Interviews to gather perspectives on a topical issue

Name:

Date:

Class:

Quick Questions

Shade in the A or B circle for each question.

1. Which question is better for an interview about students' views on phone use at school?

A Do you use a phone at school? (yes/no)

B How do you feel about phones being used in class?

2. What type of data does an interview mainly collect?

A Qualitative data (views and opinions)

B Quantitative data (only numbers)

3. True or false: When you interview someone, you should record their responses accurately, such as with notes or an audio recording (with permission).

A True

B False

4. You interview 5 students about a new school rule. What is a limit of this data?

A Five answers will always show what everyone thinks

B The small sample may not represent all students

5. Which is an advantage of an interview compared with a tick-box survey?

A You can ask follow-up questions to get more detail

B You can quickly collect answers from thousands of people

Match the Pairs

Draw a line connecting each item on the left to its match on the right.

Left column		Right column
1interview		AThe sample size is too small to represent everyone. Conclusions should be limited to the 3 people interviewed, or more people should be interviewed.
2open question		BA question that lets the person answer in their own words, such as 'How do you feel about social media rules at school?'
3Prepare an open question for an interview about a topical issue like phone use in class		CThis is a closed question. It only gives a yes or no answer, so it will not collect detailed views. Rewrite it as an open question like 'What are your views on banning phones?'
4Record the response from an interviewee so their views are kept as qualitative data		DQ1: What do you think about students using phones in class?
5Q1: Do you agree that phones should be banned? (Yes/No)		EA method that collects qualitative data by asking a person open questions about their views on an issue
6Interviewed 3 students, so the whole school agrees phones help learning.		FQ1 response: 'Phones help me research but they distract my friends.'

Definitions

interview

Fill in the Blanks

Complete each line of code by filling in the missing parts.

responses ← _________(person, issue) PRINT responses

____________ ← "Why do you think so?" answer ← ask(openQuestion)

dataType ← "___________" format ← "words"

responses ← [] answer ← ask(question) APPEND answer TO _________

IF sampleSize _ 10 THEN PRINT "May not represent everyone" ENDIF

Spot the Error

Shade in the letter of the line that contains an error.

Question 1

A topic <- 'Phone bans'

B Q1 <- 'Do you agree? Y or N'

C Q2 <- 'Why do you think so?'

D method <- 'interview'

Question 2

A ask Q1

B listen to the answer

C write notes or record audio

D save as quantitative data

Question 3

A interviewees <- 5

B IF interviewees > 30 THEN

C note 'small sample'

D ENDIF

Question 4

A get consent from person

B ask Q1 to Q5

C rewrite words to suit us

D END

Question 5

A interviewees <- 5 students

B ask each the same open Qs

C SHOW 'Speaks for all students'

D END

Answer Key

Interviews to gather perspectives on a topical issue

Section A: Quick Questions

B — How do you feel about phones being used in class?

A — Qualitative data (views and opinions)

A — True

B — The small sample may not represent all students

A — You can ask follow-up questions to get more detail

Section B: Match the Pairs

interview → A method that collects qualitative data by asking a person open questions about their views on an issue

open question → A question that lets the person answer in their own words, such as 'How do you feel about social media rules at school?'

Prepare an open question for an interview about a topical issue like phone use in class → Q1: What do you think about students using phones in class?

Record the response from an interviewee so their views are kept as qualitative data → Q1 response: 'Phones help me research but they distract my friends.'

Q1: Do you agree that phones should be banned? (Yes/No) → This is a closed question. It only gives a yes or no answer, so it will not collect detailed views. Rewrite it as an open question like 'What are your views on banning phones?'

Interviewed 3 students, so the whole school agrees phones help learning. → The sample size is too small to represent everyone. Conclusions should be limited to the 3 people interviewed, or more people should be interviewed.

Section C: Definitions

interview — A data collection method where you ask a person open questions about an issue and record their views, giving qualitative data. It is rich in detail but a small sample may not represent everyone.

Section D: Fill in the Blanks

responses ← interview(person, issue)
PRINT responses

openQuestion ← "Why do you think so?"
answer ← ask(openQuestion)

dataType ← "qualitative"
format ← "words"

responses ← []
answer ← ask(question)
APPEND answer TO responses

IF sampleSize < 10 THEN
  PRINT "May not represent everyone"
ENDIF

Section E: Spot the Error

B — Interviews need open questions that let the person explain their views. A yes/no question is closed. It should be an open question such as 'How do you feel?'.

D — Interview responses are words and opinions, so they are qualitative data. They should be saved as qualitative data, not quantitative.

B — With only 5 interviewees the sample is small, so the check should be interviewees < 30. Using > means the small sample warning would never run.

C — Responses must be recorded accurately, in the person's own words. Rewriting them to suit the interviewer adds bias. It should say 'record exact words said'.

C — A small sample of 5 students cannot represent everyone, so the result should note that not all views are covered. Claiming it speaks for all students is wrong.