Project Planning

All primary research must first resolve the issues of what data are needed and how the data should be collected. Project planning involves, among other things, what approach is best able to provide the information to address the objectives of the research.

Questions About Method of Data Collection

These questions are common but essential:

  • Do you need to conduct a survey? If so, should it be a structured survey or more free-ranging and open-ended? Is the best choice to do telephone interviews, in-person interviews, or should questionnaires be mailed out? If interactive interviews are needed, are special interviewer characteristics required or special training needed?
  • Should you try to reach your target population via the Internet? Can you get the information you need via "intercepts" in shopping malls or other places? What about considering focus groups? Or, can you get by with secondary research? Is some combination of data collection strategies called for?
We can help you answer questions about the best method(s) to use to acquire the information you need and avoid adopting the wrong approach.

Survey data collection is the most expensive part of many projects. Why not get the most value from your research budget?

Questions About Research Design, Sample Planning, and Implementation

All surveys require obtaining information from the population of interest. Exactly how should this population be defined? Once defined, how should representatives be selected for the survey sample? Are lists of potential survey participants available? How large a sample is needed? What is the best way to identify qualified respondents? Should you have a control group or baseline measurement to facilitate comparisons? Will the questions you want to ask generate appropriate data for the planned analysis? And most important, how can the most meaning be extracted from the analysis?

To encourage selected members of the population to participate in the survey - an increasingly difficult challenge these days - what contact methods are most likely to succeed? Should incentives be used? Is random selection indicated? Should the sample be stratified to minimize sampling variance or to ensure a sufficient number of responses from each of the subgroups? How are these choices integrated into an overall plan that will achieve your objectives?

These are some of the many project planning issues which GR&C can help with.