Work and play:

1
Work and play Disease spread, social behaviour
and data collection in schools
Dr Jenny Gage, Dr Andrew Conlan, Dr Ken Eames
2
Research project the task
What Determine levels of mixing within and
between classes in primary schools. How Use a
questionnaire for primary school pupils to
measure their mixing patterns. Note This
research has only been going on since 2007, and
we dont yet know all the answers!
3
Research project the task
What Determine levels of mixing within and
between classes in primary schools. How Use a
questionnaire for primary school pupils to
measure their mixing patterns. Note This
research has only been going on since 2007, and
we dont yet know all the answers!
4
Research project the task
What Determine levels of mixing within and
between classes in primary schools. How Use a
questionnaire for primary school pupils to
measure their mixing patterns. Note This
research has only been going on since 2007, and
we dont yet know all the answers!
5
Data and ethics

• Ethics A set of laws/guidelines to ensure
• everyone is protected when doing research
• researchers show respect for their subjects.

6
Data and ethics

• Ethics A set of laws/guidelines to ensure
• everyone is protected when doing research
• researchers show respect for their subjects.

Two important factors Consent must have peoples
permission. Anonymity must protect personal
information.
7
Data collection

• Use a questionnaire to measure networks in
  primary schools.
• Ask pupils which other pupils they spend time
  with.

8
Processing the data

• Before the students sent the data into the
  research team, they coded and anonymised it
• Names were replaced by codes which the students
  devised, so that the research team could still
  tell whether a particular child was a boy or a
  girl, and which class they were in.
• It is an ethical requirement of all research
  that data cannot be traced back to a particular
  individual.

9
Processing the data

• The questionnaire was designed in two parts
• A child filled in the top part of the form (with
  help if necessary), giving the names of up to 6
  people from their own class they spent most time
  with and up to 4 people from other classes.
• The students then used a code of their own
  devising to transfer this information to the
  bottom of the form, but without using anyones
  names.
• Only the bottom half of the form was returned to
  the research team, so that all the data was
  anonymised before they saw it.