Sampling, data and bias

1: Starter - courting public opinion

Required Resources

• Slide 2

Delivery

• This lesson commences with consideration of the importance to public bodies of gathering public opinion. Using the images on Slide 2 as a prompt for discussion, students work individually to identify the following reasons (plus others) with class discussion to follow:
  • taxpayers have a right to know how their money is spent and whether they are satisfied with this
  • media coverage does not necessarily represent public opinion (or all factions within society) & public bodies need an authoritative information source
  • specific sectors of society do not (or are not able to) voice opinion; their needs should represented by policy makers
  • within a democracy all parties should be represented and their voices heard
  • political parties (including local councils) need to gauge public response to their initiatives for election purposes.
• Students might like to consider any opportunities they have had to indicate opinion or attitude (this need not be for demonstration of political interest) e.g. surveys, petitions, school election. Invite students to consider the range of opinion-gathering tools available to them e.g. election, interview, questionnaires.
• Finally students should consider the different questioning types employed by these opinion-gathering tools. Most students will need prompting but should be able to recognise the difference between 'closed' questioning and 'open' questioning styles.

Differentiation

Lower Ability:

Use the words 'who', 'where', 'which', 'why', 'when' and 'how' to help students identify open questioning style, inviting students to create their own set of questions on a theme using these words.

Higher Ability:

Able students should be able to consider the merits of closed versus open questioning styles (i.e. quantitative and qualitative) and will be interested in discussion of the instances in which each might be used (and how they can be used together).