The Ethical Aspects of Surveys and Statistics Statistics and Data Interpretation Jasmaine Tate Cardinal Stritch University Introduction Surveys are conducted to assess how a large or small number of people feel about different topics . Surveys can be managed in several ways. Surveys can be conducted in person or online. Surveys can be conducted at school, work, home, etc. Surveys can be used for good, but some people use them in unethical ways. The three main surveys are case study, sample and census. Case studies, sampling and censuses Case study surveys collect information from one part of a group or community, without attempting to select it for the overall representation of the larger population. You may need to conduct several of these before you have a sense of how the broader community would respond to your survey (Hampton and Vilela). Educational evaluation is a topic that uses case study investigations to make an educated guess about how education will change over time. Since case study surveys are used to understand how an entire community feels about a topic, making sure you have responses from a mix of people in the community would be best. Surveying a group of individuals who may be friends and share the same values ​​will not provide accurate results about how the community feels about the survey topic. Some surveyors select only a certain type of people to interview so that their results satisfy them. This is unethical and unfair to citizens who rely on polls to estimate change, progress, or the future. Sampled surveys ask a sample of a group to answer your questions. If done correctly, the sample results will reflect the results you would have obtained when examining the entire group. (Hampton &...... middle of paper ...... in different places and areas. Surveys allow respondents to remain anonymous which is why surveys are usually able to analyze certain topics. While surveys can be used for good, some people may use it unethically if a sponsor has the wrong intentions when administering the survey References Hampton, C., & Vilela, M. (n.d.). -contents/assessment/assessing-community-needs-and-resources/conduct-surveys/mainLevine, D., Krehbiel, T., & Berenson, M. (2010): A first course. 215-217: Prentice Hall. Survey Methods (n.d.). survey-methodsWhat is measurement error (n.d.) Retrieved from http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/measurement-error.html/