The Year 11 Sleep Survey
A Year 11 Health Studies class at a coastal high school wants to run a sleep and wellbeing survey. The teacher has booked one 50-minute lesson for data collection. The class has 28 students, of whom 24 are present on the day. The survey has 22 closed questions and takes about 15 minutes to complete. Three students are on an excursion, and one student has a literacy plan that requires questions to be read aloud. The school's policy says any survey involving students must be anonymous and approved by the principal. A local sleep clinic has offered to analyse the data but wants student names so it can match responses to its own records. The class also wants to compare results with a nearby school that used a different questionnaire last year.
1. Identify the ethical and practical issues the class must resolve before collecting data, and recommend how to handle each one.
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Ethical issue: anonymity. The clinic's request for names conflicts with school policy and with the principle of anonymity. The class should refuse to supply names and offer the clinic de-identified data instead. This protects students from being identified and keeps the study compliant with policy.
Ethical issue: informed consent. Even anonymous surveys need consent. The class should send an information letter and consent form to parents/carers and explain the purpose, the voluntary nature, and the right to skip questions.
Ethical issue: the literacy plan. Reading questions aloud to one student could identify that student's responses if done in front of the class. The class should arrange a separate room or a one-to-one reader so the student's answers stay private.
Practical issue: time. 22 questions in 15 minutes plus instructions is tight in a 50-minute lesson, but feasible if the survey is distributed at the start. The class should pilot the survey with 3–4 students beforehand to check timing and clarity.
Practical issue: sample size. Only 24 of 28 students are present, so the class cannot claim to represent the whole year group. The class should report the response rate (24/28 ≈ 86%) and note the missing students as a limitation.
Practical issue: comparability. The nearby school used a different questionnaire, so direct comparison is invalid. The class should either use the same questionnaire or compare only questions that are identical in wording and response scale.
2. The principal asks the class to explain why the survey must be anonymous even though the students are minors and the school already knows who is in the class. Write a justification the class could give.
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Anonymity protects the quality and ethics of the data. If students believe their answers can be traced to them, they may under-report sensitive behaviours such as poor sleep, stress, or screen use, which biases results. Anonymity also reduces the risk of harm: a student who reports very low sleep or high anxiety should not face embarrassment, teasing, or unintended disclosure. The school knowing who is in the class is different from knowing who gave which answer - anonymity ensures the latter is impossible. It also meets the school's own policy and the ethical principle of non-maleficence. Finally, anonymous data are more trustworthy for the class's analysis, because the findings are more likely to reflect real behaviour rather than socially desirable answers.