Using Attitudinal Data to Guide Campaigns

An effective use of attitudinal data is to 1) help guide the creation of a campaign and 2) measure whether your campaign had the intended effect. By collecting and analyzing attitudinal data thoughtfully, you can ensure your efforts are informed, targeted, and impactful.

Steps to Collect Attitudinal Data

1. Define the Purpose of the Campaign

   • Identify the specific attitudes you want to understand.

• Your knowledge acquisition work can prove invaluable to this!

1. • Example: If you’re running a campaign to reduce littering on campus, the focus might be understanding how students perceive the importance of cleanliness or the availability of trash cans.

2. Develop Clear Questions

   • Create survey or interview questions that directly explore people’s opinions, beliefs, and feelings.

   • Example Questions:

     • Do you think keeping the campus clean is important? Why or why not?

     • What do you think causes students to litter on campus?

     • What changes would encourage you to use trash cans more often?

     • Do you think "littering" is a problems here on campus?

3. Choose Data Collection Methods

   • Decide how you will gather the data. Some common methods include:

     • Surveys: Quick and easy for gathering a lot of responses. Tools like Google Forms can help.

• We will be working on one survey together. 

3. • • Focus Groups: Small group discussions to explore opinions in depth.

• Some students may be interested in doing a podcast version of this. Let me know!

3. • • Interviews: One-on-one conversations to gain detailed insights.

• Also great for knowledge acquisition! Interview an experts here on campus, or where ever you come across one. 

3. • • Polls: Short, quick questions for instant feedback.

• Great for testing questions!

4. Sample the Community

   • Ensure your data represents different groups in the school. Consider students from various grades, staff members, or even parents if relevant.

• We are going to do our best to survey the entire school's population. However, we may look at how our survey's reported demographic compared to the "official" demographics if we are able to obtain them from administration. 

4. • Example: If the campaign targets all students, include a mix of grades, activities, and social groups in your survey.

5. Analyze Results

   • Look for patterns or trends in the responses.

   • Example: If many students say they don’t use trash cans because they’re “too far away,” this is a key insight to guide your campaign.

6. Connect Insights to Campaign Goals

   • Use the data to tailor your campaign messages.

   • Example: If students don’t feel littering is a big issue, part of your campaign could focus on raising awareness of its impacts (e.g., how littering affects school pride or campus appearance).

Tips for Collecting Attitudinal Data

• Keep it Anonymous: People are more likely to share honest opinions if they know their responses won’t identify them.

• Be Neutral: Avoid leading questions that push people toward a particular answer. For example, instead of asking, "Don’t you think recycling is important?", ask, "What are your thoughts on recycling at school?"

• Test Your Questions: Before collecting data, test your survey or interview questions with a small group to ensure they are clear and unbiased.

• Provide Context: Explain why you’re collecting the data and how it will be used to benefit the school community.

Types Of Questions Used On Surveys