Scaling Study My Survey Focused

Scaling Study

My survey focused around the subject of "Are there any benefits to single gender private school education?" To approach this topic, I designed a questionnaire that comprised both target questions and open-ended questions. It was important to use open-ended questions because the subject itself is fairly open-ended. There are potentially many types of benefits that could be identified. Targeted questions were also used in order to gather specific, quantitative information, such as grades. Some of the questions are used to help determine if there are any differences in the performance of SGPS education between the two genders.

The respondents indicated that children enrolled in SGPS education in general received more benefits than those who do not. They achieved higher grades, with 60% of respondents reporting a's and B's versus just 30% of public school students receiving those grades. The qualitative responses also appear to support this quantitative information. The SGPS children were deemed, in general, to be more focused and have higher ambitions than public school children. The qualitative questions were left open-ended in order to help determine the reasons behind the responses to the target questions. So in this survey, it was determined that the SGPS children perform better in school, and then we identified some of the following traits of those children than helped to define the reasons for this performance difference. It was deemed unnecessary to disguise the objectives of the questions. The focus of the survey was the quantitative evidence; the qualitative was used to present additional insight. Because the qualitative was the component that we felt may be most subject to bias if the intentions were known, we accepted that bias as reasonable and that it would not detract from the results.

The pool of respondents indicated that 80% of them either had or were close to school-age children. 60% of the respondents indicated that the children they knew enjoyed learning new things. 70% of respondents knew children in private school, and 100% of them knew children in public school. From this we have a strong sample upon which our information regarding private school children can be based, and an even stronger sample for public school. The responses indicated a likelihood that the SGPS education has benefits, based on the knowledge and experience of the survey respondents. The final question regarding personal preference of education types is valuable to the survey because it indicates the likelihood of bias among the respondents. In general, the respondents indicated a strong preference for private school education. This impacts the survey because the results of the survey are consistent with what one might expect from a pool of respondents with a bias towards private school education.

The study's validity is limited. The survey only had ten respondents, which gives a high margin of error.

Moreover, the sample group was demographically limited. The survey was intended to focus on this limited group as these individuals form a large component of the target market for private school education. However, the survey results could potentially have been stronger had the survey been expanded to cover all of the target market. An even stronger survey would have included those whose children have already been through the education system. The survey as presently constituted essentially focuses on potential outcomes, rather than actual outcomes. This is because the end result of education is not fully realized until later in life - grades and childhood ambitions are merely precursors to the final outcome.

The questionnaire is only somewhat reliable. The structure of the questions renders it difficult to determine the actual benefits of SGPS education. The quantitative measure - grades - is not wholly indicative of benefits. This is because private schools have a direct cost to the parents, and the parents desire high grades as an outcome. For a private school to award high grades may be more related to the desire to retain business than to the actual achievement of the child. A more accurate measure of the benefits would focus on the achievement level of the child upon leaving the K-12 system. The qualitative component of the survey lends it better reliability. Focus and ambition are two major antecedents of success in life. The survey indicates that SGPS education is more successful in fostering these attributes in children than are public schools. This indicates that there are benefits to SGPS education.