HSP3M - Summative: Social Issue Research Report and Survey
Purpose:
The students will choose a current social issue that stimulates a variety of public opinion and debate. They will do some background research on this topic so that they know about the history of the topic and the various viewpoints and attitudes that people have towards it. You will also be discussing your viewpoint on the topic and what you want to find out with a sample survey. The student will then create a survey to take to a certain segment(s) of the Ottawa public in order to gauge public opinion about the issue. The research information and analysis of the survey results will be presented to the teacher in a written report and presented orally to the class by means of a 10 - 15 minute presentation complete with a Powerpoint/Open Office projection or a 3 panel display.
How to Begin:
Choose a topic and do some preliminary research to see if you can find enough background information. Also, make a judgment about whether there is a range of public opinion about some aspect of this topic. Does this topic have an issue related to it? If you are having difficulties, try reading a few current newspapers and magazines, you will find a lot of social issues stories to give you inspiration. Check with your teacher and sign up for your topic idea before you get too far with your research.
Stage 1: Topic Proposal
The student will do some initial research and type a one-page topic proposal for the teacher to prove that they have started their summative and have found enough sources to educate themselves about various sides of their topic. They will also be able to express their viewpoints and what they would like to find out using a survey. (see detailed description & checklist evaluation)
Headings:
· Title: Describes the Topic Beautifully
· Overview of the Topic – Relevant Background Information: 1 Paragraph
· Personal Opinions About the Topic: 1 Paragraph
· Survey Ideas - What you want to find out? target group? why? Sample questions.
1 Paragraph
Due:
Stage 2: The Survey
The student will write a one-page survey and hand it in to the teacher in order to get it marked and eventually get copies made so that the survey can be given to the target audience. (see detailed description & rubric evaluation)
Due:
Stage 3: The Report
The student will type a report that will contain background information about the topic, personal opinions about the topic, rationale for the survey (what you want to find out and why) and survey target audience, the survey results and analysis, conclusions, and future possibilities. (see detailed description & checklist style evaluation)
Due:
Stage 4: The Oral Presentation/Seminar
The student will create a 10 - 15 minute seminar presentation with the aid of a Powerpoint/Open Office Presentation or 3-Panel Display Board to explain their topic, opinions and survey to the class. (see detailed description & rubric evaluation)
Due:
Some Topic Ideas:
Alcohol Abuse / Drug Abuse
Young Offenders
Welfare System
School – An Agent of Socialization
Urban Land Use Planning: City Hall and Developers
Spending of Municipal Property Taxes in Ottawa
Potential Reform of a Law (voting age, drinking age, driving age etc.)
Same Sex Marriage
Waste & Packaging
Gas Prices and Car Usage
Public Transit in Ottawa
Prison Reform
Human Genetics
Canadian Immigration Policy
TV and Violence
Video Games and Violence
Source of Consumer Goods
Food Choices – Food Imports, Organic Food Revolution
The Influence of the Media
Aids
Schizophrenia
Heredity / Environment (Nature/Nurture)
Changing Nature of Families
Changing Nature of Work
Conformity
Peer Pressure
Isolation / Ostracism
Workplace Alienation
Discrimination (Racial, Gender, Age, Socioeconomic)
Suicide
Crime / Prisons / Policing
Elder Abuse
Child Abuse
Domestic Violence
Gang Violence
Poverty
The Working Poor
Healthcare
Depression
Eating Disorders
The Homeless
Tips on How to Design a Survey:
Remember the techniques that we talked about and used in our Class Survey Design Project. Page 11 in your Social World Textbook gives you good advice about creating a sample survey.
Survey Design Tips
Writing great questions is an art that like all arts requires a great amount of work, practice, and help from others. The following discussion is one that identifies some of the common pitfalls in survey design and helps in creating a great survey.
Avoid loaded or leading words or questions
Slight wording changes can produce great differences in results. Could, Should, Might all sound almost the same, but may produce a 20% difference in agreement to a question (The supreme court could.. should.. might.. have forced the breakup of Microsoft Corporation). Strong words that represent control or action, such as prohibit produces similar results (Do you believe that congress should prohibit insurance companies from raising rates?) Sometimes wording is just biased: You wouldn't want to go to Rudolpho's Restaurant for the company's annual party would you?
Misplaced questions
Questions placed out of order or out of context should be avoided. In general, a funnel approach is advised. Broad and general questions at the beginning of the questionnaire as a warm-up. Then more specific questions, followed by more general easy to answer questions like demographics.
Mutually non-exclusive response categories
Multiple choice response categories should be mutually exclusive so that clear choices can be made. Non-exclusive answers frustrate the respondent and make interpretation difficult at best.
Nonspecific questions
Do you like orange juice? This is very unclear...do I like what? Taste, texture, nutritional content, Vitamin C, the current price, concentrate, fresh squeezed? Be specific in what you want to know about. Do you watch TV regularly? (what is regularly?).
Confusing or unfamiliar words
Asking about caloric content, bits, bytes, mbs, and other industry specific jargon and acronyms are confusing. Make sure your audience understands your language level, terminology and above all, what you are asking.
Non-directed questions give respondents excessive latitude
What suggestions do you have for improving tomato juice? The question is about taste, but the respondent may offer suggestions about texture, the type of can or bottle, mixing juices, or something related to use as a mixer or in recipes.
Forcing answers
Respondents may not want, or may not be able to provide the information requested. Privacy is an important issue to most people. Questions about income, occupation, finances, family life, personal hygiene and beliefs (personal, political, religious) can be too intrusive and rejected by the respondent.
Non-exhaustive listings
Do you have all of the options covered? If you are unsure, conduct a pretest using the "Other (please specify) ______" option. Then revise the question making sure that you cover at least 90% of the respondent answers.
Unbalanced listings
Unbalanced scales may be appropriate for some situations and biased in others. When measuring alcohol consumption patterns, One study used a quantity scale that made the heavy drinker appear in the middle of the scale with the polar ends reflecting no consumption and an impossible amount to consume. However, we expect all hospitals to offer good care and may use a scale of excellent, very good, good, fair. We do not expect poor care.
Double barreled questions
What is the fastest and most convenient Internet service for you? The fastest is certainly not the most economical. Two questions should be asked.
Dichotomous questions
Make sure answers are independent. For example the question "Do you think basketball players as being independent agents or as employees of their team?" Some believe that yes, they are both.
Long questions
Multiple choice questions are the longest and most complex. Free text answers are the shortest and easiest to answer. When you Increase the length of questions and surveys, you decrease the chance of receiving a completed response.
Questions on future intentions.
Yogi Berra once said that making predictions is difficult, especially when they are about the future. Predictions are rarely accurate more than a few weeks or in some case months ahead.
Stage 1: Topic Proposal Description
Your Topic Proposal is how you and your teacher find out whether your topic has potential and merits further investigation.
· Begin with a good title, then follow with a short introductory description of your topic and a clear research statement. The research statement should be easy to find in your proposal because it will be labeled, in “quotes” and in bold font.
· You need 1 paragraph (minimum) of background information to show that you have done some reading about your topic and relate it to Canadian society and one or more of the three social sciences (Anthropology, Psychology and Sociology).
· By now we know what you want to investigate. It is now time to see what your personal opinions (experiences, viewpoints, biases) are about the topic and what your hypothesis is/are before you do in-depth research, find statistics and complete your survey. Take 1 paragraph (minimum) to explain these things.
· What is your survey going to focus on? What do you want to find out? Why is it important? Who is your target group for the survey? How are you going to access this target group, How big will your sample size be? List a few sample questions. All of this will take 1 paragraph (minimum) and a list of questions to complete.
Stage 1: Topic Proposal Evaluation
Descriptive Title /2
Topic of Study & “Research Statement” (What do you specifically want to investigate?) /3
1 paragraph (min.) of Background Information & Links to Social Sciences /5
1 paragraph (min.) Personal Opinions & Hypothesis (Predictions - Survey/Research) /5
1 paragraph of Survey Focus Ideas (What, Why, Target Group, Sample Questions) /5
2 pages maximum, 12 font, typed /2
Spelling & Grammar /3
______
TOTAL /25
Stage 2: The Survey Description
There are many things to think about when it comes to your survey. Here are a few:
· The main focus of your survey needs to match up with your Research Statement (What do you specifically want to investigate?)
· You need to be very specific when choosing your target audience(s) and remember that a typical minimum sample size is about 30-40 surveys. Some people will want to compare two or more target audiences and this can double or triple the number of surveys you need.
· The survey should have a short introduction (invitation message) to explain your general topic and what you want to do with the results (HSP3M summative project). Further explanation and methods will have to be employed for surveys that ask for feedback from minors or deal with confidential or “touchy” information. Check with your teacher if you are uncertain.
Stage 2: The Survey Rubric Evaluation Name: ______
CATEGORY / 4 / 3 / 2 / 1Invitation message / Clear, crisply written invitation message that has no errors of any type and is pretty much ready to use with, at most, only a tweak or two. / Invitation message exhibits the basic qualities sought but has some combination of flaws in clarity, tone, content, or grammar, punctuation, or mechanics. / Invitation message has serious defects in any of the qualities mentioned in the first two columns. / The invitation message is missing.
Visual appeal / Format and layout of the online survey look professional -- with a clean, minimalist aesthetic so that the visual aspect impresses without distracting. / Format and layout have some minor defects that detract the exigent eye -- such as alignment flaws, font formatting inconsistencies, etc. / Format and layout exhibit one major defect that would be a showstopper: Seeing it in a real-world survey, I would be tempted to abandon the survey-taking effort because I would lack respect for the designer of the survey. / The format and layout are a definite minus: the look is too loud, garish, snazzy, busy, etc. -- or just crude and amateurish looking
Quantity of Questions / There are 10 + questions. / There are only 8 questions. / There are only 6 questions. / There are less than 5 questions.
Organization & sequencing / Organization and sequencing create a clear, coherent dialogue with respondent that encourages completion of the questionnaire. / Organization and sequencing are pretty good but one or two parts are less than clear, questionably logical, or dubiously coherent. / Organization and sequencing are not good and contain some obvious defects in clarity, logic, or coherence. / Organization and sequencing are poor.
Wording of questions / All questions are precise and clear; all pitfalls of question formation have been avoided; the questions are as simple as they can be given the objectives of the survey. / At most, 15% of the questions have wording defects, but all the major pitfalls have been avoided, such as loaded questions, double-barreled questions, etc. / Between 15% and 25% of the questions have defects in precision or clarity and one or more may be a loaded or a double-barreled question. / More than 25% of the questions have defects in precision or clarity and one or more may be a loaded or a double-barreled question.
Aptness of question types & mix / The choice of question type is apt in every case and the overall mix of types is logical and adds to readers' engagement. / At most, 15% of the question types are not the best choice for the purpose and the overall mix of types is lacking in some type(s). / At most, 25% of the question types are not the best choice for the purpose and the overall mix of types is lacking in some type(s). / More than 25% of the question types are not the best choice for the purpose and the overall mix of types is lacking in some type(s).
Overall effectiveness of questions / The overall effectiveness of the questions for the audience and purpose is rated excellent to superior. / The overall effectiveness of the questions for the audience and purpose is rated good to very good. / The overall effectiveness of the questions for the audience and purpose is rated fair. / The overall effectiveness of the questions for the audience and purpose is rated poor.
FINAL LEVEL - Converted to: /10
Stage 3: The Report Description
The written report will have a few sections. Pay attention and make sure you include each section and component in your report. Make sure all of your paragraphs have headings in bold font.