Year 8: Information, reliability,
validity and bias
Project guidance
Topic Ideas
Is the death penalty a good idea?
Should animal testing be allowed?
Should euthanasia be legalised?
Should people be allowed to create designer babies?
Have aliens ever landed on earth?
Should animal or human cloning be allowed?
Should we grow and eat genetically engineered food?
Should people be allowed to smoke in public places?
Should people wear fur?
Is surrogate motherhood a good idea?
Is single sex schooling a good idea?
Should same sex marriages be allowed?
Should we keep animals in zoos?
Should the school leaving age be raised?
Should fox hunting be allowed
Should students wear school uniform?
Should we try to stop poverty around the World?
Should the use of torture be allowed?
Is global warming happening?
Is the Internet a good thing?
Should students be allowed mobile phones in school?
Is there life after death?
Do ghosts exist?
Should siamese twins be separated?
Should abortion be allowed?
Should children be allowed to use online chatrooms?
Should whale hunting be allowed?
Should the press be allowed to write gossip about famous people?
Do violent computer games encourage violence in children?
Are teenage magazines suitable for teenagers?
Should Britain have gone to war in Iraq?
Should we bring back the cane?
Should parents be allowed to smack children?
Task 1
In your pairs, come up with your hypothesis.
For example, if you were going to look at the death penalty, your hypothesis
might be: “We believe that most people support the death penalty and think
that it helps to reduce crime.”
It does not particularly matter whether your hypothesis is correct, it is what
you believe and you are going to prove or disprove it during this project.
Decide on your hypothesis and write it down in a new MS Word document.
Use View-Header and Footer and put your name in the footer. Use the
following as your title:
Year 8: Information, reliability, validity and bias
Name of project (eg. ‘Should the Death Penalty be reintroduced?’
Our hypothesis is that ………………………..
Task 2
You need to design a questionnaire to find out what the general public think
about your topic.
You need to ask different types of people to ensure that you get a balanced
view. For example older people may think that something is right or
acceptable but younger people have a different perspective and might be very
against it.
You need to think about the types of questions you need to ask people. What
do you really need to know?
Some way of identifying their age range is a good idea. How could you put
this so that people do not mind telling you?
Ask clear questions and give a multiple choice of answers so that you can use
the results later in graphs and charts.
You can always ask an open question at the end of the questionnaire to allow
people to quote their honest opinion.
Design your questionnaire on the computer and try to come up with a way that
will not involve using too much printing paper – tally chart, or 4 pages to one
side of A4.
Task 3
You need to ask 10-20 people from different age groups to ensure that you
get a range of views.
Give out (or go round and ask) your questionnaires. Remember to keep the
results for analysing later.
Task 4
Using appropriate software create graphs to show the opinions of the people
you asked. It would be a good idea to separate the answers by age group to
show the differences of opinion.
Make sure your graphs have a suitable title and that axes are labelled.
Remove the legend if it is not needed.
Compare the results of your survey. Write a brief summary in Word and copy
and paste your graphs to show your results visually. You will use this later in
your final presentation.
Now that you have created your graph(s) have a careful look at what it is
telling you. Did the younger group of people agree or disagree with your
hypothesis? What about the older group?
What are the similarities and differences between the two groups? Make
notes about your findings next to your graphs in a Word document. You will
need these findings when you present your work in whatever format you have
decided.
Write about whether your sample size might have affected your results. Would
a larger sample have possibly given different results? What was good about
your questionnaire? What would you try to improve if you did it again?
You are going to start a scrap book in Word to
collect all your findings and write your notes.
Task 5
Use the Internet and try to find some data that relates to your topic.
For example, if you were looking at the death
penalty you could find out how many
executions took place each year for the last
few years. If you were looking at fox hunting
you could find out how many fox hunts took
place each year or how many foxes were
killed.
Make a note of the website addresses that
you get your data from.
Once you have some data that relates to what has happened over a few
years, create a line graph or a scatter graph with ‘Year’ along the bottom axis
and the number for the vertical axis.
NOTE: For those doing subjects like ghosts, life after death etc it can be very
difficult to find numbers on the internet. Here is a link to a news story that
gives some useful statistics: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7996187.stm
Task 6
Look at your graph and see what it is telling you? Has there been an increase
or decrease over time? Why do you think the numbers have changed? Is it
because it is becoming more or less socially acceptable? Try to think of
reasons for changes over time. Write down your ideas in your scrapbook for
use later on. Based on the trends you can see in the graph write down a
prediction about what you think will happen in the next 5 years.
Task 7
You have graphed the data from your survey and have a good idea about
what people’s opinions are.
You have also graphed historical and statistical data and have a clear idea
about what has happened over time.
Now you need to use different sources to find out whether your findings can
be backed up elsewhere. Look at the Internet and see if you can find any
information which supports your findings. Look at newspaper articles,
archived information, encyclopaedias etc.
Make sure you keep a record of any evidence you find that backs up or
disproves your findings. Make a note of the website addresses you use.
Task 8
Not only do you need facts and figures for your presentation, you need to be
able to provide your audience (the rest of the class) with some background
information on the topic (they may know nothing about it). Using different
sources, find out as much as you can about your subject and make notes in
your scrapbook.
Remember, to get the highest marks possible you must use sources other
than the Internet. These could include leaflets, newspapers, books,
magazine articles, TV programs.
Task 9
Now that you have completed your research you are going to
create a presentation (or other method of presenting your
information) to your fellow students. You MUST assume that
they have little or no knowledge about the subject. State the
obvious!!
1.
The first section of your presentation is to explain what
the topic is about. You must keep this factual – do not
allow your opinions or bias to show through. This is all
the background information you collected.
2.
Once you have explained the topic you should explain
your hypothesis. You then need to present the evidence you found in
your surveys, backed up by some graphs.
3.
You can include quotes made by the people who filled in your
questionnaire – these really help to back up your points.
4.
Now show the graph you made from the statistical information you
found and explain the trends that can be seen. Try to give some
reasons for these trends.
5.
Tell your audience your prediction for the future based on your findings.
Explain whether your research has confirmed your hypothesis or
whether it has made you change your mind.
6.
Include your acknowledgements at the end – this is where you state
where you got your information from so people can see that your work
is valid – not just made up!