Dear Survey Girl,
My school district is thinking of using the Attitudes & Behaviors survey to assess our junior high students; however, my superintendent is skeptical that the students will answer the survey truthfully. What can I tell her to assure her of the quality of our data?
From,
Asset Builder
An excellent question, AB! The answer is: our scientists already thought of that! Search Institute uses several methods for looking at each survey to determine whether students are answering truthfully. For example, the computer looks for inconsistencies in the way students respond to similar questions, unrealistically high substance use, and too many unanswered items. Surveys with these kinds of problems are not used in the report findings. The percentage of surveys removed from individual school or community studies has remained consistent over time and generally falls into the 5 to 8 percent range. With the “bad data” being eliminated, you can sleep soundly knowing your survey data will be safe!
All the best,
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