There are different types of data gathering. Some data is gathered in a fairly straightforward manner. With science experiments, changes are recorded at regular time intervals. With demographic information, descriptive data such as age, language spoken, eye color, etc. can be easily obtained and recorded.
Other types of data gathering seek to extract beliefs, opinions, and explanations. With current events, surveyors can ask participants how they feel about a particular event, what they believe should happen next, and how something affects their daily lives.
The latter type of data gathering is the focus for this assignment type. Students can craft questions, practice paraphrasing, and synthesize information to gain understanding.
You might assign data gathering when...
you want students to practice authoring questions.
you want students to understand others' perspectives.
you want students to show evidence.
you want to enhance or replace an assignment that asks students to share an opinion; others can be polled and their opinions added to the argument or counter argument.
Examples