2.4 Creating Questions 2.5 Avoiding Bias

Example 1 a) Create an open survey question on pirates. What are the three things you like the most about pirates? b) Create 4 closed survey questions about pirates? Information: What is your favourite gender of pirate? Checklist : Which characteristics do most pirates have? (Check all that apply) o Awesome Hats o Cool Animal Sidekicks o Memorable names o A love of mathematics Ranking : Rank these three pirates from 1 – 3 with 1 being the best. ___ Boris the Pirate ____ Jack Sparrow ___ Blackbeard Rating : Rate these three pirates from 1 – 5 (1=crap, 5 = awesome) ___ Boris the Pirate ____ Jack Sparrow ___ Blackbeard

Example 2 You hand out your pirate survey to 100 random grade 12 girls. You offer a prize of $5 to anyone who rates Boris the best. Identify 3 different types of bias. Students must complete the survey and return it to the math office between 5:30 and 5:31 pm. Non – response bias: Students may not want to return the survey 2 hours after the school, may not know where the math office is, etc. Sample bias: unless your studying the opinions of 17 and 18 year old girls then the sample does not represent the population very well. Response bias: by offering a prize to anyone who rates Boris the best you are skewing the results of your survey. There is a 4 th type of bias listed in the textbook called household bias. This is a specific type of sample bias. We will not use it in this course. EVER !!