Ann Arbor Girl's Middle School Surveys Results

Smart girls decide for themselves.

June, 2002

In February and March 2002, as a part of a Smartgirl.org project, we worked with the Ann Arbor Girls Middle School to teach computer skills to middle school girls. The girls came up with some quick survey questions of their own. There were six small groups, and each produced some survey questions.    279 respondents ( 247 girls, 6 boys, and 26 non-respondents to the gender question) with an average age of 14.3 years answered the survey from around the world (65% from the US, 14% from the United Kingdom, and 7% from Canada) .   Here's what we found from your answers!

Clique Survey Questions

The AAGMS girls asked, “Are you part of a clique at school?”

Table 1.1  Clique Membership

Fifty-eight percent of you belong to some type of clique.  Twenty-seven percent reported that you do not.

The AAGMS girls asked,  “I belong to these cliques (pick all that apply)...”

Many of you belong to more than one type of clique.  Since you could check more than one answer the totals do not add up to the number of survey respondents.  Of those who said they were in one or more cliques, 41% of you felt you were in a “cool” clique. 

The AAGMS asked, “Do you like being associated with that clique?”

Table 1.2 Like your clique?

Of those who responded to this question, 91% of you like your clique.  However one third of the survey takers didn’t respond to this question.

The AAGMS asked, “Do you think people treat those in a clique differently?”

Table 1.3  Clique members treated differently?

Of those who responded 76% of you believe that people affiliated with a certain cliques are treated differently.  Seventeen percent of you say that what clique you belong to has no affect on how people treat you.  Seven percent of you were not sure how being part of a clique affects the attitudes of others toward you.

  The AAGMS asked, “Do you think people feel powerful being a part of your clique?”

32% of you said that your clique did not make you feel powerful.  On the other hand, a similar amount (39%) of you feel powerful being a member of your clique.  Another 29% of you don’t know if being a member of your clique makes you feel powerful or not.  15% of survey respondents didn’t answer this question.

The AAGMS asked, “Are people in your clique friends with members of other cliques?”

Table 1.4 Friends with Other Cliques?

Of those who responded, 83% of you felt that friendships extended across clique borders.  15% of you didn’t answer this question.

The AAGMS asked, “Do people feel the need to just stick with their clique?

Your responses were evenly split.  Forty three percent of you believe that people feel the need to just stick with their clique, and forty four percent of you think that people don’t feel the need to just stick with their clique.  Thirteen percent did not know.  14% of respondents didn’t answer this question.

The AAGMS asked, “Are cliques friendly to other cliques in school?”

You said that most cliques are friendly to other cliques.  71 percent of you told us that cliques are friendly.  Only 29% of you said that cliques at your school are not friendly to other cliques.  13% of you didn’t respond to this question.

 The AAGMS asked, “Do you think people change who they are to fit in with a clique?”

Table 1.5 People Change?

71 percent of you told us that people change in order to fit in with a clique.  18% of you told us that people do not change to fit in with their clique.  12 % of you said you did not know.  

School Dress Code Survey Questions

The AAGMS asked whether you have a dress code at your school.

Table 2.1  School Dress Code?

Sixty-eight percent of you have a dress code and 32% of you do not. 

The AAGMS asked, “Do you want your school to have a dress code?”

Table 2.2  Want School Dress Code?

Fifty nine percent of you say that you do not want your school to have a dress code, while 32% of you believe that your school should have a dress code.  Eight percent of you weren’t sure.

67 of you gave reasons why you supported school dress codes. 133 of you gave reasons opposing school dress codes.  Graphs 2.1 and 2.2 illustrate your reasons.

The AAGMS asked, “If you have a dress code, what kind of dress code do you have?”

Table 2.3 Your Dress Code Includes?

The AAGMS wondered if you liked the dress code your school has.  This is what you told us:

39% disliked their school dress code while, 32% liked it.  Only 76% of you answered this question.

The AAGMS asked whether you thought your dress code was fair?  Here are the results of what you told us:

About the same proportions of you believe it is fair and is not fair.

The purpose of many dress codes is to control problems.  The AAGMS asked, "Do you think a dress code can help prevent problems at school?"   

38%  believe that dress codes do not help control problems in school .

51%  think that dress codes do prevent problems at school .

The AAGMS asked, "Are you allowed to wear make-up?"

75% said yes.

5% said yes, but moderately.

3% said yes, but only on certain occasions.

15% said no.

2% said parents say no, but they do anyway.

The AAGMS asked, "Are you allowed to wear piercings that can be seen?

74% said yes.

14% said yes, but only in the ears.

11% said no.

The AAGMS asked, "Does your school allow body piercings?

58% said yes.

7% said yes, but only facial piercings.

7% said yes, but only if they are not visible piercings.

22% said no.

The Tradafil's Harry Potter Survey Questions

AAGMS asked, "Have you read any books in the Harry Potter series?"

AAGMS asked, "What's your favorite type of book?"

Romance is the most popular type of book with 20% of respondents reading this type of novel, followed closely by horror and mystery novels with 15% each.

AAGMS asked, "When you grow up, would you like to be an author?"

66%answered no.

34%answered yes.

AAGMS asked, "Do you think books should be censored?"

84% said no.

16%said yes.

AAGMS asked, "Where do you like to read?"

*29 of you didn't answer this question.

Home is the most popular place to read by far, with it being the choice of 60% of respondents.

AAGMS asked, "How much do you read per week?"

52% read 0-5 hours per week.

30% read 6-10 hours per week.

18% read more than 11 hours per week.

AAGMS asked, "Have you read the Lord of the Rings?"

81% said no

19% said yes

AAGMS asked, "Do you think that books are better than movies?"

  AAGMS asked, "Do you think that Harry Potter merchandise is a good thing?"

60% said no

40% said yes

When asked why or why not? Some respondents who think Harry Potter merchandise is a good thing think so because it encourages reading and they love buying it.  Some people said that it's no different than selling any other type of merchandise to make money.  But respondents who think the merchandise is a bad thing believe the companies are just exploiting young people to make money and that the merchandise takes away from the reader's own imagination.  Some respondents won't buy it because it will go out of style or is against their religion.

AAGMS asked, "Do you agree with the statement: Harry Potter Rocks?"

60% of respondents said no

40% of respondents said yes

The Quesadilla's Spare Time Survey Questions

AAGMS asked, "How much money do you make each month?"

33 people didn't answer this question.

AAGMS asked, "How do you make most of your money?"

38% Allowance

17% Babysitting

16% After-school job

12% Birthday money

 3% Don't earn any money

 4% Chores

 3% Combination of the above

 7% Other

AAGMS asked, "How do you spend your free time?"

18% Out with friends

2% Doing Homework

6% On the Computer

2% Sports

2% Watching Television

2% Reading

1 %Working

And 59% aren't just limited to one main activity, but spend their free time doing all or most of the above.

AAGMS asked, "What's your favorite store?"

As the graph shows, respondents have a wide variety of favorite stores, with even more specified than shown because the highest percentage answered, another store!

The Pasghetti's "Would You Rather" Survey

In this survey, AAGMS gave two choices and asked which respondents preferred.  The graph below shows the results.  Each line represents one question.  The blue part shows how many respondents selected the first choice and the purple part shows how many selected the second choice.  For example, which do you prefer, frogs or toads?  Almost all respondents who answered said frogs (shown in blue).

                                         Fashionable Survey Questions

AAGMS, "What type of pants do you like?"

Bell bottoms are the current popular style of respondents, worn by 57%.

AAGMS asked, "What color of pants do you like?"

57% like dark jeans

17% like light jeans

11% like any color

9% like khaki

3% like black

AAGMS asked, "What is your favorite store?"

16% prefer Old Navy

12% like the GAP

8% like American Eagle

8% like Abercrombie & Fitch

9% like Target

50% prefer another store not listed

Check above in the Quesadilla's Spare Time Survey for a more complete list of favorite stores.

AAGMS asked, "Do you wear make-up?"

AAGMS asked, "What type(s) of make-up do you wear?"

AAGMS asked, "What brand(s) of make-up do you wear?"

AAGMS asked, "What type(s) of shirt do you like?"

  AAGMS asked, "How do you prefer your nails?"

AAGMS asked, "What color(s) [of nail polish] do you like to wear?"

Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts with us!

Please remember that all web-based polls are not scientific because the pollsters cannot randomly select the respondents to participate in the surveys.