Here is one of the questions from Tom's study. Write down two different problems with this question.\n\nHow old are you?\nTick (✓) a box.\n[ ] under 21\n[ ] 21 – 50\n[ ] 51 – 60\n[ ] 61 – 70

How to approach this question

Analyse the response boxes provided for the question. Good response boxes for a continuous variable like age should be: \n1. **Exhaustive:** They should cover all possible answers. Is there an option for every possible age? \n2. **Mutually Exclusive:** They should not overlap. Can someone fit into more than one category? \n3. **Clear:** Is it obvious which box to tick?

Full Answer

Problem 1: The age groups are overlapping. A person who is 50 could tick the second or third box (if the ranges are inclusive, which is ambiguous). A better way is to have non-overlapping groups like 21-50, 51-60. The question is ambiguous. Problem 2: The age groups are not exhaustive. There is no box for people over 70. Other valid problems: The age groups are of unequal width (e.g., 21-50 is a 30-year range, while 51-60 is a 10-year range), which can make analysis difficult.

When designing response categories for quantitative data, they must be both **exhaustive** (cover all possibilities) and **mutually exclusive** (non-overlapping). \n1. **Not Mutually Exclusive/Ambiguous:** The question is not clear on how to handle the boundaries. For example, if you are exactly 50, do you tick "21-50" or "51-60"? The ranges should be written clearly, e.g., "21 to 50", "51 to 60". Even then, it's better to write them like 21-50 and 51-60. A better way is 21-49, 50-69 etc. 2. **Not Exhaustive:** The categories stop at 70. There is no option for anyone aged 71 or older. A final category like "71 or over" is needed. \n3. **Unequal Class Widths:** The ranges are of different sizes (e.g., 21-50 covers 30 years, 51-60 covers 10 years). This is not ideal for creating histograms or for some types of analysis.

Common mistakes

✗ Saying "the question is confusing" without explaining why.\n✗ Criticising the question itself ("How old are you?") rather than the response options.

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Here is one of the questions from Tom's study. Write down two different problems with this question.\n\nHow old are you?\nTick (✓) a box.\n[ ] under 21\n[ ] 21 – 50\n[ ] 51 – 60\n[ ] 61 – 70

How to approach this question

Full Answer

Common mistakes

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