10.06 Surveys
State whether the following questions are biased or not biased:
Do you want a soup or a sandwich for lunch?
What do you do on a Sunday morning?
Do you like these shoes?
Which of these two shirts do you prefer?
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?
Do you prefer to read newspapers or watch the news on television?
Do you take these extra strength multi-vitamins to supplement your diet?
Do you prefer the full time degree program or part time degree program?
Should the government enforce a minimum drinking age for its citizens?
Do you eat at least the recommended number of servings of fruits and vegetables to ensure a healthy and long life?
Do you think bike helmets should be mandatory for all bike riders?
Do you prefer the natural beauty of hardwood floors in your home?
Do you exercise regularly?
Don't you think this newspaper is biased?
Do you prefer the look and feel of thick lush carpeting in your living room?
State whether each of the following biased questions are leading or emotive:
Do you want a nutritious risotto for lunch or the usual sandwich?
Do you watch TV on a Sunday morning like everyone else?
I don’t like these shirts. Do you?
Do you prefer this rad shirt or the ordinary one on the shelves at the moment?
Bill is interviewing people about how water pollution is affecting sharks. Explain whether the following questions should be used to avoid bias:
Sharks nets strangle 213 sharks a year. Do you think shark nets are a bad idea?
Shark nets are installed on 50 beaches in NSW. Do you support shark nets?
Sharks kill 8 people a year. Do you think shark nets are a good idea?
Shark nets cost \$100\,000 a year and barely help. Do you support shark nets?
Explain why the following questions are inappropriate for a survey:
How many large electronic devices are in your home?
Many people have worked incredibly hard and even died making this bridge. Do you like it?
Mario is interviewing students to find out how often they read. Explain whether the following questions would be appropriate questions to ask:
Do you prefer to read or watch TV?
Is English your favourite subject?
How many books have you read this year?
Do you prefer fiction or non fiction books?
Explain whether the results of the following surverys are likely to be biased or not:
Rosey is asking people on her soccer team "What's your favourite sport?"
James randomly selected people from his school to find about the school sports. He asked "What's your favourite school sport?"
Gwen randomly selected people from her school and asked "The local AFL team is donating money to our school this term. What's your favourite sport?"
The motor authority wants to design a new advertising campaign targeting speeding among young drivers. To help make an effective ad, they want to ask a sample of young drivers to answer some questions in a survey. Explain whether the following questions are biased or not:
How old are you?
Do you pay attention to speed signs?
What is a safe speed?
Neil is interviewing people outside of a train station. Will the following questions most likely produce biased results? If so, explain your answer.
Should the government spend more money on public transport?
Should the train seats face the same direction as the train?
Should Australia become a republic?
Skye wants to gather information about how many people have had a dog as a pet. State whether the following questions will help her find this information:
Do you prefer Dalmatians or Labradors?
How many dogs have you owned?
Have you ever seen a dog before?
Do you have a pet?
A sleep survey is completed by a group of 42 students where they indicate the number of hours they sleep. The results were summarised in the following table:
| Number of sleeping hours | <6 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | >9 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number of students | 4 | 7 | 12 | 9 | 4 | 6 |
Explain whether the following statements would describe the results of the survey:
The majority of people sleep for exactly 7 hours.
No one sleeps for less than 5 hours.
A survey asks the following two questions with the answers shown in the tables:
Question 1: Do you prefer reading, watching TV or gaming?
| Reading | Watching TV | Gaming | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Results | 23 | 21 | 35 |
Question 2: Do you prefer studying, cleaning or exercising?
| Studying | Cleaning | Exercising | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Results | 12 | 8 | 59 |
Determine whether the following statements describe the results of the survey:
Students would rather exercise than clean.
Most students would rather be exercising than gaming.
Students exercise around seven times more than they clean.
Most students don't like watching TV.
A director wants to see what a small group of people think of their film. The audience is asked to give the film a star rating between 0 and 5. The results are shown in the given graph:
The median and mean are both 2.5 and the mode is 0.
Determine whether the following could be the conclusion that the director can make from the results:
The median was 2.5 so most people thought the movie was ok.
The mode was 0 so everyone disliked this film.
People were very divided by the movie.
The mean was 2.5 so most people thought the movie was ok.