Numeracy Foundation June 2025 Unit 1 Q8
8. A survey was carried out to find how many books children read during the holidays.
The following two questions were asked in a questionnaire.
| Q1. Most children read lots of books. Do you read lots of books? …………… Q2. How many books do you read during the holidays?
|
(a)
(i) Give one reason why Q1 was not a suitable question. [1]
(ii) Give one reason why Q2 was not a suitable question. [1]
(b) The survey was carried out by asking children as they left the library on a Saturday morning.
Give one criticism of how the survey was carried out. [1]
Give one criticism of how the survey was carried out. [1]
| Scheme | Marks | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| (i) A statement regarding e.g. Q1: ‘biased question’, ‘leading question’, ‘depends on matter of opinion’, ‘what does lots mean?’, ‘lots of books has not been defined’ | E1 | For any one equivalent statement. Ignore additional comments. Allow, e.g. ‘assuming that most children read books’, ‘it’s telling me an opinion’, ‘makes you feel you should answer yes’, it’s not a question, it’s an assumption’, ‘if the child doesn’t then it will make them feel stupid and less than the others’, ‘because it says most children read lots of books’, ‘because it’s implying that if you don’t read lots of books then you’re different’, ‘might only read a few books not lots’, Do not accept, e.g. ‘too vague’, ‘doesn’t give data’, ‘it isn’t specific’, ‘doesn’t say the exact amount’, ‘no option boxes given’, ‘it isn’t a tick question’, ‘too open ended’, ‘no space to answer’, ‘because some kids don’t read’, ‘it doesn’t say when’, ‘children could lie’, ‘answers won’t calculate the number of books children read’, ‘should be ‘do you read books’ |
| (ii) A statement regarding e.g. Q2: ‘don’t know which holidays’, ‘don’t know how long the holidays are’, ‘10 books in 2 boxes’, ‘overlapping groups’ | E1 | For any one of these, or equivalent statement. Ignore additional comments. Allow, e.g. ‘10 and 20 are repeated’, ‘it should be 1-10, 11-20, more than 20’ Do not accept, e.g. ‘too vague’ ‘they may not know the answer to the question’, ‘they might not have counted how many books they have read’, ‘they can’t remember how many books read’, ‘should ask, do you read books and then ask how many’, ‘if they said no to the 1st question, then would have to say no to the 2nd', ‘too big a range’, ‘needs more option boxes’, ‘boxes should be in more detail as you can’t find out how many books children have read’, ‘numbers are too high’, ‘results wouldn’t be accurate as groups have been used’, ‘options not valid’, ‘during the holidays’ If no marks, award SC1 if both (i) and (ii) correct but in reverse order. |
| Scheme | Marks | Comments |
|---|---|---|
A criticism regarding any one of the following:
| E1 | For any one of these, or equivalent statement. Ignore additional comments. Allow, e.g. ‘school holidays end on Sunday not Saturday and the children might read more books before the holiday ends’, ‘people at library likely to read’, ‘should have been given out at home time’, ‘some children may not go to the library on a Saturday morning’, ‘survey only carried out on the one day’, ‘ask at a library so people will answer yes’, ‘survey only carried out on Saturday’, ‘not all children would be there’, ‘Saturday is a quiet day, a weekday would be better’ Do not accept, e.g. ‘asked on the way out’, ‘asking children without consent’, ‘asking children in front of others’, ‘comparing children’, ‘might not know how many they read’ |