses/designingquestions.pdf A good question is one that: 1. Is consistently understood (and does not need clarification from the researcher). 2. Indicates clearly what kind of answer is desired. 3. Can be answered with the knowledge the respondent has (unless the purpose of the question is to measure knowledge). 4. Respondents are willing to answer. Developing Good Questions 1. Start with the research objectives. What is the research question? What kind of information is needed to answer the research question? 2. Avoid ambiguous words; define key terms if you think they will be misunderstood. 3. Minimize the pressure on the respondent to give an inaccurate (or lengthy) answer to a question. Bad: Did you vote in the last election? Better: Sometimes things come up that keep people from voting in a particular election. Did you happen to vote in the election last November? 4. If possible, ask about first-hand experiences. Avoid asking questions about which people do not have informed answers. 5. Ask one question at a time. 6. Avoid asking two questions at once. E.g. Would you like to be rich and famous? 7. Do not write questions that include an opinion or make assumptions. E.g. Do you agree or disagree: Given the amount of crime these days, it makes sense not to walk alone at night. 8. A question should end with the question itself. If there are response options, they should constitute the final part of the question. Bad: Would you say you are very likely, fairly likely, or not likely to move out of this house in the next year?

Creating Community
Unit Task IDC 4U/4O

Page 4 of 6

Better: In the coming year, how likely are you to move to another home? Would you say you are very likely, fairly likely, or not likely? Even better: Which of the following categories best describes how likely you think you are to move in the next year: very likely, fairly likely, or not likely? 9. Clearly communicate to all respondents the kind of answer that constitutes an adequate answer to the question. Bad question: When did you move to Chapel Hill? Possible answers: When I was twenty. Right after I graduated from college. In 1992. Better question: In what year did you move to Chapel Hill? Also, specify the number of responses if more than one answer is possible (e.g. Include the phrase: check all that apply). 10. Design the survey to make the tasks of reading questions, following instructions, and recording answers as easy as possible for respondents and interviewers. Question flow, instructions, and formatting are important. Evaluating Survey Questions 1. Are the words easily understandable? 2. Is the question vague? Bad: How many older people live in your neighborhood? Better: How many people over age 65 live on this block? 3. Are the answer categories too vague? Bad: How often did you play tennis during the past year? Response Categories: never, rarely, occasionally, regularly Better: How often did you play tennis during the past year? Response Categories: not at all, a few times, about once a month, about two or three times a month, about once a week, more than once a week 4. Is the question too precise? Bad: How many books did you read last year? _______ Better: How many books did you read last year? Response Categories: none, 1-10, 11-25, 26-50, more than 50 5. Is the question biased? a. By suggesting how the respondent should answer? Bad: More people have attended the movie, Gone with the Wind, than any other motion picture produced this century. Have you seen this movie? yes/no Better: Have you ever seen the movie Gone With the Wind? b. By using emotionally loaded terms? (e.g. Positively loaded terms include honesty, justice, private enterprise, equality, freedom. Negatively loaded terms include bureaucrats, socialist, boss, government planning)

Creating Community
Unit Task IDC 4U/4O

Page 5 of 6

6. Is the question objectionable or too personal? Example: What was your family income last year? Example: Have you ever smoked marijuana? The use of broad categories can sometimes overcome the feeling that a question is too personal. Instead of asking for directly incriminating information, it sometimes suffices to ask how people feel about people who engage in that behaviour or to build up to asking for the incriminating information with a series of questions. A good way to judge these questions is to ask yourself whether you would have responded honestly or not. 7. Is the question too demanding? Example: Please rank the following 25 government programs from most to least important Example: What percentage of your monthly income is spent on house payments or rent? 8. Does the question use double negatives? Example: Do you agree or disagree: We should not reduce government funding to schools. 9. Are the answer categories mutually exclusive? Example: Did you first hear about the bombing: from a friend or relative, at work, from your spouse, over television or radio, from a newspaper? Note: A person could have heard about the bombing over the radio at work and would be unsure how to respond. 10. Does the question assume too much knowledge? Example: Do you agree or disagree with the governments stand on same-sex marriage? 11. Is an appropriate time referent provided? Bad: How many cups of coffee do you drink? Better: How many cups of coffee do you drink? -- a day? a week? Bias Watch Out! Bias: A preference or an inclination, especially one that inhibits impartial judgment. When you choose your respondents, make sure your sample is a representative cross section of the group of people you are interested in. Three Types of Bias 1. Selection Bias: Occurs when the sample of respondents excludes one kind of person. (Note: Sometimes, you exclude groups of people because their responses will not contribute relevant data to your study. This is not selection bias.) 2. Response Bias: Occurs when there is a high level of non-responses. When a survey is poorly designed or the respondents feel uncomfortable about answering the questions, there may be a high level of non-response. In this case, the data you obtain will be biased (in favour of people who were comfortable responding, or towards people who answered the questions without really understanding what they were asking.) 3. Measurement Bias: Occurs when the response may change depending on the way that it is acquired from the respondent (e.g. anonymously, verbally, in writing, etc.). Consider how honest your respondents will be about sensitive subjects (e.g. sex, drug use, etc.).

Creating Community
Unit Task IDC 4U/4O

Page 6 of 6
Look Fors Research Skills

MARKING RUBRIC FOR SOCIAL TRENDS SURVEY

Overall Expectations
THINKING AND INQUIRY
PMR1 be able to plan for research, using a variety of strategies and technologies; PMR2 be able to access appropriate resources, using a variety of research strategies and technologies; PMR3 be able to process information, using a variety of research strategies and technologies.

Level 4
Student accesses 5+ sources of information that are appropriate and reliable; research expertly supports students responses Student applies multiple statistical data analysis tools to reveal trends (e.g. regression, interpolation, extrapolation); Identifies potential bias in collection method and survey results and indicates impact of bias Thoroughly and accurately discusses multiple reasons behind indicated trends; discussion is strongly supported by research Leaders responses display logical and insightful organization of ideas; no additional clarification is required; few or no spelling and/or grammar errors are present Student uses school and external resources to come up with a definitive plan of action to assist grade 9 student population

Level 3
Student accesses 4 sources of information that are appropriate and reliable; research supports students responses Student correctly analyses data to reveal trends; Identifies potential bias in collection method and survey results

Level 2
Student accesses 3 sources of information that are appropriate and reliable; research loosely supports students responses Student performs basic analysis of data to identify simple trends; struggles to correctly identify areas of bias

Level 1
Student accesses 1-2 sources of information that are appropriate and reliable; research does not support students responses Student identifies a simple trend; no discussion of bias

R
Survey does not meet expectation at a passing level

Validity of Data Analysis Method; Bias

Survey does not meet expectation at a passing level

Reasons Behind the Trends

Discusses multiple reasons behind indicated trends; discussion is supported by research Leaders responses are organized but not necessarily insightful; minimal clarification is required; few or no spelling and/or grammar errors are present Student makes several suggestions to assist the grade 9 population with multiple concrete examples

Reasoning is basic but lacks detail; loosely supported by research

Reasoning is superficial and not supported by research

Survey does not meet expectation at a passing level

COMMUNICATION
IEIC1 implement and communicate information about leadership and mentorship, using a variety of methods and strategies.

Clarity of responses

Leaders responses are not consistently and/or clearly organized; clarification is required frequently; some spelling and/or grammar errors are present Student suggests a method of assisting grade 9 population with one concrete example

APPLICATION
TF4 demonstrate the skills and strategies used to develop leadership and mentorship products and activities. PMR4 be able to assess and extend their research skills to present their findings and solve problems. IEIC3 analyse and describe the impact on society of interdisciplinary approaches (leadership and mentorship) and solutions to real-life situations.

Next Steps

Leaders responses are superficial and disorganized; much clarification is needed; grammar and/or spelling errors detract from communication of information Student suggests a method of assisting grade 9 population without providing concrete examples

Leader does not meet expectations at a passing level

Survey does not meet expectation at a passing level