Between a Graph and a Hard Place

How to observe: Ask first!

September 2021

Welcome back! We left off talking about why you would use observations to collect data. Observation can be a great data collection tool when you want to see how different people interact with each other, a space, or a passive program. Observation is also helpful when it is difficult for someone to answer a question …

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Why Observe? Watch and Learn

July 2021

When I was a kid, one of my favorite summer activities was staring at hummingbirds. I would sit for hours, moving as little as possible, while I took notes about everything I saw. (Yes, I was a pretty weird eight year old.) I wanted to ask the hummingbirds so many questions, but I don’t speak …

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Bad Survey Questions, part 2

April 2021

Bad Survey Questions – pt. 2 Don’t let those bad survey questions go unpunished. Last time we talked about leading and loaded questions, which can inadvertently manipulate survey respondents. This week we’ll cover three question types that can just be downright confusing to someone taking your survey! Let’s dig in.  Do you know what double-barreled …

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Bad Survey Questions, part 1

March 2021

In our last post, we talked about when you should use a survey and what kind of data you can get from different question types. This week, we’re going to cover two of the big survey question mistakes evaluators make and how to avoid them so you don’t end up with biased and incomplete data. …

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