Plan first, gather second. Decide who you'll ask, how many, where, and how you'll record their answers. Sloppy gathering ruins good questions.
Quick check
You want students' opinions on the timetable, so you ask 5 of your closest friends. What's the problem?
Plan before you gather
- Sample size — at least 30 for a pattern to show.
- Random selection — don't just ask your friends.
- Same wording every time — read the question, don't paraphrase.
- Record immediately — memory is unreliable.
A small, carefully gathered sample beats a huge, messy one. Quality first, quantity second.
Watch out
Changing the wording mid-survey ('I just shortened it a bit') — now early and late answers aren't comparable, and the whole dataset is suspect.
Checklist before you start
- Sample size — at least 30 for any pattern to emerge
- Random selection — don't only ask your friends
- Same wording every time — read the question, don't paraphrase
- Record immediately — memory is unreliable
A small carefully-gathered sample beats a huge messy one. Quality first, quantity second.