Mini-course 8: Planning an Investigation - Newspapers

This mini-course from the Nuffield Exploratory Data Skills Project: Making Sense of Data is about planning an investigation which will produce data to be analysed. As a result of this mini-course students should learn to:

• think about the problem from a common sense point of view

• try out ideas on a small scale near the beginning

• recognise that the first task is to decide on the question to be answered

• choose what population to study

• choose an appropriate sampling method, and watch for possible bias

• grasp the main differences between what surveys and experiments can tell us

• understand the use of a control group

• build an experiment around a testable hypothesis

• know the main kinds of question that can be asked

• use a systematic method for evaluating a plan for an investigation.

The mini-course consists of four units:

What is readability? considers the problem of defining and refining the question to be investigated.

What to look at and who to ask and Experimenting look at complementary ways of making an investigation, through a survey or through an experiment. 

Questions and methods  looks at the relation between the questions asked and the methods which best suit those questions.

The teacher guide gives an overview of the mini-course.