• Define the problem
• Gather evidence
• Identify causes
• Evaluate a policy
• Develop solutions
• Select best solution
• Benefits & Costs
• The Prince System
• Political Strategies

• Information Tools
• Problem Resources
• Teacher Information
• Help

Gathering evidence of the problem

By conducting an Internet search, you can locate statistics that focus directly on the problem. You may do a search with keywords from the social problem combined with the name of your city or state to locate additional web resources and data. While data within your school are usually the best source of evidence, Internet sources will often provide data from a larger source—all schools nationwide, statewide or citywide. In such instances, you may be able to generalize. For example, if an article documents that violence in large urban middle schools has increased, then you may use that data, indicating that one may infer that our middle school has also likely experienced a similar increase. In addition to statistics, the Internet provides evidence through articles by experts and case studies. The principal and the guidance office are also sources for statistics and case studies on problems such as discipline and students’ grades (names of individuals should not be disclosed).

To focus on evidence of a problem in your school your group can create a short survey by using a free resource such as www.OpinionPower.com (Your survey can also be used for later steps such as identifying the causes or to obtain ideas on solutions). The CEPPA survey links also explain how to determine the purpose of a survey and to choose a survey sample, as well as some tips on creating good survey items. When you have created a survey to gather evidence (and information about causes and solutions), you can post it on your school website or e-mail the OpinionPower link of the survey to those in your sample.

See an example

Worksheet2: "Gathering evidence of the problem"(MSWORD)

Worksheet2: "Gathering evidence of the problem"(HTML)