One of the most difficult tasks of surveying is phrasing questions so that they are not misunderstood. In addition, questions must be phrased so that the researcher obtains answers that allow for meaningful analysis. We wish to create a questionnaire that can be used to make an informed decision about what college to attend. In addition, we want to develop a plan for determining how well a particular college educates its students.
1. Using the school you are currently attending, determine a sampling plan to obtain a random sample of 20 students.
2. Develop a questionnaire that can be administered to the students. The questions in the survey should obtain demographic information about the student (age, gender) as well as questions that pertain to why they chose the school. Also, develop questions that address the students’ satisfaction with their school choice. Finally, develop questions that relate to things you consider important in a college environment. Administer the survey either by paper or use an online survey program such as Poll Monkey, Google, or StatCrunch.
3. Summarize your findings. Based on your findings, would you choose the school for yourself?
4. A second gauge in determining college choice is how well the school educates its students. Certainly, some schools have higher-caliber students as incoming freshmen than others, but you do not want academic ability upon entering the school to factor in your decision. Rather, you want to measure how much the college has increased its students’ skill set. Design an experiment that would allow you to measure the response variable “increase in academic skill set” for a particular college. Provide detail for controls in obtaining this information.