Initial Survey Design
Develop an initial survey based on a topic of interest in your personal or professional life.
Introduction
A wide range of professions use and analyze survey results. You will evaluate a survey related to your own topic of interest in later assessments; in the process, you will learn to apply different statistical methods and to critically evaluate statistical results.
By successfully completing this assessment, you will demonstrate your proficiency in the course competencies through the following assessment scoring guide criteria.
- Competency 2: Evaluate the adequacy of data collection methods.
- Identify potential variables to include in data gathering related to a survey topic.
- Explain why a specific population is appropriate for a study.
- Competency 3: Solve problems in your personal and professional life by applying statistical procedures.
- Define a study topic in relation to its importance in one’s personal or professional life.
Use the Initial Survey Design Template [DOC] to complete the assessment. This assessment is the first step in the process of designing a survey that you will evaluate in this course.
Before rushing out to collect data, it is important to clearly define what you are trying to accomplish and what you are trying to answer. This assessment provides an opportunity for you to demonstrate your ability to define your goals and begin to formulate a data collection strategy to meet those goals.
Identify a topic of interest in your personal or professional life. Explain your reasons for selecting the topic and your thoughts about the study design.
In addition, state the variables you will be considering in this study. The variables should correspond to the type of information you wish to obtain in the survey. Finally, think about the population of interest for this survey. The population is the general group of individuals to which the survey is aimed.
As you fill out the template, keep in mind that surveys are usually done to answer some sort of question. This topic could be something based on your professional activities or your personal interests. In other words, you get to make the subject of the statistical study something to which you can relate.
Make sure you address each of the five questions in detail in the template:
- Describe the topic of your survey.
- Explain why the topic is important. (How might the results of the study be used in your personal or professional life?)
- Identify and describe the potential variables to be included in the data-gathering and describe why they are appropriate.
- Define the population to be studied.
- Explain why this is the best population for your study compared to other potential populations.
