Tip! Research project planning

Each survey is a project. Below you will find a 7-step approach that will help you manage an online survey project.

1. Define survey objective

First, decide what you need to learn. The survey objective should be clearly defined. If you define an objective that will not be clear, you risk that your survey results also will be not clear and difficult to understand and interpret.

2. Define sample

Then, define a sample, on which you will conduct a survey. Define who will participate in a survey and how big should be a research sample.

3. Select survey method

Select survey method, the way you will conduct responses (direct interview, phone survey, online survey – www, social network, email, QR code, mobile app, …).

4. Create survey

Create a survey with questions you will ask during research. An important rule is to select questions that will support medium you will use (survey method). For example, during a phone survey, you won’t be able to show pictures, and during a web survey, your respondents won’t be able to ask you the question “What do you mean exactly”. Therefore it is very important especially in the case of online surveys to create clear questions and use language (words) that is easy to understand. If you have any doubts if the respondent will be able to understand the word you have used, select another one that is easier to understand.

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5. Test your survey

Test your survey. The last step of building a questionnaire is testing it on a small sample. Try to conduct your test on people with a similar profile to those who will participate in a survey.

6. Conduct a survey and collect responses

Conduct a survey and collect responses. Send your survey to the selected group of respondents. Check your results and send a reminder only to those people who haven’t filled a survey. Remember don’t send a survey to people that already responded to your survey.

7. Analyze results and create the report

Now you can analyze results and create a report. Analyse collected responses and prepare a final report. Prepare and write down “lessons learned” from your survey project.