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More survey questions Examine each of the following questions for possible bias. If you think the question is biased, indicate how and propose a better question. a) Do you think high school students should be required to wear uniforms? b) Given humanity's great tradition of exploration, do you favor continued funding for space flights?

Short Answer

Expert verified
Rephrase questions to remove implied necessity or historical influence.

Step by step solution

01

Analyze Question (a)

The question asks if high school students should be required to wear uniforms. This question appears to be neutral, as it simply asks for an opinion on a requirement without suggesting any particular benefit or drawback. However, it may imply a policy necessity, which might influence responses.
02

Suggest Improvement for Question (a)

To reduce any possible implication of necessity, the question could be rephrased to be more open-ended: 'What is your opinion on students wearing uniforms in high school?' This variation allows respondents to express their views more freely without the pressure of a requirement.
03

Analyze Question (b)

This question mentions 'humanity's great tradition of exploration,' which may introduce bias by framing space flights in a positive historical context. This could influence respondents to feel more obligated to support space flight funding.
04

Suggest Improvement for Question (b)

To remove bias, the question can be rephrased to: 'Do you think funding for space flights should be continued?' This version avoids any leading historical context, allowing respondents to focus on their own opinions without added influence.

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Key Concepts

These are the key concepts you need to understand to accurately answer the question.

Survey Question Design
Designing survey questions is a delicate process that requires careful consideration to avoid bias. The way a question is structured can heavily influence the way respondents perceive and answer it.
A well-designed survey question should be concise, clear, and neutral, meaning it should not suggest any particular answer or lead the respondent too much in one direction.
When designing questions, it's important to consider:
  • The language and phrasing used, which should be simple and easily understandable.
  • Avoiding technical jargon or complex language that might confuse respondents.
  • Ensuring that questions are not leading or suggestive, intentionally or otherwise.
Proper survey question design helps in gaining genuine and uninfluenced opinions, which is crucial for the validity of survey results.
Reducing Bias in Surveys
Bias in surveys can skew results and misrepresent the actual opinions of respondents. Reducing bias is essential for ensuring that collected data accurately reflects the views of the population being studied.
Several strategies can help minimize bias in surveys:
  • Use neutral language that does not suggest or assume any particular viewpoint.
  • Provide balanced options in multiple-choice questions to cover a range of perspectives.
  • Incorporate open-ended questions where feasible to allow respondents to express opinions in their own words.
By carefully crafting survey materials and being mindful of inadvertent influences, researchers can greatly enhance the quality of their data collection efforts.
Question Rephrasing
Rephrasing survey questions is a practical method to eliminate bias. By adjusting the wording, questions can become more open-ended and less suggestive.
In the given exercise, rephrasing 'Do you think high school students should be required to wear uniforms?' to 'What is your opinion on students wearing uniforms in high school?' removes the implication that uniforms might be necessary.
Similarly, changing 'Do you favor continued funding for space flights given humanity's great tradition of exploration?' to 'Do you think funding for space flights should be continued?' eliminates the positive, historical framing.
Effective rephrasing involves removing any words or phrases that might unintentionally guide a respondent's answer, ensuring the question remains neutral and direct.
Data Collection Integrity
Integrity in data collection is about ensuring that the information gathered accurately represents the population's true opinions and behaviors. It requires a stringent approach to both design and implementation of surveys.
Maintaining data integrity involves:
  • Conducting pre-survey testing to identify and rectify biased questions or confusing phrasing.
  • Training data collectors to ensure consistent and unbiased data collection methods.
  • Implementing checks and balances throughout the data collection process to identify potential errors or biases.
When data integrity is upheld, the results of the survey are more reliable and can be used with greater confidence for decision-making and analysis. By being diligent and proactive in addressing potential issues, the validity and reliability of survey findings are vastly improved.

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Most popular questions from this chapter

\- Playground Some people have been complaining that the children's playground at a municipal park is too small and is in need of repair. Managers of the park decide to survey city residents to see if they believe the playground should be rebuilt. They hand out questionnaires to parents who bring children to the park. Describe possible biases in this sample.

\- Roller coasters An amusement park has opened a new roller coaster. It is so popular that people are waiting for up to 3 hours for a 2 -minute ride. Concerned about how patrons (who paid a large amount to enter the park and ride on the rides) feel about this, they survey every 10 th person on the line for the roller coaster, starting from a randomly selected individual. a) What kind of sample is this? b) What is the sampling frame? c) Is it likely to be representative?

\- Banning ephedra An online poll at a website asked: A nationwide ban of the diet supplement ephedra went into effect recently. The herbal stimulant has been linked to 155 deaths and many more heart attacks and strokes. Ephedra manufacturer NVE Pharmaceuticals, claiming that the FDA lacked proof that ephedra is dangerous if used as directed, was denied a temporary restraining order on the ban yesterday by a federal judge. Do you think that ephedra should continue to be banned nationwide? \(65 \%\) of 17,303 respondents said "yes." Comment on each of the following statements about this poll: a) With a sample size that large, we can be pretty certain we know the true proportion of Americans who think ephedra should be banned. b) The wording of the question is clearly very biased. c) The sampling frame is all Internet users. d) Results of this voluntary response survey can't be reliably generalized to any population of interest.

\- Another mistaken poll Prior to the mayoral election discussed in Exercise \(15,\) the newspaper also conducted a poll. The paper surveyed a random sample of registered voters stratified by political party, age, sex, and area of residence. This poll predicted that Amabo would win the election with \(52 \%\) of the vote. The newspaper was wrong: Amabo lost, getting only \(46 \%\) of the vote. Do you think the newspaper's faulty prediction is more likely to be a result of bias or sampling error? Explain.

Cell phone survey What about drawing a random sample only from cell phone exchanges? Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of such a sampling method compared with surveying randomly generated telephone numbers from non-cell phone exchanges. Do you think these advantages and disadvantages have changed over time? How do you expect they'll change in the future?

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