steps to plan your poll - it is easy

Plan Your Poll

Even for custom and specialized polls - it's easy to plan a poll.

Plan Your Poll: Steps in Preparing a Poll

How do I plan my poll?

It's easier than you think. The first thing to do in a poll is to decide what your research objective is. What is it that you want to know? What information do you need to decide to make one choice from all the options in front of you?

The next thing you should ask yourself is: "Who exactly should I be asking"? The benefit of random sample polling is that from a relatively small number of people, a few hundred — for example, you can know what large populations think.

After the polling results are in, Vector Research uses them to read the public mind to find out what people believe and then helps you apply these results to create your strategy and solve your problems.

The Vector Poll Planner:

Think about...


1. What specifically are you trying to find out? What is the purpose of the research? How will the results be applied? For example…

  • To see what services your organization members want or don’t want
  • To see what motivates members, customers, voters and wins their loyalty
  • To help us decide which option to follow or which strategy would be most effective

2. What should the report on the findings contain?

  • Recommendations
  • Percentages and summaries
  • Other...

3. What kind of data is required?

  • Age
  • Marital status
  • Language spoken
  • House-hold income
  • Gender
  • Other characteristics

4. What kind of data analysis is required? For example, cross-tabulating data shows if opinions on one subject are correlated with attitudes about other issues.

  • Cross-tabulating data
  • Trend analysis and forecasting

5. What sample size and sample design is required? For example, quota samples specify a minimum number of interviews in different groups such as 200 men and 200 women, or at least 150 interviews in each region, area and so on.

  • A minimum number of interviews
  • Different areas or regions
  • Different genders
  • A combination of the above
  • Other...

6. Do any sources exist for the information we want?

  • Existing earlier polls that should be updated or tracked.
  • Other...

7. What method should be used to collect the data?

  • In-person phone interviews
  • Mail
  • Focus groups
  • Online website
  • Other...

8. Who approves the questionnaire?

9. Who receives the final report? (This influences the recommendations.)


10. When should the fieldwork be conducted? Is there a good time/bad time to poll (before or after a major announcement, before or after an association initiative)? When do we need the results?

 

 

If you're planning a poll and would like some advice on the best methods to use, the approximate costs involved, or anything else, please complete our Request Advice form.

 

 The Vector Advantage