THE NATIONAL STUDENT RESEARCH CENTER
(NOTE: This file contains a detailed description of the
research and publication process for survey research projects.
Examples are also provided.)
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Survey Research and Publication Process
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TABLE OF CONTENT
I. Research and Publication Process: Survey
II. Two Examples
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A detailed description of the research and publication process
for survey research is provided. The description assumes
completion of the research and publication process in
approximately nine weeks. The process can be accelerated or
protracted depending upon the learning abilities and styles of
the student researchers.
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I. RESEARCH AND PUBLICATION PROCESS: SURVEY RESEARCH
1. Complete Scientific Research Learning Contract.
2. Develop Time-Line for Research Project completion.
3. Write Statement of Purpose or Research Idea (What do I
want to find out?).
4. Review Literature.
5. Develop Hypothesis (What do I think will happen?).
6. Teacher/students edit till letter perfect and students
present to class for peer evaluation.
7. Develop Methodology (How can I test what I think will
happen?).
8. Develop questionnaire - cooperative effort.
9. Draw Random Sample Population - Cooperative effort.
10. Edit/present.
11. Administer Questionnaires (At school and on Internet).
12. Score Questionnaires.
13. Develop Data Collection Form and record data.
14. Edit/present.
15. Analysis of Data (What information did I collect?).
16. Summary and Conclusion (What did I find out? Accept or
reject my hypothesis?).
17. Edit/present.
18. Application (How will your research findings help people
solve problems or make your world a better place to live?)
19. Edit/present.
20. Prepare Abstract.
21. Edit/present.
22. Videotape presentation for teacher/student evaluation.
23. Abstract is entered into school-based scientific journal.
24. Publish journal - cooperative effort.
25. Distribute to authors and families, classrooms for a Drop
Everything and Read (D.E.A.R.) Program, the community, and
catalogue into the reference section of school library,
etc.
26. Send abstracts to NSRC for publication in nationally
circulated journals.
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II. TWO EXAMPLES OF THE SURVEY RESEARCH AND PUBLICATION
PROCESS:
(Example 1)
STUDENT OPINIONS ABOUT GARBAGE DISPOSAL IN ST. TAMMANY PARISH
BY JASON SCARBOROUGH
I. STATEMENT OF PURPOSE OR RESEARCH IDEA:
St. Tammmany Parish has a serious garbage disposal problem. I
would like to know what the students at Mandeville Middle
School think about our garbage disposal problem.
II. REVIEW OF LITERATURE:
In St. Tammany Parish we dispose of our garbage by using
landfills. We are running out of room for landfills, so people
are thinking about other ways to dispose of our garbage.
Parish leaders are considering incineration, recycling, and
shipping our garbage somewhere else. Incineration is not
desirable because of air pollution problems. Recycling is
expensive and not socially popular at this time. Shipping
garbage to another location is expensive and politically
troublesome.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. Clausen, Thomas. (1985). Litter Control, Waste
Management, and Recycling Resource Units. State Of Louisiana:
Department of Education. PP. 1-16.
2. Brown, M. (1952). The Toxic Cloud. New York: Harper and
Row Publishers. PP. 66, 72, 245, 275.
III. HYPOTHESIS:
My hypothesis states that the majority of students at
Mandeville Middle School will want to recycle garbage in St.
Tammany Parish.
IV. METHODOLOGY:
First, I wrote my statement of purpose. Then I did a review of
the literature and developed my hypothesis. Next, I developed
a questionnaire to find out what students at MMS think should
be done about the garbage disposal problem in St. Tammany
Parish. Then I took a random sample of 15 students at MMS from
the 4th, 5th, and 6th grades. Next, I administered the
questionnaires to the students. Then I collected the
questionnaires and scored them and analyzed my data. Then I
accepted or rejected my hypothesis. Finally, I wrote a summary
and conclusion and applied my findings to the real world.
Later, I published an abstract of my research.
V. QUESTIONNAIRE:
1. Have you ever thought about what happens to St. Tammany's
Garbage?
Yes No
2. St. Tammany Parish disposes of its garbage by using a
landfill. Do you have any problem with the way we dispose of
our garbage?
Yes No
SA=Strongly Agree A=Agree D=Disagree SD=Strongly Disagree
3. St. Tammany's garbage should be disposed of by
incineration.
SA A D SD
4. St. Tammany's garbage should be recycled.
SA A D SD
5. St. Tammany's garbage should be shipped to another place
for disposal.
SA A D SD
6. What do you think the environmental effects would be if we
used an incinerator to dispose of our garbage?
7. What do you think the environmental effects would be if we
recycled the garbage?
8. What do you think the environmental effects would be if we
shipped the garbage to another place for disposal?
9. What do you think are the environmental effects of using a
landfill?
10. List any ideas you have on how we should dispose of our
garbage.
VI. ANALYSIS OF DATA:
A majority of students have thought about the problem of
garbage disposal in St. Tammany Parish. They think that
landfills could hurt the environment. A majority of students
feel the need for recycling of our garbage. A majority of
students are against shipping garbage to another place and
thought there would be lots of air pollution if the garbage was
incinerated.
VII. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION:
I accept my hypothesis which stated that the majority of
students at Mandeville Middle School will want to recycle
garbage in St. Tammany Parish. The majority of the students
felt the best way to control our garbage would be to recycle
what could be recycled and have a land fill for the rest.
VIII. APPLICATION:
St. Tammany Parish is currently involved in a heated debate
about garbage disposal. I will send a copy of my research
project to the city council members. I hope that my findings
will help them to decide to begin a recycling program.
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(RESEARCH PROJECT ABSTRACT)
TITLE: Student Opinions About Garbage Disposal
STUDENT RESEARCHER: Jason Scarborough
SCHOOL: Mandeville Middle School
Mandeville, Louisiana
GRADE: 5
TEACHER: John I. Swang, Ph.D.
I. STATEMENT OF PURPOSE AND HYPOTHESIS:
I wanted to know what the students at MMS thought about garbage
disposal in St. Tammany Parish. My hypothesis stated that that
the majority of students at Mandeville Middle School will want
to recycle garbage in St. Tammany Parish.
II. METHODOLOGY:
First, I wrote my statement of purpose. Then I did a review of
the literature and developed my hypothesis. Next, I developed
a questionnaire to find out what students at MMS think should
be done about the garbage disposal problem in St. Tammany
Parish. Then I took a random sample of 15 students at MMS from
the 4th, 5th, and 6th grades. Next, I administered the
questionnaires to the students. Then I collected the
questionnaires and scored them and analyzed my data. Then I
accepted or rejected my hypothesis. Finally, I wrote a summary
and conclusion and applied my findings to the real world.
Later, I published an abstract of my research.
VI. ANALYSIS OF DATA:
A majority of students have thought about the problem of
garbage disposal in St. Tammany Parish. They think that
landfills could hurt the environment. A majority of students
feel the need for recycling of our garbage. A majority of
students are against shipping garbage to another place and
thought there would be lots of air pollution if the garbage was
incinerated.
VII. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION:
I accept my hypothesis which stated that the majority of
students at Mandeville Middle School will want to recycle
garbage in St. Tammany Parish. The majority of the students
felt the best way to control our garbage would be to recycle
what could be recycled and have a land fill for the rest.
VIII. APPLICATION:
St. Tammany Parish is currently involved in a heated debate
about garbage disposal. I will send a copy of my research
project to the city council members. I hope that my findings
will help them to decide to begin a recycling program.
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(Example 2)
STUDENT KNOWLEDGE OF POVERTY IN THE U.S.A.
BY ANGELA GERACI AND BETHANY KURRUS
I. STATEMENT OF PURPOSE:
We would like to do a survey research project about student
knowledge of poverty in the USA.
II. REVIEW OF LITERATURE:
Poverty is a lack of goods and services needed to have a
minimal standard of living. During the 1940's, a third of the
entire US population were poor. In 1960, 22% of the US
population were considered poor. In 1978, 11.7% of population
were poor. By 1980, 13% lived in poverty. By 1983, 15.2% of
the population were living in poverty. In 1988, 12% of the
elderly people over 65 years of age were living in poverty, 11%
of the younger adults population lived in poverty, two out of
every five people classified as poor were children under the
age of 18, 48.2% of families with five or more children were
poor, and 3.6 million poor families (including 1.26 million
children) were headed by females. During the 1980, the number
of children living in poverty increased by 22%. In 1990, 13,5%
of the US population was living in poverty. In 1991, 14.2% of
the US population was living in poverty. In 1991, a family
with 9 persons was poor if their income was below $27,942 a
year. A family of four persons was considered poor if they
made less than $13,924 per year.
Bibliography
_____________. (1982). "Poverty." THE NEW AMERICAN DESK
ENCYCLOPEDIA. New York: Penguin Group. p. 1006.
_____________. (1992). "Poverty." THE NEW GROLIER MULTI-
MEDIA ENCYCLOPEDIA. New York: Grolier Electronic, Inc.
Schlesinger, A. (1993). "Poverty Rate." THE WORLD ALMANAC
1994. New Jersey: Funk & Wagnalls. p. 371.
III. HYPOTHESIS:
Our hypothesis states that students will not know that in 1991
over 35 million people in the USA were living in poverty.
IV. METHODOLOGY:
First, we wrote our statement of purpose and review of
literature. For this study, poverty is defined as a lack of
goods and services needed to have a minimal standard of living.
A family of four was classified as poor if it had a cash income
of less than $13,924 in 1991. Second, we developed our
questionnaire. Then we drew a random sample of 36 students at
Mandeville Middle School and administered our questionnaires to
them. Fourth, we administered the questionnaire over the
NSRC's International Electric School District and got students
from other states in the USA and countries to respond. When
our questionnaires were returned we scored them and analyzed
our data. Sixth, we wrote our summary and conclusion in which
we accepted or rejected our hypothesis. Then we wrote our
application. Finally, we turned in our report and published
our abstract in a student research journal.
V. ANALYSIS OF DATA:
A population of 900 students in grades 5-12 responded to the
questionnaire. Survey responses were returned from schools in
Illinois, Michigan, Wyoming, Missouri, Oregon, Georgia,
Colorado, Texas, Indiana, and Louisiana. There were 813
American students. We also received surveys from Norway and
the United Kingdom. There were 87 foreign students. A
majority of 68% of the students were from the middle socio-
economic status.
A majority of 84% of the American students and 98% of the
foreign students knew that there are more U.S. citizens living
in poverty today than in 1978. A majority of 76% of the
American students did not know that over 34 million people were
poor as of 1991, while a majority of 57% of the foreign
students did know. A majority of 60% of the American students
and 59% of the foreign students knew that 12% of the elderly
are poor in the USA. A majority of 61% of the American
students and 59% of the foreign students did not know that 24%
of American children live in poverty. A majority of 64% of the
American students did not know that 11% of all the adults in
the USA live in poverty, while 52% of the foreign students did
know that. A majority of 57% of the American students and 51%
of the foreign students did not know that males are the least
likely to live in poverty in the U.S.A.. A majority of 75% of
the American students and 84% of the foreign students knew that
the highest rates of poverty occur among minorities. A
majority of 69% of the American students and 95% of the foreign
students did not think that poor people are lazy. A majority
of 55% of the American students and 76% of the foreign students
agreed that it is their responsibility to help poor people.
A majority of 61% of the American students and 63% of the
foreign students did not know that the Congressional Budget
Office estimates that 20% of all American families live in
poverty. A majority of 54% of the American students did not
think that taxes on the rich should be greatly increased in
order to eliminate poverty. A majority of 69% of the foreign
students felt that taxes on the rich should be increased. A
majority of 94% of all students who answered the question felt
that the amount of poverty which exists in the USA is a
national disgrace. A majority of 65% of all students who
answered the question felt that the U.S. Government is not
doing all it can to eliminate poverty among it citizens.
VII. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION:
Students are aware that poverty has been on the increase in the
USA for many years. Students did not know that poverty strikes
women and children most often. They do not think that the poor
are lazy and they believe that it is their responsibility to
help the poor. They feel that the amount of poverty in the USA
is a national disgrace and that the US Government is not doing
enough to eliminate poverty.
Only 48% of the American students' responses to the factual
questions on the questionnaire were correct. A majority of 58%
of the foreign students' responses were correct. It would seem
that of the students surveyed, the foreign students know more
about poverty in the USA than the American students.
Finally, over three-quarters of the American students
incorrectly thought that there were only 2 to 6 million people
living in poverty in the USA. Therefore, we accept our
hypothesis which stated that students will not know that in
1991 over 35 million people in the U.S.A. were living in
poverty.
VII. APPLICATION:
The majority of American students do not know about the extent
of poverty in the USA today. Teachers should teach their
students more about this terrible problem in the USA, if we are
to solve it.
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(Research Project Abstract)
TITLE: Student Knowledge of Poverty in the U.S.A.
STUDENT RESEARCHERS: Angela Geraci and Bethany Kurrus
SCHOOL: Mandeville Middle School
Mandeville, Louisiana
GRADE: 6
TEACHER: John I. Swang, Ph.D.
I. STATEMENT OF PURPOSE AND HYPOTHESIS:
We would like to do a survey research project about student
knowledge of poverty in the USA. Our hypothesis states that
students will not know that in 1991 over 35 million people in
the USA were living in poverty.
II. METHODOLOGY:
First, we wrote our statement of purpose and review of
literature. For this study, poverty is defined as a lack of
goods and services needed to have a minimal standard of living.
A family of four was classified as poor if it had a cash income
of less than $13,924 in 1991. Second, we developed our
questionnaire. Then we drew a random sample of 36 students at
Mandeville Middle School and administered our questionnaires to
them. Fourth, we administered the questionnaire over the
NSRC's International Electric School District and got students
from other states in the USA and countries to respond. When
our questionnaires were returned we scored them and analyzed
our data. Sixth, we wrote our summary and conclusion in which
we accepted or rejected our hypothesis. Then we wrote our
application. Finally, we turned in our report and published
our abstract in a student research journal.
III. ANALYSIS OF DATA:
A population of 900 students in grades 5-12 responded to the
questionnaire. Survey responses were returned from schools in
Illinois, Michigan, Wyoming, Missouri, Oregon, Georgia,
Colorado, Texas, Indiana, and Louisiana. There were 813
American students. We also received surveys from Norway and
the United Kingdom. There were 87 foreign students. A
majority of 68% of the students were from the middle socio-
economic status.
A majority of 84% of the American students and 98% of the
foreign students knew that there are more U.S. citizens living
in poverty today than in 1978. A majority of 76% of the
American students did not know that over 34 million people were
poor as of 1991, while a majority of 57% of the foreign
students did know. A majority of 60% of the American students
and 59% of the foreign students knew that 12% of the elderly
are poor in the USA. A majority of 61% of the American
students and 59% of the foreign students did not know that 24%
of American children live in poverty. A majority of 64% of the
American students did not know that 11% of all the adults in
the USA live in poverty, while 52% of the foreign students did
know that. A majority of 57% of the American students and 51%
of the foreign students did not know that males are the least
likely to live in poverty in the U.S.A.. A majority of 75% of
the American students and 84% of the foreign students knew that
the highest rates of poverty occur among minorities. A
majority of 69% of the American students and 95% of the foreign
students did not think that poor people are lazy. A majority
of 55% of the American students and 76% of the foreign students
agreed that it is their responsibility to help poor people.
A majority of 61% of the American students and 63% of the
foreign students did not know that the Congressional Budget
Office estimates that 20% of all American families live in
poverty. A majority of 54% of the American students did not
think that taxes on the rich should be greatly increased in
order to eliminate poverty. A majority of 69% of the foreign
students felt that taxes on the rich should be increased. A
majority of 94% of all students who answered the question felt
that the amount of poverty which exists in the USA is a
national disgrace. A majority of 65% of all students who
answered the question felt that the U.S. Government is not
doing all it can to eliminate poverty among it citizens.
IV. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION:
Students are aware that poverty has been on the increase in the
USA for many years. Students did not know that poverty strikes
women and children most often. They do not think that the poor
are lazy and they believe that it is their responsibility to
help the poor. They feel that the amount of poverty in the USA
is a national disgrace and that the US Government is not doing
enough to eliminate poverty.
Only 48% of the American students' responses to the factual
questions on the questionnaire were correct. A majority of 58%
of the foreign students' responses were correct. It would seem
that of the students surveyed, the foreign students know more
about poverty in the USA than the American students.
Finally, over three-quarters of the American students
incorrectly thought that there were only 2 to 6 million people
living in poverty in the USA. Therefore, we accept our
hypothesis which stated that students will not know that in
1991 over 35 million people in the U.S.A. were living in
poverty.
V. APPLICATION:
The majority of American students do not know about the extent
of poverty in the USA today. Teachers should teach their
students more about this terrible problem in the USA, if we are
to solve it.
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John I. Swang, Ph.D.
Teacher/Director
National Student Research Center
Mandeville Middle School
2525 Soult St.
Mandeville, Louisiana 70448
U.S.A.
Tele: 1-504-626-5980
Tele: 1-504-626-8778
FAX: 1-504-626-1640
America OnLine: NSRC MMS
Internet: nsrcmms@aol.com
This e-publication is made possible through grants provided by
the United States Department of Education, South Central Bell
Telephone, American Petroleum Institute, Intertel Foundation,
Springhouse Publishing Corporation, Graham Resources, Inc.,
Central Louisiana Electric Company, Louisiana State Department
of Education, National Science Foundation, Mandeville Middle
School Parent Teacher Association, Northern Life Insurance
Company, Gustav Ohaus Company, and Chevron Oil Company.
The National Student Research Center thanks these organizations
for their generous support of education.
© 1998 John I. Swang, Ph.D.