Polls and Surveys – Day One

September 23, 2016

Prepared by: Jami Williams, Mexico High School, Mexico, Missouri

TARGET
Students will understand the basic methods of creating objective polls and surveys.

EDUCATION METHODS

  1. PowerPoint Presentation
  2. Control/Hypothesis Experiment

OBJECTIVES

  1. Level 1 (Basic) understand the proper way to write questions without bias
  2. Level 2 (Basic) understand methods of analyzing results

MATERIALS NEEDED

  1. Polls and Surveys PowerPoint Day 1
  2. Access to SurveyMonkey
  3. Teacher should be acquainted with SurveyMonkey to instruct students on creating a simple survey.

VERIFICATION

Steps to check for student understanding

  1. Teacher will do frequent comprehension checks in the form of Classroom Assessment Techniques (thumbs up, thumbs down; exit slip in the form of post-it note summary).
  2. This module will include a heavy amount of independent work and research. The teacher will act as a facilitator but will also benefit from research and contribution to the assets list that will be created throughout this unit for future use.

FLOW OF LESSON

  1. Suggested bell ringer: Explain the difference between a poll and a survey.
  2. Teacher will present the PowerPoint.
  3. Teacher will introduce students to SurveyMonkey and the process of creating a survey.
  4. Students will be divided into two groups. A topic that is relative to all students at the school will be selected. Each group will be assigned the task of writing a survey.
  5. Group number one will write the survey with questions that are intentionally “loaded” or written with the intent to utilize the social desirability factor as well as the theory of priming.
  6. Group number two will write the survey questions correctly in an objective manner.
  7. Each group will send the survey out in a convenience manner – using the school email; Group 1 will send to seniors and freshmen; Group 2 will send to sophomores and juniors.
  8. Teacher should consider this a teachable moment discussion opportunity for the subject of objectivity in reporting.
  9. Students will not receive the aggregated data until the next day.

WRAPPING IT UP

  1. Exit slip: Do you believe that social desirability and priming will affect the results of your survey? Why or why not?