Survey planning can be undertaken by a minimal number of researchers in centralized offices of a research institute or university. The implementation of a survey and the subsequent collection of data, however, is conducted in the field by a relatively large number of survey workers, supervisors and respondents. While the researcher has less control over this part of the project as opposed to the initial methodological planning or later data processing phrase, his or her early choices in regard to cost, data quality, duration and manageability can have lasting consequences on the outcome of the project. Often these considerations are intertwined, with alterations to one having a significant effect upon the others. For example: Extending the duration of a project to maximize data extraction, or utilizing scientific researchers as data collectors, might result in ballooning costs that render the survey unfeasible. While a longer, more detailed survey questionnaire might obtain data of higher-quality, it could also adversely affect response rates for respondents reluctant to spend the requisite time to complete a longer survey.

There are fundamental factors that every researcher takes into account in the implementation of a survey research methodology: cost, data quality, duration, and manageability.

Join us next week for Survey Research: Project Costs