Lesson 3: Planning Data Collection
Designing surveys and planning how to gather reliable data.
🎯 Learning Intentions
- Understand different data collection methods (survey, experiment, observation)
- Design clear survey questions to avoid bias
- Plan for ethical data collection
🎥 Media Anchor (8 mins)
Video: Research Skills for Students
- Which data collection method best matches your investigation question?
- How will your plan improve reliability and fairness of results?
1. Discussion: How do we get answers? (10 mins)
Brainstorm ways to get data:
- Survey: Asking people questions (e.g., opinions, habits)
- Observation: Watching and counting (e.g., cars passing by, birds in garden)
- Experiment: Testing something (e.g., how far paper planes fly)
- Existing Data: Using internet research (e.g., Stats NZ data)
2. Concept: Bias and Fairness (15 mins)
What is bias? When data doesn't tell the whole truth.
- Question Bias: "Don't you agree that rugby is the best?" (Leading question)
- Sampling Bias: Asking only your friends about school issues.
Activity: "Fix the Bias." Students correct biased survey questions.
3. Task: Design Your Plan (20 mins)
Students create a plan for their investigation:
- Question: (Using I-V-G from Lesson 2)
- Method: Survey? Observation? Experiment?
- Tools: Paper survey? Google Form? Tally chart?
- Who/What: Who will you ask? Where will you observe?
4. Ethics Check (5 mins)
Is your plan creating harm?
- Permission: Do people know you are collecting data?
- Privacy: Are you asking overly personal questions?
- Respect: Are you being culturally safe?
📋 Teacher Planning Snapshot
Ngā Whāinga Ako — Learning Intentions
Students will engage with this resource to develop statistical investigation skills — planning inquiries, collecting and analysing data, interpreting distributions, and communicating findings. Tūhuratanga (investigation) is framed as a tool for understanding our communities and environment in Aotearoa New Zealand.
Ngā Paearu Angitū — Success Criteria
- ✅ Students can identify an investigative question, collect relevant data, and display it clearly.
- ✅ Students can interpret statistical findings and discuss what they might mean for a real-world community or environmental context.
Differentiation & Inclusion
Scaffold support: Provide structured investigation frameworks (PPDAC cycle templates) for entry-level access. Offer partially completed data tables for students who need additional support. Extend capable learners by asking them to critique a statistical claim from a news article, or to design their own community data investigation.
ELL / ESOL: Pre-teach statistical vocabulary (median, mode, range, distribution, sample, population). Pair visual representations (graphs, tables) with plain-language explanations. Allow students to discuss statistical ideas orally before writing. Encourage use of home language for initial sensemaking.
Inclusion: Statistical investigation offers natural differentiation — all students can engage with the same real-world question at different levels of mathematical complexity. Neurodiverse learners benefit from structured, step-by-step investigation processes. Use collaborative group investigation formats that distribute roles (data collector, recorder, analyst, presenter).
Mātauranga Māori lens: Tūhuratanga — the practice of careful investigation — resonates deeply with mātauranga Māori. The maramataka is a sophisticated data system: tracking environmental patterns, seasonal cycles, and ecological indicators over generations. Iwi environmental monitoring — counting kaimoana populations, tracking water quality, observing bird migrations — is applied statistical thinking. Framing statistics within community and environmental inquiry connects data to mana whenua responsibilities.
Prior knowledge: Students should have basic familiarity with data displays (bar graphs, dot plots). No prior statistical investigation experience required — the PPDAC inquiry cycle provides accessible scaffolding for first-time investigators.
Curriculum alignment
- Statistics — Statistical Investigation: Plan and conduct investigations using the statistical enquiry cycle — determining appropriate variables and data collection methods; gathering, sorting, and displaying multivariate category, measurement, and time-series data to detect patterns, variations, relationships, and trends; comparing distributions visually; communicating findings, using appropriate display.
- Statistics — Probability: Investigate situations that involve elements of chance by comparing experimental distributions with expectations from models of the possible outcomes, acknowledging uncertainty.