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Select a Professional Development Module:
Key Topics Strategy Scenario Case Study

Introduction  |  Review & Identify  |  Criterion A  |  Criterion B  |  Criterion C  | 

Step 3: Justify conducting a questionnaire for each group.
(I) = instrument example

Criterion C. You must believe that the respondents can be relied on to give you the information you need.

All three criteria must be met.

Issue Scenario Example Conclusion
Are the members of the population proficient enough in the language to comprehend the questions and respond properly? Proficiency in the language should not be a problem because the mentors are high-performing students at the college. However, you try to avoid pedagogy-related terminology because few of them have taken education courses. Yes
Are the members of the population likely to be truthful? Truthfulness is unlikely to be a problem because of anonymity. The mentors will not suffer negative consequences for being critical, and you can be fairly confident that they know that. To make sure they know that, you can mention it in the questionnaire. Yes
Are the members of the population motivated enough to complete the questionnaire and respond carefully? Motivation is unknown. However, you learn that dispensing gift certificates has increased return rates, and you choose to do that.

Careful Responses. The extent to which they will respond carefully is difficult to predict. Since there is no time limit, it is unlikely that the respondents will feel rushed or fatigued - two risk factors that lead to carelessness. To play it safe, insert questions that will reveal careless responses (I) (e.g., responses that are unreliable because the respondent did not follow directions or did not read the question carefully enough.)

 Yes

Result:

Since all three criterions have been met, a written questionnaire is an appropriate data collection tool.