Mason Perkins
Survey Question
SOCL 345
September 29, 2023
In research surveys, there are certain practices that should be followed to increase the number of responses, in turn giving the researchers more data to work with. First, questions should be clear and to the point; if the wording is confusing, subjects may be less likely to answer the question. The questions should also be worded in such a way that it is an appropriate reading level for the audience. In many cases, an eighth grade reading level is standard. The survey should stay relevant to the topic it is on and should be concise. Researchers should also avoid asking questions with the word “not” or questions that ask two separate things at once. Survey questions should remain unbiased and avoid sensitive topics. Lastly, all questions should be answered voluntarily by participants, and there must be a contingency question asking if the subject gives their consent to participate at the beginning of the survey. The purpose of this research is to gauge how involved families are with one another. This will be done through “family fun time activities” that are meant to engage the members of the family with each other. After the activity is completed, at least one parent will fill out the survey provided.
The survey question that will operationalize the dependent variable, family involvement, is as follows: “How involved did you feel with your family during this activity?”. This question is meant to ascertain the family’s overall enjoyment of the activity and how close they felt to their child or other family during the duration of it. This question is on a Likert scale, ranging from 0 to 10, 0 being “not involved at all” and 10 being “very involved”. For the independent variable, “family funtime activities”, the question that will operationalize it is “What is your highest level of completed education?”. This ties into the study because the families who are going to receive these activities have their children enrolled in Head Start, a daycare program for families who are at or under the poverty line. Income can often be associated with the level of education, so this question is important in understanding the subjects. It can also help gauge how involved impoverished families are with their children, since many parents in programs such as these work multiple jobs and often find themselves too busy to engage with the family.
These questions are well-written, since they follow all the rules previously mentioned; they are easy to understand, unbiased, and avoid sensitive topics, such as directly asking about income. Respondents will be most likely to answer the questions since they are not negative or confusing. Subjects will also be able to choose whether they answer certain questions and choose whether they will participate in the survey at all. Along with the other questions on the survey, the researchers will be able to determine how these funtime activities impact family involvement of those involved in Head Start.