Course talk:POLI380SEPT2010Cutler/Survey/Afghanistan
hello :)AJMauger 21:38, 29 September 2010 (UTC)
Hi, I've just joined this survey and am about to work on formulating some questions, but I'm wondering about a couple things. I understand we're creating a survey to gather data of public opinion on Canada's role in Afghanistan, but should we agree on a research question or a general area of interest first, so we have a general guide to what the content of our questions should be? So maybe we should discuss and converge on a specific issue regarding Canada and Afghanistan? Obviously the date of pulling out troops is approaching, and we could gather data on whether Canadians feel this date is appropriate or if they interpret that as an abandonment of responsibilities. Or I guess we could even ask what Canadians feel the role is, and the extent of that role, that Canada has in international aid, specifically, in a difficult and complex stabilization mission? Does Canada have any responsibility? Did we at one point, and no longer do? So does this area of focus seem appealing and appropriate to everyone else? -- JohannaDillman 03:06, 6 October 2010 (UTC)Jdillman
I think that is a good idea, focuses the area of interest, because like previously mentioned, there are many different aspects of the war in Afghanistan, and we shouldn't try to cover all of them. Focusing on Canada possibly pulling troops out of Afghanistan makes sense to me. AJMauger 17:20, 7 October 2010 (UTC)
Yes I agree with you Johanna, a specific area that we all have a collective interest in. Our obvious ‘specific idea’ is Afghanistan; I’m going to assume we all would like to focus on a research question closely related to the War in Afghanistan (War on Terror) since 2001. Now, we must first develop a research question covering all the aspects of last Friday’s test (questions, concepts, hypothesis, variables, and operizationalization). I will propose some ideas to get the ball rolling (leaving areas blank for others to fill in as we go); hopefully we can establish a research question by this weekend in order to start building coherent survey Q’s.
Possible research question: Has Canadian Military interventions since 2001 increased political participation in Afghanistan? Because…one of the main roles of the Canadian military is to help Afghanistan rebuild their government (a democracy); one of the main pillars of democracy is the general and equal right to vote. Why not attempt to measure their success through the data of voting polls and public opinion? (feel free to change this) (instead of political participation we can use the 'social capital' approach, what ever you wish!)
Two concepts:
1) Canadian Military Intervention
2) Political Participation.
Operationalization:
1) Canadian Military Intervention
- percentage of Canadian Armed Forces in the province Kandahar
- _____________
- _____________
2) Political Participation
- percentage of women who have voted in previous elections before and after intervention (women's rights)
- percentage of men who have voted in previous elections before and after intervention (increase? decrease?)
- _____________
- ______________
Concise Hypothesis:
- Any one want to pick two variables or add another in order to make a concise hypothesis?
1) ______________ 2) ________________
Confounding Variable (Z) - ?
… 2009 fraud elections (difficult to legitimize data from these elections)
Areas I believe we should consider are: sex, occupation and source of media of those individuals filling out our survey. Knowing their sex, source of media, and occupation will allow us to better understand their way of life and time allocations. The way of life in Afghanistan is extremely different than here in Vancouver, especially from a women’s perspective. A male farmer who receives most of his political information from the mosque, I presume will have a different perspective on political issues than a female who is unemployed with limited rights. - 1) What is your sex?
1) male
2) female
- 2) What is your occupation?
1) farmer
2) labourer
3) office employee
4) entrepreneur
5) NGO employee
6) unemployed
I think that this question is trying to get to an important issue, but I think that it could be worded better. The categories that are used seem rather arbitrary. I think the main reason for asking this question is to identify the amount of exposure and education the subject has about the war in Afghanistan. Perhaps asking the amount of education the subject has would offer more informative results. Such as this question
What is your level of education? 1. Not finished high school
2. Completed high school
3. Completed undergraduate degree or trade certificate
4. Graduate school or above
9. No answer AJMauger 21:26, 6 October 2010 (UTC)
999) other: _____________
- 3) What is your main source of news about Canadian Military events in Afghanistan?
1) mosque
2) radio
3) friends/family
4) newspaper
999) other: _________________
When I think about these questions, I think about the concept of validity: Are they measuring what we would like to measure? Then again, I truly do believe they would give us a better understanding of the social environment in Afghanistan at this time.
What does everyone think? Let's keep changing it until we find something that satisfies everyone's interest...as soon as possible of course.
- Rana Hazarat (october 5th)just learned how to put a signature ... --RanaHazarat 21:35, 7 October 2010 (UTC)
Asking a question regarding the person's involvement in the military would be important. For example, a parent of somebody who is a part of the military might have different views than somebody who is not closely associated with somebody in the military.
Is somebody closely related to you in the Canadian military?
1. Yes
2. No
(If yes) How is that person related to you?
1. Daughter or son
2. Parent
3. Brother or sister
4. Husband or wife
5. Friend
6. Most distance relation (uncle, aunt, cousin, neice, nephew, etc)
9. Other
(If yes) Has that person been involved in Afghanistan?
1. Yes
2. No
3. Don't know
AJMauger 17:35, 7 October 2010 (UTC)
AJ, those are great questions...I'm just a tad bit confused, are we surveying Canadians or Afghans? I suppose surveying Canadians have a safer environment then knocking door to door within the streets of Kabul. Surveying Canadians are the route to take then! With your last two questions you posted on the other tab. When you typed in 'Iraq', did you mean to type 'Afghanistan'. I do believe it is invalid to answer our research question, we want to measure the response of Canadian regarding Afghanistan. Or did you have another intention? But good questions overall. --RanaHazarat 05:34, 8 October 2010 (UTC)
In response to that I would say that with my understanding of the assignment, we are supposed to interview Canadians primarily. I agree that interviewing Afghans would be difficult although if we were interested in whether or not the intervention has raised awareness of democratic ideas or increased political participation in Afghanistan itself, I see little way around it so I understand. Does anyone else aside from me have an interest in conducting a research that focuses more on Canadian citizens' perceptions of the war and discovering any causal variables connected? For example, does your income or party preference correlate with a strong stance of support or lack of for the Canadian troops in Afghanistan? Does gender play a role etc? It would certainly be easier to do and not entirely lacking in meaningfulness I would suggest...
...
Hey all, I'm Jeremy Walker
I read over the discussion and course pages and it seems to me that there are a lot of really good ideas but that we are not all really on the same page yet. The first step being a CLEAR research question/goal. I’m personally leaning toward the last point made here on the discussion board- “Conducting research that focuses more on Canadian citizens perceptions of the war and discovering any causal variable connected”
We could maybe ask the following question (or something like it): Does the socio-economic status of Canadians affect their perception of the Afghanistan war?
If we use an umbrella question like this we can take a few of the questions that have already been proposed... (these are other peoples questions already posted) and attempt to measure a few concepts of socio-economic status (eg. education level, income group, party support, community involvement, etc) and if/how these variable are connected to a Canadians perceptions of the war which we can probably measure on a scale of some sort, like Q3.
Some possible Q's already posted...
Q1 - What is your level of education? (Last level of education completed) 1. Not finished high school 2. Completed high school 3. Completed undergraduate degree or trade certificate 4. Graduate school or above 9. No answer
Q2 - Which of the following political parties do you support? 1. Liberals 2. NDP 3. Green party 4. Other 5. None/I don't know
Q3- On a scale from 1 to 10, how successful would you rate the accomplishments of the Canadian deployment in Afghanistan as of today?
We can also include questions concerning income group, gender, level of community commitment, etc. (We only have five questions so 1-2 questions should measure the participants perception of the war in some way and 3-4 questions should probably measure our socio-economic variables of interest)
Q4 - What is your income group? 1. $0 - 10,000 2. $10,000 - 25,000 3. $25,000 - 50,000 4. $50, 000 - 75,000 5. $75,000 - 100,000 6. $100,000 and above
Q5 - How many hours a week do you volunteer/or are otherwise active in your community? 1. none 2. 1-3 3. 3-5 4. 5-10 5. more than 10
Let me know what you think, cheers -- JEREMY WALKER (23459092)
Sorry about the question spacing, got all messed up once I saved it - Jeremy
...
I'm with Rana on this one, I'm not really sure where you're going with this, AJ. This is meant to be a practical exercise, we're not gauging public opinion on the ground, as your questions seem intended to do. The above questions are geared towards surveying Afghans as opposed to Canadians (I would imagine less than a fraction of a percent of Canadians learn about events in Afghanistan at mosques). Having a list of five or six professions as you have above isn't particularly useful, either. We will actually be contacting people and asking these questions, and seeing as I don't speak Dari or Pashto, we have to re-orient the questions towards the Canadian public.
As far as I am aware, basic demographic information is going to be a part of the survey that all groups send out. Things like age, gender, income, education level, party voted for in past election, perhaps ethnicity, will be part of the survey as whole, so we don't need to worry ourselves with producing these kinds of questions. If we have pointed (but rather broad) questions that gauge public opinion, we can cross-reference our results with various demographic categories to produce insights into correlation. I like Johanna's idea - we should be focusing on popular perception of Canada's intent to pull out of Afghanistan in 2011. It's timely and measurable.
How do some of these sound?
1. I currently support Canada's mission in Afghanistan.
1. Strongly agree
2. Somewhat agree
3. Somewhat disagree
4. Strongly disagree
5. No opinion
9. Refused
- Hey Alex, these are great questions. I would suggest that the first question in the survey should measure Canadian's perception of informedness regarding relative Afghanistan and Canadian relations. We could pose a question asking how informed they feel they are, and connect a follow-up question that would provide information on how frequently/recently they encounter/access information on the Canadian mission in Afghanistan. --JohannaDillman 18:29, 11 October 2010 (UTC)
2. Canada's mission in Afghanistan is an important electoral issue for me, and issues surrounding it would influence which party I would vote for in the next federal election.
1. Strongly agree
2. Somewhat agree
3. Somewhat disagree
4. Strongly disagree
5. No opinion
9. Refused
3. Canada's mission in Afghanistan will have achieved the majority of its goals by 2011.
1. Strongly agree
2. Somewhat agree
3. Somewhat disagree
4. Strongly disagree
5. No opinion
9. Refused
4. Canada should continue its military involvement in Afghanistan as part of ISAF past 2011
1. Strongly agree
2. Somewhat agree
3. Somewhat disagree
4. Strongly disagree
5. No opinion
9. Refused
5. I believe the Canadian military will leave Afghanistan in 2011.
1. Agree
2. Disagree
3. Unsure
9. Refused
6. Overall, Canada's mission in Afghanistan has been a good use of public resources.
1. Strongly agree
2. Somewhat agree
3. Somewhat disagree
4. Strongly disagree
5. No opinion
9. Refused
--AlexanderBookbinder 00:36, 9 October 2010 (UTC)
Again, I think we need some clarification on this - is basic demographic data going to be part of the question set? It's going to be of use to all groups involved when we actually conduct the survey, so I don't think we need to come up with those kinds of questions here, Jeremy. --AlexanderBookbinder 00:40, 9 October 2010 (UTC)
---
Hey, so yeah, after looking over the intro again I guess I missed the part where we will be able to use basic demographic data. This being the case we can focus on some more specific question. I'm on board with, focusing on popular perception of Canada's intent to pull out of Afghanistan in 2011.
As far as the questions go, I like the following four
1. I currently support Canada's mission in Afghanistan.
2. Canada's mission in Afghanistan is an important electoral issue for me, and issues surrounding it would influence which party I would vote for in the next federal election.
4. Canada should continue its military involvement in Afghanistan as part of ISAF past 2011
6. Overall, Canada's mission in Afghanistan has been a good use of public resources. (Maybe keeping this question simple - Overall, Canada's mission in Afganistan has been successful)
As for the other two, Question 3 might assume to much prior knowledge - participants might not be able to answer this question accurately, unless we highlight the specific goals for them. Question 5 is a little to similar to question 4 for me. Maybe a question geared towards measuring the public perception of Canadas role in Afganistan instead...something like
Canada should have a continued non-militant presence in Afganistan after 2011?
1. Strongly agree
2. Somewhat agree
3. Somewhat disagree
4. Strongly disagree
5. No opinion
- Jeremy
JeremyWalker 02:31, 9 October 2010 (UTC)
Jeremy, my take is that it doesn't matter how much people know about the mission or how "accurate" their responses are. It's all about perception here; if people respond that they don't know or have no opinion, that is a measurement of how little people know, which may also be useful. As far as Q6 goes, I think leaving the bit about public resources in there is important as it frames the question to be about funding and the use of taxpayers' money, not just a generic question about the mission as a whole (which #1 accomplishes). Noted about #4-5. I like your suggestion of the "development option." --AlexanderBookbinder 05:14, 9 October 2010 (UTC)
Cool, so were measuring...
Q1 - Do they support the war Q2 - Does it affect their vote Q3 - Did we meet our goals Q4 - Should they stay (military) Q7 - Should they stay (non-military) Q5 - Will they leave Q6 - Was it worth the money
What does everyone else think? What are the most important question?
JeremyWalker 19:40, 9 October 2010 (UTC)
- Hey all, I think this sharpened focus of interest sounds interesting and appropriate. I think the only thing that is missing, that may be of importance, is an inquiry into what survey respondents feel their level of concern is and/or how informed they feel they are. I think a question that begins by asking how informed a respondent feels, followed by a question about how frequently/recently they encounter (read/hear/study?!) information on Canadian military and Afghanistan relations would allow some transparency to biased or misrepresented responses. --JohannaDillman 18:29, 11 October 2010 (UTC)
Hi guys,
I was just looking over some of the questions you've posed, and these last few ones Jeremy has summarized sound great. I don't think the socio-economic status of Canadians would really have much to do with their perceptions of the Afghanistan war, rather I think it would be their political views/affiliations. Perhaps we should have more questions geared toward their general policy attitudes. For example, we could have a question about whether or not they would support a tax raise to support our troops in Afghanistan. Or perhaps whether or not they think the government's funding in this war is too high/low/enough/etc.
I would also focus more on people's attitudes about the war...i.e. do they think this war is justified? Is it moral? A person's general knowledge about the war is also important, because most people don't even KNOW why we're there, or THAT we're even there. So maybe asking a question like "how much do you think you know about the war in Afghanistan" would be good. (perhaps the phrasing of that question is a bit off...anyone got any ideas how we could rephrase that so that we could get some data about how much people know about the war?) Maybe we could also ask whether or not they follow it on the news/in the newspapers?
Attitudes and Knowledge I think are key issues we seem to be missing, otherwise, these questions look great!
--VedranaCovic 01:03, 10 October 2010 (UTC)Vedrana Covic
Me again... I think that question we have above (somewhere) about the US in Afghanistan is also a great way to get people's opinions about the war. I definitely think we should add a question like that, because we're so closely allied with the US, and let's face it...what they do/want us to do...we do. They're our immediate neighbours and play a huge role in our policies.
--VedranaCovic 03:07, 10 October 2010 (UTC)
In order to limit it to 5 questions, I think we can afford to lose the "was it worth the money" question. I think this question is too influenced by the first question "do you support the war".
Most likely, if they support the war, then the money is well spent. If they don't support the war, then the money is a waste.
--PowerChen 20:10, 10 October 2010 (UTC)
Oh you're right, totally agree with you on that one. How 'bout the rest of the questions? I think it would be important to ask about whether or not they follow what's going on in Afghanistan in the news/newspapers etc.? Yes? --VedranaCovic 20:36, 10 October 2010 (UTC)
I think that we should ask people just one simple question on whether they have participated in any type of environmentally/animal related demonstration or have donated to any environment/animal related groups. I'd be quite surprised if there wasn't a pattern between people who are actively involved in those groups and war support. So I was thinking:
Have you donated or participated to/in any environmental/animal groups in the last 2 years?
1. Yes 2. No
I realize its very simple but I think will be revealing. -Kyle
I think the above question will shift our focus away from "Canada's involvement in Afghanistan past 2011". We are not trying to figure out a pattern in which specific groups of Canadians support the war. We just want to find out if Canadian perceptions of the war favours or disfavours the continuance of involvement.
--PowerChen 00:33, 12 October 2010 (UTC)
Yeah, I don't think the environmental question is necessary or relevant. Also, it should be in some of the preliminary questions at the beginning survey...or I would think so at least.
--VedranaCovic 00:37, 12 October 2010 (UTC)
Jeremy, I believe Q4 and Q7 could be combined since we only have 5 questions to officially chose as our survey questions.
Q4 - Should they stay (military)
Q7 - Should they stay (non-military) ...it could be answered like this...
1) Both should pull out
2) Both should stay
3) Military should stay, non-military should pull out
4) Military should pull out, non -military should stay
9) Not applicable
= concise. Therefore our questions are...
Q1 - Do they support the war?
Q2 - Does it affect their vote?
Q3 - Did we meet our goals?
Q4 - Should military and non- military stay?
Q5 - Will they leave?
--RanaHazarat mon. oct 11. 6 pm
First off, I like your combination of the question Rana, kills two birds with one stone. Second, heres a few more suggestions people have made from the more recent posts (might have missed some/please add) to add to the five Rana has above. I think their all potentially useful depending on what we want.
Other possible Q's:
Q - How informed are respondents? (ie how often do they read, listen, watch news about the war) Q - Would you pay more (more tax) to continue mission? Q - Is the war justified? Moral? Q - US question of some sort?
I think at this point we have a pretty good list of possible questions but in order to finalize we need to have a more concrete understanding of our : research question --> theory --> hypothesis --> etc. This is taken from the assignment main page - "Remember, this isn't just about writing survey questions, it's really an exercise to actively think about and learn how the quantitative empirical research process works, from defining research questions all the way through theory, conceptualization, measurement, and onward to data analysis and reporting."
So what are we specifically researching? Canadians broad perspective on the war? Canadians perspective on staying/withdrawing from the war? What influences Canadian perspective on the war? Something else? And what is our research question and hypothesis?
My initial suggestion was using the socio-economic status (including income, party affiliation, and other stuff that will be provided) to measure against Canadians perspective on staying or leaving the war in 2011. A few people didn't really like this, which is cool, I just want to establish something and than choose the questions from above that fit best. Cheers
JeremyWalker 05:52, 12 October 2010 (UTC)
Sorry, just re-read my post, kinda comes off like I came up with that last part myself, was more of a combination of reading others post/suggestions and my opinion. Not trying to steal any ideas. CheersJeremyWalker 05:57, 12 October 2010 (UTC)
|Hmmm... Perhaps Canadians perspective on staying/withdrawing from the war? I'm afraid if we go with something more general, like Canadians broad perspective on the war, it would be hard to form a sort of hypothesis/theory because it would be so huge. Or even "What influences Canadian perspective on the war?" because that way I imagine it would be linked to the specific party they support and even incorporate Jeremy's idea about socio-economic status. --VedranaCovic 22:10, 13 October 2010 (UTC)
i liked the 4 overall questions rana suggested. Should we start finalizing our survey? For the first question instead of sex, level of education etc., i think we should ask are you legiable to vote in canadian elections 1. Yes 2. NO then take it from there, dismiss the no's. and then start asking all the questions. any ideas?
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