Research Questions
This is the main question that guides an entire data investigation.
Research question.
What are survey questions used to collect?
Data/evidence
What do we call the entire group we want information about?
Population.
What do we call a problem in how data is collected that unfairly influences the results?
Bias.
47 students respond to a survey. 28 choose âYes.â Which response occurred most often?
Yes.
Which is the stronger research question?
A. Do you think that phones are bad for the brain while studying?
B. Does daily phone use relate to studentsâ ability to concentrate while studying?
B. Does daily phone use relate to studentsâ ability to concentrate while studying?
Research Question:
âDoes social media use relate to concentration while studying?â
Which question is NOT useful?
A. How many hours per day do you use social media?
B. How difficult is it to stay focused while studying?
C. What color is your phone?
C. What color is your phone?
What do we call the smaller group we actually collect data from?
Sample.
What type of problem is in this question?
âWouldnât longer lunch periods make school much better?â
Leading/biased question.
20 out of 25 students say they use their phone before bed. What percentage is that?
80%
Improve this weak research question:
âIs homework stressful?â
âDoes the amount of homework students complete relate to their reported stress level?â
Which question is more neutral?
A. Do you think that students would benefit from having less homework?
B. How satisfied are you with the amount of homework you receive?
A school wants to know how all students feel about homework. Which is the better sample?
A. Students in tutoring
B. Random students from different grades
B. Random students from different grades
A gaming survey asks only members of the gaming club. Why might the results be biased?
The sample includes mostly students who already enjoy gaming.
Group A averages 8.5 hours of sleep. Group B averages 5.8 hours. Which group sleeps closer to 7 hours?
Group B
In this research question, identify the two variables:
âDoes sleep duration relate to studentsâ morning energy?â
Sleep duration and morning energy.
Rewrite this biased question:
âHow terrible is the school cafeteria food?â
âHow satisfied are you with the school cafeteria food?â
A survey about school sports only asks members of school teams. What group is missing?
Students who do not participate in sports.
A principal asks students immediately after a very popular school event whether they enjoy school events. What could be wrong with this?
The timing may influence the responses.
Students who sleep more generally report higher energy levels. Which is the better conclusion?
A. Sleeping more definitely causes higher energy.
B. The data suggests a relationship between sleep and energy.
B. The data suggests a relationship between sleep and energy.
Create a measurable, neutral research question about gaming and sleep.
"Does the amount of time students spend gaming relate to how many hours they sleep on school nights?"
Research Question:
âDoes breakfast relate to morning energy?â
Give two survey questions that could help answer it.
1. How many school days per week do you eat breakfast?
2. On a scale from 1â5, how energetic do you feel during your first two classes?
Improve this sampling plan:
âI want to know how students feel about school lunch, so I will ask 20 of my friends.â
Randomly selecting students from different grades, including students who do and do not buy school lunch.
Find TWO problems:
A school wants to know whether students like school events. They ask only Student Council members and ask, âHow much did you enjoy our amazing school event?â
1. Biased sample
2. Leading question
A survey shows that students who spend more time studying usually have higher test scores. However, one student studied 5 hours and still received a low score. What should a good data analyst say about this result?
The overall relationship may still be positive, but the unusual result should be investigated.