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5.03 Bias in questioning

Worksheet
Survey questions
1

State whether the following questions are biased or fair:

a

Do you want a soup for lunch or a sandwich?

b

What do you do on a Sunday morning?

c

Do you like these shoes?

d

Do you prefer this shirt or the one on the shelves at the moment?

e

Do you think the government should be allowed to cut down some of the oldest trees in the area to construct a metro railway line in the city?

f

Do you prefer newspapers or news on television?

g

Do you prefer the full time degree program or part time degree program?

h

Should the government enforce a minimum drinking age for its citizens?

i

Do you eat at least the recommended number of servings of fruits and vegetables to ensure a healthy and long life?

j

Do you think bike helmets should be mandatory for all bike riders?

k

Do you prefer the natural beauty of hardwood floors in your home?

l

Do you exercise regularly?

m

Do you feel that the TV news is an inaccurate portrayal of life’s problems?

n

Don't you think this newspaper is biased?

o

Do you prefer the look and feel of thick lush carpeting in your living room?

p

Do you take these extra strength multi-vitamins to supplement your diet?

2

State whether each of the following biased questions are leading or emotive:

a

Do you want a nutritious risotto for lunch or the usual sandwich?

b

Do you watch TV on a Sunday morning like everyone else?

c

I don’t like these shirts. Do you?

d

Do you prefer this rad shirt or the ordinary one on the shelves at the moment?

3

State whether the following questions are closed or open.

a

Are you a girl?

b

Comment on the quality of the service.

c

How old are you?

d

Describe any improvements that can be made.

e

Rate the quality of the service on a scale from 1 - 10.

f

Rate the speed of the service as Poor, Satisfactory, Good or Excellent.

g

Describe your most memorable experience.

4

A survey of adult residents in the City of Stirling council were asked the following question: “How happy are you with the services provided by the City of Stirling?”

They were then asked to tick one of the following options: "Very happy" or "Very unhappy"

a

Select the type of measurement error this represents from the following three options:

  • The scale provided is inadequate.

  • This is an assumption based question.

  • Poor and/or leading question wording.

b

State whether the following would be a better way to collect results for this question:

i

Ask people from around Australia.

ii

Improve the scale for response.

iii

Ask questions about particular services.

5

Adults attending a local cinema were asked the following question: “How many times did you see a movie at this cinema last year?”

Determine whether the following statements explain why this question is poor:

a

The people being surveyed need more information.

b

Relies too heavily on respondent memory.

c

Poor and/or leading question wording.

6

A survey to assess Australian parents' attitudes towards private schools was conducted. Parents with young children enrolled at Pebbles Daycare centres around Australia were surveyed and asked the following question: “Which is better? Private schools or public schools?”

Identify some possible sampling errors with this survey.

7

Identify the type(s) of measurement error for each of the following scenarios from the three listed options:

  • This is an assumption based question.

  • The scale provided is inadequate.

  • Poor and/or leading question wording.

a

A survey of a large random sample with participants from all over Australia was taken and the following question asked: "Do you think the government is doing enough to stop the increase in violent crime on our streets?"

b

A survey of a large random sample with participants from all over Australia was taken and the following question asked: “Do you regularly recycle all your waste paper and plastic?”

8

In order to determine the most common non-English language spoken in Melbourne, adults and children at a football game were asked: “Other than English, what language do you speak at home?”

a

Explain why this situation represents a sampling error.

b

Explain why this question also represents a measurement error.

9

Explain why the following questions may result in response bias:

a

Do you not like to play basketball?

b

How much do you weigh?

c

Would you prefer this healthy apple or would you like this high-sugar junk food?

10

Explain why the following questions may result in non-response and hence biased survey results:

a

Asking an Australian teenager if they like Joe Biden's foreign policy platform.

b

Asking someone for their name, address and phone number in a survey.

c

Asking someone if they mind answering a survey of 35 questions.

d

Asking people to review a restaurant on a piece of paper and then post their review by mail to the head office.

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Outcomes

3.4.7

investigate questionnaire design principles; for example, simple language, unambiguous questions, consideration of number of choices, issues of privacy and ethics, freedom from bias

3.4.8

describe the faults in the collection of data process

3.4.9

describe sources of error in surveys; for example, sampling error and measurement error

3.4.10

describe possible misrepresentation of the results of a survey due to the unreliability of generalising the survey findings to the entire population, for example, because of limited sample size or chance variation between samples

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