Lesson video

Hello, my name's Mrs. Jones, and I'm really pleased that you decided to join this lesson today.

In this lesson, we will look at what data is required to answer a question and how to create a good data capture form to gather the required data.

So let's get started.

Welcome to today's lesson.

Today's lesson is called "Capturing data to investigate an issue" from the unit Data science.

And by the end of this lesson, you'll be able to identify data needed to answer a question and then design a data capture form to collect the data needed.

There are two keywords to today's lesson.

Precise.

Precise is a question that is clear, specific, and unambiguous.

Data capture.

Data capture is the action or process of gathering data.

There are two sections to today's lesson.

The first is identify the data needed to answer a question.

The second is create a data capture form.

So let's start with identify the data needed to answer a question.

The PPDAC cycle is a framework that helps us ask and answer real-world problems using data.

You can see on the diagram those areas, problem, plan, data, analysis, conclusions, and the first letter of each of those is how PPDAC came about.

The first is problem.

Define the problem that needs to be solved and pose questions that can be investigated.

Plan: predict an answer to the question or questions.

Find a data set or make a plan to collect the data.

Data: gather the data.

You should then clean the data before moving on to the next step.

Analysis: visualise the data, spot any patterns, trends, correlations, or outliers.

Write down your observations about what the data is showing you.

Conclusions: answer the question and explain what the data reveals.

Decide on a conclusion, take action, or form further questions to investigate.

Almost 48% of people admit to dropping litter.

The amount of litter dropped each year in the UK has increased by a massive 500% since the 1960s.

7 out of every 10 items of litter is food packaging.

These are all part of the problem section.

Continue looking at the problem.

Around 122 tonnes of cigarette butts and cigarette-related litter are dropped every day across the UK.

1.

3 million pieces of rubbish are dropped on UK roads every weekend.

A third of motorists admit to littering while driving.

Walt Disney wanted to know just how far people would walk with rubbish in their hand before just dropping it.

So he sat on a bench and watched the visitors to his park, counting the steps of those looking for a place to throw out their rubbish.

He counted 30 steps on average, and that is still the distance between each rubbish bin at Disney Parks.

Let's have a quick check.

How did Walt Disney narrow down the larger problem into a more specific question? What was that question? Pause the video, go back through the slides and consider your answer, and then we'll check it.

Let's check your answer.

Walt Disney was trying to solve the problem of people dropping litter in the park.

He thought that people were dropping litter because there weren't enough bins.

The specific question he wanted to answer was how far do bins need to be placed apart to ensure visitors put their rubbish in the bin rather than dropping it.

Well done if you got that correct.

Your school is part of your community.

How can you use data to help improve your school community by reducing landfill waste and increasing recycling as much as we can? What questions do we need to answer to help us solve this problem? Alex suggests, "Are there enough bins in the school?" Sam suggests, "Are the bins in the right place?" Izzy suggests, "Are there enough places to recycle?" Some really good questions.

Let's have a quick check.

Which of these would be suitable questions about reducing waste and recycling more? A, do you eat in the canteen? B, do you split your lunch waste into recycling bins? C, do you know where the bins are located? Pause the video to consider your answer, and then we'll check it.

Let's check your answer.

The answer was B and C.

Do you split your lunch waste into recycling bins? And do you know where the bins are located? Well done if you got those correct.

Let's do an activity.

And there are two parts to this activity.

The first is write two precise questions that you can use to help find the answer to the larger question of how can we reduce litter in our school community? And the second part is use the mind map template below to help you to think about all the data that you will need to collect.

Some lines have been added to help you get started, but you should add more if you need them.

So in the centre of your mind map, what data should we collect? And you can see there's an example there of type of litter with lines coming off as well.

Pause the video, go back through the slides, use your worksheet, and then we'll go through the answers.

Let's check your answers.

For the first part, which was write two precise questions that you can use to help find the answer to the larger question of how can we reduce litter in our school community, we could have, are there enough bins? Or are the right types of recycling bins available? For the second part, which was the mind map to help us think about all the data that we might need to collect, we've got location of the current bins, amount of litter in specific areas of the school, like the canteen or the playground, the type of recycling bins, the distance litter dropped from the nearest bin, the location of recycling bins.

And with the types of litter, we have plastics, paper, food packaging.

Well done if you got those correct and completed both of those parts of the activity.

Let's move on to the second part of today's lesson, create a data capture form.

Now that you've decided what data to collect, you need to consider how you will collect and store it.

As you are going to collect this data yourself, how should you go about it? And there's a hint.

To help with this, you should consider what you might want to do with the data after collection.

Alex says, "We could count how many pieces of litter are in each location." Sam suggests, "We could do a questionnaire to ask pupils about recycling." Izzy suggests, "We could put all this information on a data capture form." As you'll want to process the data electronically, at some point, your recordings will need to be stored as an electronic file.

However, while collecting the data, you may need to record it manually at first and then upload the data to the computer.

A data capture form is a form used to collect information, and you may have filled out forms at school, the doctors, or a sports club, for example.

We use data capture forms to gather information quickly, keep data neat and organised and use the answers later in a database, survey, or visualisation.

A form may include free-text boxes.

This is where you just type in answers to questions.

For example, like name.

Dropdown menus.

This is where certain answers have been provided for you to select from, and you click the dropdown menu and you select your answer.

For example, what year group are you from? Tick boxes.

An example here is favourite subject.

This is where you have lots of little squares usually that you click and put a tick in to select all the answers that you want to select for your answer.

Ratings.

For example, one to five stars.

So you can select where it fits, whether you select whether it's a one star, a three star, or five star.

Data collection forms can be created on paper or electronically.

Let's have a quick check.

Why are tick boxes useful on a data collection form? Is it A, they let people write long answers; B, they look more colourful; C, they help people choose from set options quickly; or D, they are harder to understand? Pause the video to consider your answer, and then we'll check it.

Let's check your answer.

The answer was C.

They help people choose from set options quickly.

Well done if you got that correct.

Data capture forms can be created electronically using tools like Google Forms or Microsoft Forms or by using spreadsheet or word processing software to record results.

In Google Forms, you can start a new form by clicking on blank form.

In Microsoft Forms, you can start with a blank form or use a template.

Let's look at Google Forms. When you open up a blank Google Form, you can set the title for the form at the top where it says untitled form.

You can choose the question type, and there is a dropdown menu to select from there.

You can set the question where it says untitled question.

And then once you've done that, you can set the answer options where it says option one.

When you select the type of question, that set answer options changes so that it fits the type of question type that you have put in.

If you don't want the user to skip the question, you can set the type to required by clicking there at the bottom, by making it a required answer that they have to answer it before moving on to the next question.

Let's look at Microsoft Forms. And again, here you have set the title for the form where it says untitled form, and you choose the question type.

And this time it is all the options are visible there and you click the one that you want to select.

Once you've done that, you can set the question where it says question and then set the answer options.

And again, that will change depending on what the question type is.

You can add more options where it says Add option.

And again, if you don't want the user to skip the question, you can set the type to required by clicking at the bottom there and changing it to a required answer before moving on.

Let's have a quick check.

True or false? With online forms, you cannot prevent users from leaving a question blank.

Is that true or false? Pause the video to consider your answer and then we'll check it.

Let's check your answer.

The answer was false.

Why? Pause the video just to consider, why is that a false statement? And then we'll go through the answer.

Let's check your answer.

Most online form tools include an option where you can set a question as required.

This prevents a user from skipping or leaving a question blank.

Well done if you got those correct.

Let's do an activity.

Create a data capture form to collect data to help you answer the questions you planned in task A.

You can either create a data collection form using an online tool like Google Forms or Microsoft Forms, or you can create a paper-based version.

And two, if you can, collect some data using your data capture form.

Pause the video to complete this activity, and then we'll go through some answers.

Let's check your answer.

So Alex created his data capture form in Google Forms, and he says, "I included mostly multiple choice type questions to make it quick and easy to fill out." And you can see on the right there an example of his Google Form, his data capture form.

The question: was it purchased from the school canteen, shop, or cafe? Yes or no? Approximate distance from the nearest bin in metres, with a short answer text box there.

Is it recyclable waste, with a yes or no answer.

Is it compostable, a yes or no answer.

Well done for completing your activity and creating a data capture form.

In summary, the investigative cycle includes steps like asking a question, collecting data, analysing it, and drawing conclusions.

To answer a question with data, you need to think carefully about what type of data is needed and how it will be collected.

You can design a data capture form to collect the right data in a clear and organised way.

Well done for completing this lesson, "Capturing data to investigate an issue.".