Course talk:POLI380SEPT2010Cutler/Survey/AboriginalAffairs
Question: Do you think that job opportunities are fairly distributed among Aboriginal people and Canadians(citiznes and permanet residents)? Answer Options: 1. Strongly Agree. 2. Agree. 3. Neutral. 4. Disagree. 5. Strongly Disagree --Sarahrhee 1:02, 1 October 2010 (UTC)
Hi, After reading the questions above, I just wanted to mention something about the wording of questions in general - I stumbled across this explanation on the Indian and Northern Affairs Canada website: "Aboriginal peoples" is a collective name for the original peoples of North America and their descendants. The Canadian constitution recognizes three groups of Aboriginal people: Indians (commonly referred to as First Nations), Métis and Inuit. (copied & pasted from http://www.ainc-inac.gc.ca/ap/index-eng.asp)
Just something to consider when we are wording our questions - "Aboriginal peoples" might be a good term to use if we want to be consistent.
--EmilyAtkinson 02:24, 1 October 2010 (UTC)
The reason that Andrea and I used "Aboriginal Canadians" instead of "Aboriginal peoples" was that we didn't want them to take it offensive but I took your point and corrected it to apporach to people with a term that they are more familiar with. However, we should not use "Indians." It is either First Nations, Natives, or Aboriginal pepople like you said.--Sarahrhee 18:25, 8 October 2010 (UTC)
Also, after reading the first comment under the heading "Research Question", I was thinking that maybe the first question to ask respondents is:
- 1.Do you consider yourself to be Métis, Inuit, or a First Nation? (not sure about the wording here...)
Alternatively, we could ask:
- 2.Have you ever resided on a First Nations Reserve?
Either one of these questions might be good to pose, since, as someone mentioned in the "Research Question" section, a respondent's perception might differ according to whether he/she is part of a First Nations Community.
--EmilyAtkinson 17:32, 5 October 2010 (UTC)
I like your question but how about we make it to a ordinal question giving scales? such as: 1. Yes, my parents are Natives. 2. Yes, because I have Natives family members. 3. No, although I have Natives family memebers. 4. No, although I have Natives relatives.
Question 2 on Residing on a Frist Nations Reserve is not clear. I went to Natives Reserve recently and met few whites who live there. They obviously do not relate thier identities to the Natives. Therfore we can't decide whether they are related to Natives identity by chekcing them if they have experiences on Reserves.--Sarahrhee 18:33, 6 October 2010 (UTC)
I see what you mean. I thought it might be interesting to determine whether or not respondents have lived or currently live on a First Nations Reserve because they may see first hand the issues faced by Aboriginal Peoples. Maybe we could add living on a First Nations Reserve to your edits to question #1? for instance, the question & options could read:
Do you consider yourself to be a Native Canadian? 1. Yes, one or both of my parents are Native Canadians (specified type) and I/we live on a First Nations Reserve. 2. Yes, one or both of my parents are Native Canadians (specified type). 3. Yes, because some of my relatives are Native Canadian (specified type) and I/we live on a First Nations Reserve. 4. Yes, because some of my relatives are Native Canadian. 5. No, although some of my family members are Native Canadian (specified type). 6. No, although I live on a First Nations Reserve. 7. No, not at all.
--EmilyAtkinson 20:26, 8 October 2010 (UTC)
services subsidized by the Federal and/or Provincial Government
The instructions on Talk Pages suggested organizing discussion under discussion topics, so I created this topic section.
Potential question topic: There are government programs that help preserve Aboriginal peoples cultures, languages etc., such as the federal Cultural/Educational Centres Program. We could pose a question along the lines of, "To what extent do you believe the federal government should finance education for the preservation and development of First Nation and Inuit cultural heritage and languages? We could also pose the question for "provincial" governments...
--EmilyAtkinson 02:48, 1 October 2010 (UTC)
Question: Do you agree that Aboriginal people should receive free post-secondary education?
Answer Options: 1. Strongly Agree. 2. Agree. 3. Neutral. 4. Disagree. 5. Strongly Disagree. --AndreaAzcona 17:05, 6 October 2010 (UTC)
Another idea that was mentioned in survey last year on the DTES I think would be helpful: It is the responsibility of Aboriginal Peoples to deal with their own issues, not the Canadian government's: 1. Strongly Agree 2. Agree 3. Neutral 4. Disagree 5. Strongly Disagree
--Mcleodsa 19:44, 4 October 2010 (UTC)
I like your questions. It is true that there is high rate of government funding and programs for Natives. However, there are only few Natives who actually get these supports. Although they have many opportunites, they can't get them because of their lack of knowlege and motiviation. Government should develop social programs that promote Natives' motivation to enroll in schools if it really wants to help Natives. So, we can ask question like:
What kinds of social programs should government make to help Natives?--Sarahrhee 19:10, 8 October 2010 (UTC)
Um, I have to heartily disagree with this statement. Funding for first nations is at best erratic. It has nothing to do with people being lazy or ignorant. As Matt points out it has to do with if the individual holds status, if their band is able to fund education and a host of other factors . This idea that First Nations are rolling in dough and are simply to lazy to do anything productive is at the heart of ideas that have produced ethnocentric and racist policies.
I think you misunderstood my point. I didn't mean that they are ignorant or lazy. I meant they don't know imporatanc of eduation because noboday tells them. Canadian's society emphasizes importance of education, but Natives' culture does not emphasize it. It is not because they are lazy, but it is because they don't know them. Threfore, we need social programs that promote thier "motivation" so they can actually use supports and opportutnies they have. --Sarahrhee 22:54, 11 October 2010 (UTC)
[Are you serious? No one tells them? Native culture does not emphasis education?
First off, I think by education you mean a western style education, like UBC. Perhaps you are saying that the only education that is important is this type and not learning about traditional or cultural specific types of education?
Do you know how hard some communities are working to encourage their children to not only learn about their culture and learning, but also to get a broader education?
Furthermore, how can you say Native culture does not...... First Nations culture is very diverse. It's like saying European or Asian culture do not emphasis education.
First Nations Peoples have a myriad of different cultures that emphasize education in many ways. They are not ignorant, misinformed nor need to be told by the rest of Canadian people that they need to learn about the importance of education. The importance of education, whatever it is, needs to be promoted from within First Nations communities and families.
Obviously there are some First Nations people that do not see the importance of any type of education (even own culture). But you'll find that in all social demographics.] (Sarah Gregory)
It is important to note that just because you have native descendancy or heritage does not mean you are eligible for various government programs. Most programs, such as being sponsored by a Native Band for post-secondary education revovles around if you have status or not (recognized by the government of Canada for being native), which many many people do not, do to various sexist and racist policies of the past and even the presen, alongside you also have to be a community member of a First Nations Band. -- MatthewNorris 17:55, 8 October 2010 (UTC)
Interesting comments (Sarah and Matthew). Another "test" question to see how informed Canadians are about Aboriginal Issues (see final section on this talk page below) could be: All Aboriginal Canadians are eligible for special government support programs not offered to other Canadians. 1. Agree, 2. Disagree, 3. Unsure --EmilyAtkinson 18:46, 10 October 2010 (UTC)
Research Question
We can ask what the most common problems in an Aboriginal family and a family in Canadian soceity. Then compare them together. So for Canadians Q1)What do you think the most common problem is in an aboriginal family? 1)Poverty/Inequality 2)Health Care 3)Drug addiction 4)Education 5)Emplyment Barrier 6)Self Determination
Q2) What is the most common rpbolem in a famliy in Canadian society? 1)Poverty/Inequality 2)Health Care 3)Drug addiction 4)Education 5)Emplyment Barrier 6)Self Determination --Sarahrhee 07:56, 10 October 2010 (UTC)
In addition to thinking about specific questions, we should think about what we are trying to find out in our survey. I guess our dependent variable is Canadian perception of Aboriginal Peoples (or something similar) and we should try and think of some things that would cause changes in perception of Aboriginal People. For example : Does higher education cause higher concern for the rights of Aboriginal Peoples? Does being / knowing someone who is Aboriginal change perception of Aboriginal peoples? So yeah, post ideas of research questions here... --Mcleodsa 15:18, 1 October 2010 (UTC)
Good point. I asked our professor in class yesterday about this kind of thing - whether we should be focusing on one "dependent variable" so to speak. He said to focus on a few areas of interest, so stuff that can provide for multiple variables (was my understanding), not necessarily focus on one dependent variable. I think "Canadians' perception of Aboriginal Peoples" though is general enough that it could provide for several "variables". Something that might be interesting to look at is how informed Canadians think they are, or actually are, about Aboriginal Affairs. It might be interesting to compare these variables with others. See below the new section I created on this topic area. --EmilyAtkinson 17:11, 5 October 2010 (UTC)
I think having the broade topic and then some areas of interest is a good idea. Do people think we should narrow down our topics or work with the number of topics we have? --AndreaAzcona 23:57, 6 October 2010 (UTC)
I think we should work with the subtopics we have. Canadians' perception of Aboriginal Peoples could be our broad topic, and the subtopics can include what's listed here (self-determination/self-government, government-provided programs and subsidies, etc.). I still think it would be worthwhile though to look at how informed Canadians are about Aboriginal Affairs vs. how informed they actually are.
--EmilyAtkinson 05:35, 8 October 2010 (UTC)
Too whatpurpose arewe trying to discover what people perceptions of Aboriginal peoples are? WHat is this helping us understand or change? --MatthewNorris15:11, 11 October 2010 (UTC)
I like your comment Emily. Since our main topic is "Canadian's perception of Aboriginal People" We can also ask question like Say that Aboriginal people did not want to define thesmelves as aboriginal people in publis. Then what would be reasons for it? and we can you refrence from "Dataset: 2006 Census Public Use Microdata Files."--Sarahrhee 07:26, 9 October 2010 (UTC)
I agree...the only thing is that I think we have to narrow it doen to only 5 questions. I think we have some interesting questions, maybe we could start thinking about which ones are most useful for our research question. --AndreaAzcona 17:25, 8 October 2010 (UTC)
Agreed - Although, from my understanding, it's not 100% imperative that we narrow it down to 5 questions, I think we should at least try to post some on the "course" page for this topic. How about, by Monday at noon (since the assignment is due at 7pm), everyone in the group posts the questions that they have suggested that they absolutely want to see on the survey on the "course" page of this topic? --EmilyAtkinson 20:33, 8 October 2010 (UTC)
Hi I posted some questions on the course page, feel free to edit/remove them if you want.--Mcleodsa 16:02, 11 October 2010 (UTC)
Self-Determination
If we're interested in Canadian's perception of the self-determination of Aboriginal peoples, here are some ideas for questions:
1. Aboriginal Canadians have a right to self-government : strongly disagree, disagree, neutral, agree, strongly agree
2. Canada should sign the UN Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples : strongly disagree, disagree, neutral, agree, strongly agree
--Mcleodsa 15:18, 1 October 2010 (UTC)
I think these two questions are good though I think it would be important to ask Canadians if they're even familiar with the UN Declaration of Rights of Indigenous Peoples. I think that people knowing (or not knowing) about this declaration goes hand-in-hand with Canadians being aware or informed about Aboriginal affairs.
--RonyGanon 20:59, 5 October 2010 (UTC)
Agreed - I think we have two options if we want to include this question in the survey.
Option 1: before asking the question above, we could ask respondents a knowledge-testing question, such as "What do you think are the key components of the UN Declaration of Rights of Indigenous Peoples that relate to Aboriginal Canadians?". This question could be used as a "test" question that doesn't sound like a test question (like what Dr. Cutler has suggested below). If respondents cannot answer the question at all, or answer with false information (for example, stuff that is not included in the declaration), that may indicate that they are not very informed on Aboriginal Affairs. Having them relate it to Aboriginal Canadians might be useful, since (I'm assuming) we'd like to know how informed they are on Canadian Aboriginal Affairs.
Option 2: We could add a brief synopsis of the UN Declaration of Rights of Indigenous Peoples at the beginning of the question. For example, "Canada did not sign the UN Declaration of Rights of Indigenous Peoples, a document outlining the collective and individual rights to self-determination, maintenance of culture, and freedom from discrimination of indigenous peoples. To what extent do you agree that Canada should sign the UN Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples: Strongly disagree, disagree, neutral, agree, strongly agree." That way, respondents who do not know about the Declaration can still answer.
--EmilyAtkinson 06:09, 8 October 2010 (UTC)
Okay, since no one has commented yet about which option for this question, I'm going to pick option #2 and put it on the question page. :). --EmilyAtkinson 16:36, 11 October 2010 (UTC)
3. Aboriginal peoples have the right to set education standards and develop curricula within their own communities. 1. strongly disagree, 2. disagree, 3. neutral, 4. agree, 5. strongly agree. - This question in combination with #1 allows us to see to what degree the respondent is for or against self determination of Aborginal peoples and gives more flexibility in responses. For example someone might strongly believe in one set of laws for all people in Canada, but at the same time agree that Aborginal communities should have the right to structure school curricula specific to their culture. --EmilyAtkinson 17:45, 5 October 2010 (UTC)
I really like this question, I think we could even specify it, by focusing in upon the teaching of aboriginal languages in school on reserves or communities with a strong aboriginal voice. I know for a fact that the present school system is so regimented that in communities such as Bella Coola the local aboriginal language can only be fit in for 30mins a week due to the rigidity of the provincial school programs. --MatthewNorris 18:01, 8 October 2010 (UTC)
Matthew, I'm not sure exactly how to specify the question above (I'm not sure exactly what you mean) - I'll do my best (maybe add something about the amount of time that should be spent in schools teaching Aboriginal Youth their culture), and post it on the question page, but feel free to edit it. --EmilyAtkinson 16:39, 11 October 2010 (UTC)
Maybe we could ask something about the Aboriginal reserves? It would tie into Canadians' perception of Aboriginal peoples' rights to self-determination, in a way. Do you agree that Aboriginal peoples have a right to land reserves? Answer options: 1. strongly Agree 2. Agree 3. Neutral 4. Disagree 5. Strongly disagree --AndreaAzcona 23:36, 6 October 2010 (UTC)
Also we might ask what people think about reserves... as it often comes up in the news that there is a lack of adequate services/economic opportunities on reserves Do you think that reserves positively impact Aboriginal peoples who live on them? Answer options: 1. strongly Agree 2. Agree 3. Neutral 4. Disagree 5. Strongly disagree --AndreaAzcona 23:36, 6 October 2010 (UTC)
I like your second question better because I see that numerous Natives actually dont' like to live in Reserves. It seems like government just push them far far away when it consdiered them obstacles to expand its power. --Sarahrhee 08:15, 7 October 2010 (UTC)
I agree with this question also, for it would highlight the average person's understanding of aboriginal struggles. For it is not a commonly known fact that living on a reserve can greatly limit ones personal ability to apply for loans and has the ability to only compound poverty. Though I believe this question should be worded differently to fit with the possible answers. Reserves posivtively impact Aboriginal peoples who live on them. 1. strongly Agree 2. Agree 3. Neutral 4. Disagree 5. Strongly disagree --MatthewNorris 18:01, 8 October 2010 (UTC)
Do you think that Aboriginal reserves positively impact broader Canadian society? Answer options: 1. strongly Agree 2. Agree 3. Neutral 4. Disagree 5. Strongly disagre --AndreaAzcona 23:51, 6 October 2010 (UTC)
Here i would remove the word broader for it influences the respondent to think of the reserves and the first nations peoples as aside from Canadian society. --MatthewNorris 18:01, 8 October 2010 (UTC)
I agree with Matthew; I really like Matthew's question, although I would word it slightly differently: Living on a First Nations Reserve has a positive impact on Aboriginal Peoples. 1. strongly agree, 2. agree, 3. neutral, 4. disagree, 5. strongly disagree. This question would make it clear that we're looking to see if Canadians understand the troubles faced by Aboriginal people actually living on the reserves. --EmilyAtkinson 18:39, 10 October 2010 (UTC) Ibelieve with certainty that this should be one of our survey questions. --MatthewNorris 15:18, 11 October 2010(UTC)
I think Andrea's question (with Matthews edits) would be interesting from a different perspective; it could shed light on Canadians' perspective on the whole reserve system in general. It could be reworded as such: First Nations Reserves positively impact Canadian Society. 1. Strongly Agree, 2. Agree, 3. Neutral, 4.Disagree, 5. Strongly Disagree. --EmilyAtkinson 18:37, 10 October 2010 (UTC)
Okay, so after reading through the survey question reading we did a couple of weeks ago, I realized that these questions could be slightly biased because they only ask about "positive" impacts (nitpicky, I know, but still). Maybe they can be rephrased as such (feel free to take or leave these suggestions...):
1. Does living on a First Nations Reserve have a positive or negative impact on Aboriginal Peoples? a. completely positive, b. mostly positive, some negative, c. neither one nor the other, d. mostly negative, some positive, e. completely negative.
2. "Do First Nations Reserves have a positive or negative impact Canadian Society? a. completely positive, b. mostly positive, some negative, c. neither one nor the other, d. mostly negative, some positive, e. completely negative.
- you might not even want to include the options, they could potentially be open-ended questions...up to you!
--EmilyAtkinson 17:28, 11 October 2010 (UTC)
How informed are Canadians?
Why don't we ask questions on Natives' culture? Thre are some interesting facts such as 1)Natives are not allowed to marry people within thier same tribe. -(because a tribe means a family to them) 2)Thier tribes are "frog, killerwhale, wolf, and eagle" We can ask questions to check if Canadians are infromed these facts by True/False question. In this way, survey will be more interesting.--Sarahrhee 07:35, 9 October 2010 (UTC)
1. To what degree are you informed about Aborginal Affairs: 1.Very informed, 2.informed, 3.somewhat informed, 4.not very informed, 5.not at all.
- This question might allow us to determine how informed Candians perceive themselves to be about Aboriginal Affairs.
2. When was the last time you read or saw a news piece about Aborginal Affairs: 1.in the past week, 2.in the past month, 3. in the past six months, 4. in the past year, 5. never
- This question may allow us to correct for "response bias" in the first question, and see if there is inconsistency between a respondent's perception of how informed he/she is, and how informed he/she actually is.
--EmilyAtkinson 17:23, 5 October 2010 (UTC)
The problem I see with this is that there is a difference between being informed about aboriginal affairs and understanding them. The difference being in if the respondent simply heard on the news that their was a protest, or whatever, as opposed to understand what the protest was about and why, and what caused it. I like the first question but instead of the second, why not incorporate a more detailed question, such as the one about reserves two questions have this one. "does living on a reserve have positive effects?" It will result in the same conclusion that is attempted with these two questions but I think it may be more effective. --MatthewNorris 18:12, 8 October 2010 (UTC)
I really like the above questions my Emily, good way to correct the response bias, as you said. --AndreaAzcona 23:45, 6 October 2010 (UTC)
I think these questions are good though "Aboriginal Affairs" is very broad. People might be confused and unsure about how to answer this question. Perhaps we might want to maybe narrow it down to one or two issues such as education or self-government. I definitely think that the scale is good and that it's an important question to ask but if I was asked this question, before answering it, I might want to know what aspect of Aboriginal affairs the survey-conductor was interested in.
--RonyGanon 20:05, 5 October 2010 (UTC)
Good point - you're right, "Aboriginal Affairs" is quite broad. We could edit the question so that it refers to specific issues. Maybe the question could look like this instead:
Please rate the extent to which you are informed (1.not at all, 2.not very informed, 3.somewhat informed, 4.informed, 5.very informed) about the following issues:
- a. Aboriginal self-government
- b. government subsidies for Aboriginal Peoples
- c. First Nations Reserves
- d. education of Aboriginal Youth
- You'll notice I switched the scale so that "very informed" is equal to 5 - adding up the scores for each category could give us an idea of how informed reach respondent perceives him/herself to be.
--EmilyAtkinson 21:25, 8 October 2010 (UTC)
Hey folks, scholars who want to know how informed people are now generally agree that the best way to do it is to ask a test question about a fact. The trick is to get it to the right level of difficulty so that it distinguishes informed from uninformed people. And you can't sound like you're testing people -- they get annoyed and some even quit the survey. So see if you can come up with a gentle fact-testing question or two. FredCutler 17:54, 7 October 2010 (UTC)
Perhaps for a "test" question we could ask respondents about a relatively current event that has appeared repeatedly in the news; if it's a big news topic, a respondent's knowledge about it may be a fair indicator of how informed they are about Aboriginal issues. Such a question could be, for example:
1. "In your opinion, has the Harper Conservative Government put forth any policies that mirror promises made in the Kelowna accord of 2005?" I'm not sure if this question is black & white enough to be considered a test question, but I thought I'd throw it out there....
--EmilyAtkinson 21:25, 8 October 2010 (UTC)
I think this question might be too specific. I am an aboriginal student and studying FNSP at UBC and I dont even think I can answer this question sufficiently. --MatthewNorris 18:15, 8 October 2010 (UTC)
I see what you mean (Matthew). I think you're right (in your comment above) that a question about reserves would be an interesting "test" question instead. How about something along these lines:
What, in your opinion, are the main issues faced by Aboriginal Peoples living on First Nations Reserves?
(We might expect respondents to talk about things like drug/alcohol abuse, housing issues etc. if they are informed & have an understanding, as you said).
--EmilyAtkinson 19:06, 10 October 2010 (UTC)
I agree with this,for an open ended question regard what are the main issues faced by aboriginal communities. --[User:MatthewNorris|MatthewNorris]] 15:24, 11 October 2010 (UTC)
Also we can ask on Natives' suicide rates and average age of birth such as: Q1what do you think Natives' suicide rate in Canadian soceity is in 2009? 1) 10-20% 2) 20-30% 3) 30-40& 4) 40-50% 5) 50%-60% 6) more than 60%
Q2what do you think Natives' average age of birth is in 2009? 1) 10-13 2) 13-15 3) 15-17 4) 18-20 5) older than 20 --Sarahrhee 08:21, 10 October 2010 (UTC)
The fact is that "Suicide rates in the Canadian Native population are more than twice the sex-specific rates, and three times the age-specific rates of non-Native Canadians (56.3 per year per 100,000 persons for Native males and 11.8 for Native Females).[reference: Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance]
Extend to this suicide rate we can ask: Q3Why do you think suicide of Aboriginal people is so high? 1)Economic problem 2)Cultural stress- (stereotype, prejudice, government treatment) 3)Biological problem--Sarahrhee 08:15, 10 October 2010 (UTC)
I think these questions from Sarah (as well as the culture ones posted above) would be interesting, but I think it's important to keep in mind Dr. Cutler's comment - part of the trick is to make the questions not seem too interrogating so that respondents don't think they are being tested. Also, I think your third question about causes of suicide is subjective - do we really know why it's so high? Its subjectivity makes it hard to be a test question, because we as the surveyors don't even know the true answer ourselves. I think the best option here is something along the lines of your first question, about suicide rates. Maybe it could be phrased like this: Suicide rates in the Canadian Native population are more than tiwce the sex-specific rates of non-native Canadians. 1. Agree 2. Disagree 3.Unsure. --EmilyAtkinson 19:04, 10 October 2010 (UTC)
I get your comment on my question on culture but not on the suicide question.The reason that I asked this question is not to test people sincd I even don't know the exact asnwer. The reason that I want to ask this question is that I want to find out Canadian's perspectives to see Natives' suicide problems. Three reaons "economic problem, cultural stress, and biologicla problem"- they are actually important reasons of Natives'sucicides that are proven by many reseaches. For example, if there is a high portion of number 1-"economic problem" it shows that Canadians are aware of Natives' poverty and they perhaps think Canadian government's social programs are not working effectively for Natives. --Sarahrhee 18:07, 11 October 2010 (UTC)
Unfortunately,though the first question highlights and important aspect to aboriginal affairs, regarding how Canada has not signed the UN declaration, the way this question is worded seems like all respondents will either agree or strongly agree that it should be signed, (a no brainer) for the only real opponents to signing the declaration are the government itself. --MatthewNorris 15:28, 11 October 2010 (UTC)
I'd ask a few simple fact questions to test basic knowledge of the First Nations of Canada .Things to do with history, culture, language, population statistics etc. For instance, ask a basic question about the Red River Rebellion or what are the official languages of Nunavut. More serious questions could ask about knowledge of Residential schools (like years occurred, number of students etc.). Basic questions, like these, would really help us to understand what exactly Canadians know. Also, we want (in these questions and others) to focus on positive things. We should really look to see what people think and know about cultural aspects of First Nations culture. For instance, do they know of any First Nations artists or athletes? What cultural practices do they know? (For instance, in what regions did and do Native groups practices Potlatches?) Personally, I think focussing just on social problems paints a really bad picture of First Nations and perhaps even helps to perpetuate a imagine negative image. (Sarah Gregory)
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