Psychology Methods: Flawed Survey Activity (Volunteer Bias/Interviewer Effect)

In this activity activity/mini-lesson students discover through a hands-one experience the many potential flaws of conducting research in Psychology or consumer surveys. This lesson is designed around a purposely flawed survey on dental hygiene and cavities - a topic that will magnify research flaws such as the interviewer effect or volunteer bias.

Students begin the lesson by anonymously taking the survey (to avoid any uncomfortable situations for students self-conscious about dental hygiene). After completing a mini-lesson on survey methods and design flaws, students apply the concepts by revising the survey to fix multiple flaws and identify how different results would be yielded if only given to volunteers or conducted by an interviewer. The entire lesson is prep-free and PowerPoint-driven with a students following along with an included note guide. Numerous additional analysis and discussion opportunities are built in to engage the classroom.

Overall, this lesson package includes:

-Flawed Dental Hygiene Survey - Both Google Doc and Word Version included

-Survey Methods and Research Flaws Note Guide - Google Doc and Word Version

-PowerPoint Lesson - 15 slides to guide the lesson and build engagement

*Shareable/editable Google Docs have been added to make this lesson distance-learning friendly.

If you enjoy this lesson, check out some of my other favorite Psychology activities:

Loftus-Palmer (Car Crash) Experiment Simulation - A perfect extension of this lesson

-Brain MythBusters Activity

-Sensation & Perception Brain Game Activities

-Sleep Stages Simulation

-Psychology's Seven Modern Perspectives

-Face Blindness Brain Game - Sensation/Perception

-Altered States of Consciousness Jigsaw Activity

-Sensory Deprivation Case Study

-Brain Scan Imaging Lesson

-Classical Conditioning in Advertising Gallery Walk