11.1 Factors Affecting Data Collection

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nova_Scotia_Sunday_shopping_referendum,_2004

When I first read the article, I thought it was merely highlighting the point that a referendum on Sunday shopping in Nova Scotia resulted in the majority voting for “no”.

After learning the influencing factors, I now think there was some bias preferencing the “no” vote as the second question was, “If there is to be Sunday shopping, should it be on every Sunday or on only the six Sundays before Christmas?” This shows bias because they’re highlighting the idea of limiting Sunday shopping.

In the future, when reading and interpreting survey data I will more thoroughly analyse the influencing factors such as bias, ethics, and cost.