Suggest a question to explore using statistical methods; identify the sets of data needed, how to collect them, sample sizes and degree of accuracy Identify primary or secondary sources of suitable data Design, trial and refine data collection sheets. Collect and tabulate discrete and continuous data, choosing suitable equal class intervals where appropriate. ooo + You are already familiar with some methods for collecting data. You also know v to display the data in a clear way and how to analyse it by carrying out simple calculations. This chapter will build on the methods for collecting data, in particular on the planning that needs to take place before any data is collected to ensure that it will be reliable and produce useful information. For example, we might want to answer the following question: “Are boys better at maths than girls?” To begin to answer this question it is important to be precise about what it means. For example, © What age (or ages) should be considered? © What is meant by “better at maths’? Discuss in pairs or small groups. How can this question be mace more precise? Once the question has been decided on, it is important to think about where your data will come from, For example, © You may collect the data yourself. This is called primary data. © You may use data collected by your teachers or from the internet. Thi secondary data Q What primary data could be collected to answer the question ‘Are boys better at maths than girls?” Make a list of your suggestions. Q What types of secondary data could be collected? Make a list of your suggestions. ©(© CHAPTERS Once the sources of data are decided on, you need to decide how it is going to be collected. © Primary data is usually collected by questionnaire or by interview. © Secondary data will often be in number form. How will this be collected? Q Make notes on how both the primary and secondary data wil be collected. QF you have decided on using a questionnairé for the primary cata, design a frst draft forthe questionnaire Q IF the secondary data is in tumber form, design tables (or a spreadsheet} in which to collect | ‘the data. You also need to make a decision about how much data is to be collected. For this investigation, it will clearly not be possible to collect data from every student in the country or region, or even in the whole school. You will need to decide ona sample size, in other words how many people will be included in the investigation. It is also important to discuss how you are going to select people within the sample. For example, © Ifyou are looking at students from Years 7-11, will you choose the same number from each year? © Will you choose the same number of boys and girls? @ Will the students you choose be your friends or will they be picked randomly? Q. Make notes about the sample sizes you will use for both the primary and the secondary data. Q. Make notes on how tie samples are io be chosen to ensure that students ate picked random. You also need to decide how accurate the data collection needs to be. This may seem an odd consideration: it seems obvious that the data collection should be as accurate as possible. However, this is not necessarily the case. For example, © Ifexam results are being collected and the data is in percentages, is it sensible to count the number of students who got 1%, 2%, 3%, ...? @ Would it be better to group the data and count the number of students getting. 1-10%, 11-20%, 21-30%, ... ? | Q Decide on the level of accuracy needed for your data.PLANNING AND COLLECTING DATA @ Once all of these points have been carefully considered, itis likely that the data collected will be appropriate and that any conclusions made will be valid. However, itis always possible that something has been overlooked or that the data collection doesn’t work out exactly as planned. Before starting the actual data collection, it is always sensible to do a trial of the whole process. For example, © [you are using a questionnaire, test it with a few people first to make sure the questions are clear. © IF you are organising your data in a spreadsheet, make sure that it works with a small amount of data first. You may decide that the sample size is too big or too small Once you have carried out a trial on the different stages of your data collection process, you can make any improvements that you think are necessary, Q What improvements have you made, and why did you decide to make them? Choose one of the following suggested questions as an area for investigation and data collection. Then: a) plan your data collection following the steps outlined in this chapter ) carry out the data collection in full ©) present your findings in a clear way. 1 Are teenagers affected by advertising? 2 Do teenagers have a good diet? 3. Ismaths more important than art? 4 How do people's spending habits change as they get older? 5 How much do people reeyele? By completing a data collection exercise thoroughly you will have noticed that it is not an exact science, The planning decisions you make will affect what data is collected, how it is collected and how accurate itis. Therefore it is important t9 plan things thoroughly and pe cble to justify any decisions you make.