Ms. Kahn has been noticing more news stories lately about “sexting.” Some stories say that parents aren’t holding their children accountable for actions that are inappropriate for their age. Some talk about legal consequences. In several of the stories, the claim that 30% of teens are sexting remains constant.

“Says who?” Ms. Kahn thinks. “This statistic is widely disseminated. But where did it come from?”

Ms. Kahn does some research and discovers that the “30% of teens” statistic is based on a single study. And worse yet, other researchers have been saying that there are problems with the study. Ms. Kahn decides to find out for herself if her own students are sexting. She knows that this is a sensitive topic, so she has to think carefully about the most appropriate way to collect the data. She has to consider that her students might not answer truthfully if they feel they will be identified.