Need some advice on survey ?'s

[commyrebel]

i am making a survey that is going to go around my school to see how many people are conservative, liberal, socialist, communist, or anarchist. and need some questions to ask them any advice.

[Oneironaut]

I don't know if you thought about including questions about family background (class/religious upbringing) but they will greatly contribute to your survey. The survey then can be used to show how family background affects political tendency.

The key is to be indirect in your questions as to not detour who the person answering the questions from answering truthfully.

For example... instead of of asking how much money do your parents make a year with several ranges of incomes, ask about the primary education (public/private) and if they currently are working. You can also ask questions about how many people have graduated from college with degrees to get a better idea of what the individual's class is.

I would ask 7-8 questions about family background. Start broad and focus in towards the later questions are more particular questions.

After establishing an economic background, go ahead and start asking questions about political tendencies. I would ask questions about who their parents voted for in the past election, if anyone, and if the individual is old enough to vote who they voted for, if anyone. Then you can go into more particular questions about the participant's beliefs. I would avoid asking them straight up are you a communist, anarchist, etc. Instead, ask if they believe in certain fundamentals of the political ideology you want to ask about (let's say the "free market" for capitalists or against private property for communists/anarchists).