Jennifer's++Polls-Surveys+Wiki

** Overview **** : ** Surveys and polls are used to collect information from individuals. The methods used for getting that information throughout history varies and includes: · Personal surveys (either in-home or at the front door) · Intercept surveys ( “on the street” surveys) · Mail surveys (may be handed to or mailed to individual, requires mailing survey back) · Telephone surveys (good for large sample size) · Online surveys (emailed or via a web site) ( Wikipedia 2011 ).

This discussion will focus on the online survey and its uses in the educational setting.  ** Educational uses of polls and surveys: ** Educational uses can vary, from within classroom walls and on campus to the larger community and how it relates to student achievement. Examples of surveys and polls that have been conducted include: · Teacher assessments ( Kumar and Lightner 2007 ); · Classroom climate information ( Boyson and Vogel 2009 ); · Student attitudes ( Kumar and Lightner 2007 ); · Exit polls at election time for history classes (Lelieveldt and Rossen 2009 ); · Information on bullying and harassment in school ( IssueLab 2009 ); · Issues of student hunger and homelessness ( IssueLab 2009 ); · Student perceptions or misperceptions of subject matter ( Lelieveldt and Rossen 2009 ); and · Student-teacher relationships ( Doll et al. 2010 ). ** Advantages of polls and surveys: ** · Surveys can be anonymous; · Surveys are quick to create and to take; · Results can be downloaded onto a spreadsheet (using online survey programs); · Online survey creation is free or low cost; and · Surveys are versatile. ** Disadvantages of polls and surveys: ** · Students need access to computer; and · Results can be biased ( Sullentrop 2000 ); ** How Polls and Surveys Enhance Learning: ** · Teachers can get good results from using surveys with students and with parents. · Survey invitations can be emailed to parents and results can be tallied easily using available websites. · Student understanding can quickly be assessed. · Students can feel more comfortable sharing information using a computer generated survey, knowing that their peers won’t see their answers, allowing for more honest answers.

** Survey Tools and Links: ** [|Survey Monkey] [|Zoomerang] [|Checkbox] [|PollDaddy] [|QuestionPro] ** Further Reading about Surveys and Polls: ** [|Statistical Surveys] [|How to design a questionnaire] [|Opinion Polls] [|Use of Surveys in Nonprofit Research] [|Data Collection] [|Why Online Polls are Bunk] ** References ** : Boysen, Guy A. and David L. Vogel. 2009. “Bias in the Classroom: Types, Frequencies, and Responses”. //Teaching of Phychology//, 36: 12-17, 2009. ISSN: 0098-6283.

Doll et al. 2010. Doll, Beth, Robert A. Spies, Courtney M. LeClair, Sarah A. Kurien, and Brett P. Foley. “Student Perceptions of Classroom Learning Environments: Development of the ClassMaps Survey”. //School Psychology Review//, 2010, Volume 39, No. 2, pp. 203–218

Lelieveldt, Herman and Gregor Rossen. 2009. “Teaching and Training: Why Exit Polls Make Good Teaching Tools”. //European Political Science//. August 2009.

Leung, Wai Ching. 1993. “How to Design a Questionnaire”. // BMJ // 1993;307:3

IssueLab. 2009. //Survey Says: The Use of Surveys in Nonprofit Research//. January 2009. Available online < http://www.issuelab.org/closeup/Jan_2009/ >. Accessed March 16, 2011.

Suellentrop, Chris. 2000. //Why Online Polls Are Bunk//. Created Wednesday, Jan. 12, 2000, at 3:30 AM ET. Available online <﻿﻿ [] ﻿﻿>. Accessed March 16, 2011.

Sharing Knowledge Wiki. 2011. //Survey and Data Collection Tools//. Available online <﻿ [] ﻿>. Accessed March 16, 2011.

Wikipedia. 2011. //Data Collection//. Available online < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_collection>. Accessed March 20, 2011.

Wikipedia. 2011. //Opinion Poll//. Available online . Accessed March 20, 2011.

Wikipedia. 2011. //Statistical Survey//. Available online < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Statistical_survey>. Accessed March 20, 2011.