← Back to Session 2

Session 2 Study Guide: Asking Good Questions

Data Science for Young Minds — Grade 3

Key Topics

TopicDetails
Questions data CAN answerQuestions data CAN answer: How many? How often? Which is most common?
Questions data CANNOT answerQuestions data CANNOT answer: What is the best? Is this fair? What should I do?
Turning opinion questions into data quesTurning opinion questions into data questions
PracticePractice: sort 20 questions into 'data can answer' and 'data cannot answer'
What makes a good survey questionWhat makes a good survey question: clear, specific, unbiased
Leading questions and why they are unfaiLeading questions and why they are unfair
Open vs. closed questionsOpen vs. closed questions
PracticePractice: fix 5 bad survey questions
What a sample isWhat a sample is: the group of people you ask
Why asking only your friends gives diffeWhy asking only your friends gives different results than asking everyone
The idea of a representative sampleThe idea of a representative sample
Why sample size mattersWhy sample size matters: asking 3 people vs. asking 30
Choosing a topic you are genuinely curioChoosing a topic you are genuinely curious about
Writing a clear, specific, unbiased quesWriting a clear, specific, unbiased question
Planning your samplePlanning your sample: who will you ask?
Getting ready for data collection next sGetting ready for data collection next session

Lesson Summaries

Lesson 1: What Can Data Answer?

Learn to tell the difference between questions data can answer and questions it cannot.

Lesson 2: Writing Good Survey Questions

Learn the rules of writing clear, fair survey questions that get useful answers.

Lesson 3: Who You Ask Matters

Discover that your results change depending on who you survey. This is called sampling.

Lesson 4: Your Data Question

Write your own data question, plan who to ask, and get ready to collect data in Session 3.

Review Questions

  1. Give an example of a question data can answer.
  2. Give an example of a question data cannot answer.
  3. Can you turn an opinion question into a data question?
  4. Why is it important to know which questions data can answer?
  5. What is a leading question?
  6. What is the difference between an open and closed question?
  7. Why should survey questions be specific?
  8. What makes a survey question biased?
  9. What is a sample?
  10. Why does it matter who you ask?
  11. What is a representative sample?
  12. Why is asking 30 people better than asking 3?
  13. What makes a good topic for a data question?
  14. How do you plan a sample?
  15. What should you do before collecting data?
  16. Why is it important to plan before collecting?