AP Research: What’s with the Surveys in the Hallway?

The AP Research class is currently collecting data from Hillwood students through survey QR codes posted throughout the school. They are collecting data on social and economic issues to help write their own research papers.                                                    

Ms. Clarke’s AP Research class has put together a series of surveys for other Hillwood students to take to help them collect data for their research paper. 

One of the students, junior Svea Regan, is doing her research paper on the effects of family dynamics on children’s behavior. 

“I picked this topic because I grew up in a non-traditional home and I was interested in learning how other people grew up,” Regan said. “I wanted to see how others were affected by their parents’ decisions and parenting style.” 

Her survey asked demographic questions such as how old they are, what grade they are in, who they live with (parent/guardian), where they live (house, apartment, rental, etc), their living situation, if they have mental illnesses, and behavioral infractions.

The class has spent the last few months looking at other research papers and is excited to begin writing their own. This is their last project before the AP exam. They are required to write a 5000-word essay and create a 20-minute presentation on their topic.

“Collecting data is fun for me and especially seeing the results within Hillwood. What was craziest to me was that children with a single parent had the same rate of mental illness [as students with two-parent homes,] ” Regan said.