Survey Design

Designing a survey question for a questionnaire is a key part of a research project in order to collect correct data. When it comes to survey research questions, it is important to be either descriptive, exploratory, or explanatory in order to clearly get the proper data needed for an answer a research question. Based on your research question, you will form questions and statements for your survey. They need to be clear, one question per line, consistent format and uncluttered. My research question is based on the research project I am taking place in, in Farmville, Virginia. A class at Longwood University is creating family fun time activities for two neighboring daycare centers (STEP Head start and Andy Taylor Center) and I want to collect data on how effective these activities were on parent involvement and if race plays a factor in parent involvement. My research question is, what affect does race have on family involvement for the families at Andy Tylor Center and STEP Head Start? I will put together a survey with both close and open-ended questions that will go home with the children for their parents to fill out. In my survey, I will need a question that operationalize my dependent variable, which is parent involvement. The question that I will ask is; on a scale from 0-10, how involved did you feel during the competition of the family fun activity? (0 being not at all, 5 being somewhat, and 10 being fully involved). The parents will then circle the number that best fits how they felt involved. My next question for my dependent variable is; on a scale from 0-10, how much did your family enjoy the family fun activity? Again, 0 being not at all, 5 being somewhat, and 10 being greatly. I am also going to need a survey question that operationalize my independent variable which is race. The question that I will ask on my survey is, what is your race/ethnicity? (Please circle all that apply). I will list Latino/Hispanic, Non-Latino White, Asian, Pacific Islander, Native American, Middle Eastern, and Multiracial. My survey question are well written questions because they are clear and have a consistent format that is simple to answer. I will also make sure to put my demographic question about race at the end of the survey because in order to have a well-put together survey, the demographic questions are at the end of the survey.