Leading questions
'Don't you agree that Newark schools need more counselors?' — commits what error?
It pushes the respondent toward 'yes' instead of letting them answer freely.
'Have you stopped skipping class?' is famous as this kind of question, where either answer traps you.
A loaded question it assumes something (that you were skipping) that may not be true.
'What would make you feel safer at school?' with a blank text box is this type.
An open-ended question.
'Do you support more funding for counselors and better school buildings?' what's wrong?
It asks two things at once, so a single answer can't be interpreted. (It's a double-barreled question)
K-pop fanbases each have an official name. BTS fans are called this.
The army
Rewrite this to be neutral: How helpful was your amazing school counselor?'
'How would you rate your experience with your school counselor?' drop the praise word 'amazing' and the assumption that it was helpful.
Have you stopped being late to class?" — why is this an unfair question?
That's a loaded question.
Why should a scale offer a neutral or 'not sure' option?
So people without a real opinion aren't forced into a false one, which would distort your data.
Why is 'Do you attend school regularly?' a weak question?
'Regularly' is vague. Different students define it differently. Use a specific measure like 'How many days did you miss last month?'
This country has won the most World Cups, with five titles.
True or false — a good survey question tells you which answer to pick.
False. A good question leaves the answer completely up to the person.
You only survey students in an after-school club, then say "Newark students are very involved." What went wrong?
You only asked involved students. The group you surveyed doesn't match the group you're describing.
True or false — you should use only one type of question in a survey
False. Most good surveys mix closed questions for counting and open questions for detail.
Using terms like 'equity indicator' or 'Strategy plan' without explanation risks this.
Jargon bias respondents guess at the meaning or skip the question, and your data becomes unreliable.
This rapper from Newark won a Grammy as part of the Fugees before going solo.
Lauryn Hill.
Starting a question with 'Wouldn't you say...' or 'Isn't it true that...' almost always creates this.
the answer you want.
Why do you think school lunch is bad?" — what's the problem?
It assumes you already think it's bad. Ask "What do you think about school lunch?" instead.
You ask students to pick their top three concerns from a list of eight. What kind of question is that?
A multiple-response or "select all that apply" question closed, but allowing more than one answer.
A question that makes a respondent look bad if they answer honestly produces this effect.
Social desirability bias — people answer the way they think they're supposed to rather than truthfully. They don't want to be judge or judge themselves
In a right triangle, a² + b² = c².
The Pythagorean theorem.
Why are leading questions a problem for a youth accountability survey specifically?
Because your findings lose credibility. If the district can show your questions pushed people toward an answer, they can dismiss your whole report.
True or false — a loaded question traps you no matter which answer you pick.
True. That's what makes it loaded.
Your survey has 30 open-ended questions. Name one problem this creates.
People will quit before finishing
Your options are "Excellent, Good, Fair, Poor" but there's no "I don't know." What's the risk?
People who genuinely don't know will pick something at random, and that noise gets counted as real opinion.
This Newark uprising in July of this year lasted five days and left 26 people dead, becoming a turning point in the city's history.
1967 / Newark Riots/ Newark Uprising