Clients often arrive with a business problem rather than a research question, and sometimes with a survey already in mind. The research question comes out of conversation: what decision the work has to inform, who can actually be reached, and what the client would do differently depending on the answer.
I run the scoping calls and keep asking until I know what the research has to answer. Then I build a plan that can be fielded, with an audience we can reach at a sample and budget that work, and that will give the client findings they can act on. This requires repeatedly getting up to speed on a new client and their specific market fast enough to ask the right questions as early as possible.
The statement of work is where the client and I agree in writing on the goals, the methodology, and the timeline. It covers the core objectives the study must answer, the sample (who we survey, how many, and in what mix), the analysis plan and deliverables, and the costs and schedule.
I write it and defend it with the client. It has to be detailed enough that an analyst can design a strong survey from it alone, and the key questions set here are the ones the final deck answers.
The questionnaire is drafted from the statement of work. Nearly every project requires a fully custom survey design, bespoke to the individual client and the decisions they hope to make based on the outcome of the research.
I set the direction using the statement of work, and my analyst builds it. We align on the overall approach up front, and I sign off on their outline before they write the full questionnaire. When the draft comes back, I review it question by question, make any needed edits, and produce the final client-facing version.
The client comments. Some changes are accepted, some pushed back on because they would break the analysis.
I read every comment for what it would do beyond the change itself: whether it breaks the survey's flow, leaves a key question unanswered, or makes the sample harder to reach. I decide what we can accept and where we must push back, draft the response, and make or delegate the updates before producing a client-facing revised survey design.
The questionnaire is built in the survey platform: questions, screener and quota logic, branching, randomization, embedded data, custom JavaScript and CSS as needed.
I tee up my analysts by pointing them to non-standard elements, such as branching screener and quota logic, dynamic audience-based text, and advanced methodology sections that require an additional third-party platform. After it's built, I review the programming execution against the final approved questionnaire to ensure readiness for the next stage.
Team members who were not involved in writing or programming the survey test it end to end, along every path a qualifying respondent could take.
I identify and assign testers, direct their attention to specific survey sections as needed, then review their feedback, implement any needed corrections or improvements, and sign off on the final instrument as ready for fielding.
The survey goes live to a small first batch of respondents. We check that data against the questionnaire and the program to confirm the survey is working as designed, then launch in full and field until every quota is filled.
I coordinate between my team and our panel partners to initiate the soft launch, conduct a preliminary data quality inspection to catch any errors that slipped through programming and survey testing, declare the survey ready for full launch, then oversee the rest of fielding.
The data is cleaned, segments are built, crosstabs with significance testing are produced, and a next-day interactive dashboard goes out to the client for quick data access while my team proceeds with deeper analysis.
I set the cleaning rules and segment definitions and review the crosstabs and dashboard before the client sees them.
My team and I work through the data against the key questions from the statement of work to see what it says about the client's business question. Those insights are shaped into a storyline, which in turn shapes the report, usually a slide deck, sometimes a custom Power BI dashboard. The statement of work, the survey design, and fielding all build toward this point, a report written for senior stakeholders that leads with what the findings mean for their decision.
I set my analyst up with the key questions the report has to answer. When the draft comes back, I check the numbers against the crosstabs, then the writing, then the story. I decide what the story is and rework the draft where it hasn't found it yet.
The findings are presented to the client's senior stakeholders in a live readout, followed by open discussion: what they should do next, whether a result could be read another way, and whether the method holds up. That conversation frequently leads to follow-on analysis of the same dataset or to a new study that builds on this one.
I lead the presentation and field every question, from interpretation to methodology, which depends on knowing the study well enough to answer on the spot. When the discussion turns to next steps, I scope the follow-on work with the client and direct my team on any additional analysis.