In this project, your team will design and conduct an experiment to investigate the effects of response bias in surveys.82 You may choose the topic for your surveys, but you must design your experiment so that it can answer at least one of the following questions. Does the wording of a question affect the response?

Do the characteristics of the interviewer affect the response?

Does anonymity change the responses to sensitive questions?

Does manipulating the answer choices affect the response?

Can revealing other peoples’ answers to a question change the response?

1. Write a proposal describing the design of your experiment. Be sure to include the following items:

a. Your chosen topic and which of the above questions you’ll try to answer.

b. A detailed description of how you will obtain your subjects (minimum of 50). Your plan must be practical!

c. An explanation of the treatments in your experiment and how you will determine which subjects get which treatment.

d. A clear explanation of how you will implement your design.

e. Precautions you will take to collect data ethically. Here are two examples of successful student experiments.

“Make-Up,” by Caryn S. and Trisha T. (all questions asked to males):

i. “Do you find females who wear makeup attractive?” (Questioner wearing makeup: 75% answered “Yes.”)

ii. “Do you find females who wear makeup attractive?” (Questioner not wearing makeup: 30% answered “Yes.”)

“Cartoons” by Sean W. and Brian H.:

i. “Do you watch cartoons?” (90% answered “Yes.”)

ii. “Do you still watch cartoons?” (60% answered “Yes.”)

2. Once your teacher has approved your design, carry out the experiment. Record your data in a table.

3. Analyze your data. What conclusion do you draw? Provide appropriate graphical and numerical evidence to support your answer.

4. Prepare a report that includes the data you collected, your analysis from Step 3, and a discussion of any problems you encountered and how you dealt with them.