Description
This web activity is a parent questionnaire consisting of 14 questions relating to the parent's experiences of reading and mathematics.
This is the only web activity aimed at the parents (the others were for the twins). It was treated as an optional activity (whereas the twin web tests were not), so could be skipped by the parent. Each parent was given only one opportunity to complete the questionnaire, directly after completing the consent form. If the parent skipped the questionnaire, or simply failed to complete or submit it at the first opportunity, then it would not appear again.
All 14 items in the questionnaire were presented in a single page on screen, in the form of a list. For each item, the parent was asked to select the best response from a set of 4, 5 or 6 options presented on screen (the response options were presented as radio buttons). Then the parent was asked to submit the questionnaire by clicking a "Continue" button at the bottom of the page. The questions and responses are tabulated in full near the bottom of this page.
The following introduction was displayed at the top of the questionnaire
page:
"Please complete this short questionnaire about yourself; it will only take a
couple of minutes. This questionnaire will not appear again. This questionnaire
is about you, NOT the children. Please click on the response that best describes
your attitude or experience for each of the following questions."
At the top of the questionnaire page there was a button labelled "Skip questionnaire". Clicking on this allowed a parent to skip the questionnaire entirely (there was no opportunity to return and do it later). At the bottom of the questionnaire page there was a button labelled "Continue": this button submitted the completed questionnaire. After either submitting or skipping the questionnaire, the parent would be taken to the menu of activities for the twins.
Item Variables
The data in these items variables were recorded automatically on the web server when each parent submitted their questionnaire.
Note that all 14 items were presented on a single page, and each item was treated as optional. It was therefore possible for a parent to submit a questionnaire with one or more items missing.
| Variables | Explanation | Values |
|---|---|---|
| jpqdata | Data flag: was the questionnaire completed? (yes if at least one item was answered) |
0=no, 1=yes |
| jpqdate | Date when the questionnaire was submitted [not in dataset] | Date values |
| jpq01 through to jpq14 | Questionnaire item response (see table of items below for details) | Numeric category codes 0-3, 0-4 or 0-5 depending on item |
Questionnaire Items
The numbering of the items (1-14), shown in the table below, is the same as the numbering in item variables named jpqXX (XX = 01 to 14). The response number in the table heading (0-5) equates to the value coding used in the item response variables.
| item | question | response 0 | response 1 | response 2 | response 3 | response 4 | response 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Did you have any difficulty with maths in PRIMARY school? | None (did well) | Not much | Some | Quite a lot | A great deal (did poorly) | - |
| 2 | Did you get any extra help when learning maths in PRIMARY school? | No help | One to one support from a classroom assistant/volunteer | Extra teaching help one to one or in a small group | Other | - | - |
| 3 | In comparison to other children in your class at your PRIMARY school, please rate your maths skills. | Above average | Somewhat above average | Average | Somewhat below average | Below average | - |
| 4 | Did you have any difficulty with maths in SECONDARY school? | None (did well) | Not much | Some | Quite a lot | A great deal (did poorly) | - |
| 5 | How much maths does your work involve? (If not working, how much maths did your work involve?) | A great deal | Quite a lot | Some | Not much | None | Never worked |
| 6 | Do you help your children with their maths homework? | A great deal | Quite a lot | Sometimes | Not much | Never | - |
| 7 | Did you enjoy maths at Primary school? | Loved it | Liked it a lot | It was OK | Did not like it | Hated it | - |
| 8 | Did you enjoy maths at Secondary school? | Loved it | Liked it a lot | It was OK | Did not like it | Hated it | - |
| 9 | Did your brothers and/or sisters ever have problems with maths? | Yes | No | Not sure | I do not have any siblings | - | - |
| 10 | Did you have any difficulty with learning to read in PRIMARY school? | None (did well) | Not much | Some | Quite a lot | A great deal (did poorly) | - |
| 11 | Did you have any difficulty with reading in SECONDARY school? | None (did well) | Not much | Some | Quite a lot | A great deal (did poorly) | - |
| 12 | How often do you read to yourself for pleasure? | Daily | Several times a week | Weekly or less | I don't read to myself | - | - |
| 13 | How often does your partner/spouse read to him/herself for pleasure? | Daily | Several times a week or less | Weekly | He/she doesn't read to him/herself | I currently do not have a partner | - |
| 14 | How much reading does your work involve? (If not working, how much reading did your work involve?) | A great deal | Quite a lot | Some | Not much | None | Never worked |