← VCE Data Analytics U3O2

Research question feature: feasibility

A feasible research question can be answered with the time, skills, software and access to data that you actually have available.

Part of: VCE Data Analytics - U3O2 - Analysis and Design — Module 6

Understanding Research question feature: feasibility in VCE Data Analytics U3O2

What it does: The question is feasible because the data is openly available. This shows the access to data sub-theme. The student already has the skills and software needed to answer the question, so it is feasible. Feasibility depends on access to data. A student can survey classmates but cannot get private hospital records. The scope is too large for the time available and for the number of participants a student could reach. Narrow it, for example to one year level at your school.

Common mistakes: Time available is a number of days. Storing 14 as text ("14") makes the comparison with daysNeeded unreliable. It should be daysLeft ← 14. The question is only feasible for data access when access is granted. IF NOT accessGranted reverses the test, so it should be IF accessGranted THEN.

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This module's key terms are also in a printable crossword (Modules 3–31) and word search (Modules 3–146).

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Learning
Duo
A student has two weeks to finish a project. Which research question is more feasible?
How do Year 11 students at our school travel to school?How has travel to school changed across every Victorian school since 1950?
Matches
How do all Australian teenagers spend their money? (survey of 10 000 people in 2 weeks)
↓
Not feasible because of time and access: surveying 10 000 people in 2 weeks is unrealistic.
Applying
Meanings
Term
feasible
Meaning
A feasible research question can be answered with the time, skills, software and access to data that you actually have available.
Practice
Question: Which subject has the highest average mark?
Testing
Gaps
A research question can be answered.
Check Answer
Spots
1daysNeeded ← 10
2daysLeft ← "14"

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Quick Questions

1. A student has two weeks to finish a project. Which research question is more feasible?
A. How has travel to school changed across every Victorian school since 1950?
B. How do Year 11 students at our school travel to school? ✓
A feasible question can be answered in the time available. A two-week project cannot cover 70 years of data from every school.
2. Which question is more feasible for a student with no access to hospital records?
A. How many hours of sleep do students in my class get on school nights? ✓
B. Which hospital in Victoria has the longest emergency waiting times for each patient?
Feasibility depends on access to data. A student can survey classmates but cannot get private hospital records.
3. Which research question is more feasible for a student who has only used spreadsheet software?
A. Is there a link between hours of study and test marks in our class? ✓
B. Can a machine learning model predict test marks for all VCE students in Australia?
A feasible question matches the student's skills and software. A spreadsheet can handle a simple comparison, but a machine learning model needs skills and tools the student does not have.
4. True or false: A research question is feasible if it is interesting, even if the data cannot be collected.
A. True
B. False ✓
Interest is not enough. A feasible question must be answerable with the data you can actually get.
5. Which of these checks feasibility?
A. Can I collect or find this data before my deadline? ✓
B. Is the question worded in a very long, formal way?
Feasibility checks time, access to data, skills and software. Wording length has nothing to do with it.

Match the Pairs

feasible → A research question that can be answered with the time, skills, software and data access you actually have available
Feasibility check: time → Asking whether the project can be finished before the deadline, given the hours available for collecting and analysing data
A feasible question needs data you can actually get access to → How did daily maximum temperature change over the past year at our local weather station? (open data available)
A feasible question can be answered with the skills and software you have, such as a spreadsheet → Which subject has the highest average mark in our class results? (analysed using AVERAGE in a spreadsheet)
How do all Australian teenagers spend their money? (survey of 10 000 people in 2 weeks) → Not feasible because of time and access: surveying 10 000 people in 2 weeks is unrealistic.
What are the private health records of patients at a local hospital? (no permission to use the data) → Not feasible because you have no access to the data needed to answer it.

Key Term

feasible
A feasible research question can be answered with the time, skills, software and access to data that you actually have available.

Fill in the Blanks

1. A feasible research question can be answered.
Hint: Type the word for a question you can realistically answer with the resources you have.
2. IF daysNeeded <= daysAvailable THEN feasible = TRUE ENDIF
Hint: Type the comparison operator showing the time needed fits within the time available.
3. IF hasDataAccess AND hasTime THEN feasible = TRUE ENDIF
Hint: Type the logical operator that requires both access to data and enough time to be true.
4. IF NOT hasDataAccess THEN feasible = FALSE ENDIF
Hint: Type the Boolean value that feasible should hold when the data cannot be accessed.
5. IF hasSkills AND hasSoftware THEN feasible = TRUE ENDIF
Hint: Type the variable that checks whether the tools needed for the analysis are available.

Spot the Error

Question 1
A daysNeeded ← 10
B daysLeft ← "14"
C IF daysNeeded ≤ daysLeft THEN
D OUTPUT "Feasible"
E ENDIF
Line B — Time available is a number of days. Storing 14 as text ("14") makes the comparison with daysNeeded unreliable. It should be daysLeft ← 14.
Question 2
A dataOwner ← "Council"
B IF NOT accessGranted THEN
C OUTPUT "Data can be used"
D ELSE
E OUTPUT "Not feasible"
Line B — The question is only feasible for data access when access is granted. IF NOT accessGranted reverses the test, so it should be IF accessGranted THEN.
Question 3
A needed ← "SQL"
B skills ← ["Excel", "SQL"]
C IF needed IN skills THEN
D feasible ← FALSE
E ENDIF
Line D — The needed skill (SQL) is in the list of skills the student has, so the question is feasible on skills. It should be feasible ← TRUE.
Question 4
A tool ← "Tableau"
B owned ← ["Excel", "Sheets"]
C IF tool = owned THEN
D OUTPUT "Feasible"
E ENDIF
Line C — owned is a list of software, so a single tool cannot equal it. To check whether the software is available, test membership with IF tool IN owned THEN.
Question 5
A hoursPerWeek ← 4
B weeks ← 6
C total ← hoursPerWeek + weeks
D OUTPUT total
Line C — Total time available is hours per week multiplied by the number of weeks (4 * 6 = 24 hours), not added. It should be total ← hoursPerWeek * weeks.

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