Too often surveys are undertaken without clear objectives, or with no articulation of how the results will be used.

A survey becomes much more useful and actionable if the objectives articulate what decisions will be made based on the survey. For example, "The survey will determine what the community wants in an expanded library facility. Results will be used to design the building and market the upcoming referendum."

To be valid, the total group surveyed must conform to the community's demographic profile in terms of gender, age, ethnicity, income and presence of children. We've seen examples in which respondents were heavily skewed to 50 years and older or to one gender. This composition is likely to misrepresent the total community's desires for facilities and willingness to pay for them.

When selecting a sample to be surveyed, make sure the respondents live within the borders of your service area. This consideration becomes critically important in situations where the library district does not align with the village or city boundaries.

Once the data are collected, analyze responses by the entire community and by key segments. Analyzing only the total responses can mask some important distinctions. For example, if the question is where a new library should be located, there may be a very different response from users and non-users of the library.

It's axiomatic that people can't know if they will support a project until they know how much it will cost. A well-designed survey might ask about several alternative amounts for a project and determine what is the maximum amount voters will support.

A survey might show that infrequent voters are the group most in favor of a library expansion. What are the implications for marketing the referendum to this segment? What are some ideas to reach these people and urge them to vote?

A trained researcher will help you avoid survey design and analytical pitfalls and deliver reliable data and interpretation for decision making.