GOV-05 · Public comment analysis

Read a real batch of public comments on a rule or bill and summarize the actual range of views — not just the loudest ones.

One real, publicly available batch of public comments on a federal or state rulemaking or bill, findable via the federal rulemaking portal (https://www.regulations.gov) or a state legislature's own public-comment archive. A coding scheme the student declares before reading (what categories of concern to track) and applies consistently.

Reading only the first page of comments and generalizing. Letting the most extreme comments dominate the summary. Inventing a comment or misquoting one to fit the student's own narrative.

Coding scheme declared up front; a representative sample analysis (not every comment, but a defensible sample with the sampling method stated); a summary of the actual range of views, including the most common concern and the most surprising one.

CT: range over anecdote. CR: sampling method stated and reproducible. CO: peer re-codes a subset and compares. CM: coding scheme + summary. CZ: commenters whose view did not make the summary.

Government or English teacher reviews the sampling method for fairness. School-supervised.

R1: one comment batch, one coding scheme. R2: comments traceable to the real docket. R3: sampling method is defensible and stated. R4: the full range of views represented, not just the loudest. R5: summary usable by someone deciding the rule.

(a) A summary built from the ten comments the student happened to scroll past. (b) A coding scheme invented after reading, to fit a conclusion already reached.

Lane A immediately. No verified credit claim.