Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

Hello, I recently received a survey project for my AP statistics class. I thought about a survey topic which is: "Do you brush your teeth twice a day?", but I do not know how to apply my topic to these following questions:
-Is it possible to word a question in 2 different ways that are logically equivalent but have much different responses?
-Do the characteristics of the interviewer affect responses to sensitive questions?
-Does anonymity change the responses to sensitive questions?
-Does the order of questions affect the responses? (this is probably best answered by creating a different but equivalent survey for each partner)

I believe that asking 40 random high school kids if they have brushed their teeth daily is a sensitive questions but i was also thinking about creating a survey about asking high school students if they have a parent or parents that died, but then i don't want to be to personal. I need help applying my survey topic to the questions above. Please and thank you.

Hi,

I think your question can potentially be applied to those different situations, although it is a stretch in some areas. You're absolutely right about the anonymity--I'm sure people will answer differently in front of other people than they will if they are just writing down answers alone.

You probably want to have more than one question on your survey--I suggest asking about brushing, flossing, and using mouthwash. You could also ask twice a day vs. once a day, etc. It would then be easy to change the order of questions.

In terms of the interviewer characteristics, maybe you could try giving the survey with and without eating something like garlic ahead of time so your breath smells?

For the logical equivalency question, what about something like, 'Do you follow dentists' recommendations for keeping your mouth clean?' I myself would probably say yes to that without thinking (I brush/floss/use mouthwash every single day)...but then if you asked if I brush twice a day, no, I only brush once a day...so the real answer to the first question is 'no'.

Does that help?

I would suggest not asking about the death of parents. That's a really sensitive issue for some people that might make them extremely uncomfortable. Moreover, your sample size of people whose parents have died will probably be very small in high school.

Thank you for your help!