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Questions to Ask Yourself Before Setting Up A Survey

So you want to do a survey? By answering some of the following questions, you may be in a better position to determine 1) what information you need, 2) what you will be able to obtain from your customers, and 3) the information you already have.

• What is the fundamental issue or information requirement?
• Who do you want to survey?
  • Current or potential customers?
  • What customer segment?
• What customer information is already available?
  • Secondary market research, other surveys, etc.
• Office of Management and Budget (OMB) clearance policy
  • Surveys requiring a clearance
  • Surveys not requiring a clearance
• Would qualitative research be useful and practical?
  • These include focus groups, 1 on 1 interviews, etc.
• How will the survey respondent data be managed?
• What do you need to know vs. what you would like to know?
• What are the decision rules for each question?