Page 82 - Design for Six Sigma for Service (Six SIGMA Operational Methods)

Customer Survey Design, Administration, and Analysis 63

Stage 2: The Survey Schedule and Budget
After the goals and objectives of the customer survey are determined, the survey
researcher should establish a budget and timetable for the duration of this survey
project. Ideally, the money and time resources devoted to your survey will be
driven by the importance of the decisions you will make based on the data.
Consider the following questions when scoping your resource requirements.
• What is the value of the information I am seeking?
• What are the potential consequences of the decisions I will make based
on this information?
• What is the cost of not having survey data?
• What staff and other resources are currently available?
• What staff and other resources do I need?
Then determine the resource requirements by identifying the staff and
financial resources that can be devoted to the project. It is important to agree
about resource issues to ensure you have the capability to deliver a survey that
meets your overall expectations. You may have internal resources, such as
trained interviewers or data analysts. If not, consider whether you are willing
to contract out for these services. Limitations on resource requirements will
shape the entire survey design process. The timetable should be flexible
enough to accommodate unforeseen delays.

Stage 3: Establishment of an Information Base
Before developing a survey instrument (questionnaire), it is necessary to
gather information about the subject matter under investigation from
interested parties and individuals. The purpose of this stage is to develop the
information base for the questionnaire. A focus group meeting is usually the
key activity in this stage. The focus group consists of carefully selected
customer representatives, company marketing representatives, product
development people, and so on. A typical size of a focus group ranges from
5 to 12. In this focus group meeting, based on the goals and objectives of the
survey established in stage 1, an exhaustive list of raw questions will be
developed and they will serve as a basis to develop the survey instrument.

Stage 4: Determination of Population and Sampling Frame
The population is the entire set of people, organizations, households, etc., that
are addressed by your survey research. For example, for a fast-food chain, the
relevant population will be fast-food eaters. For a suburban hospital, the pop-
ulation will be residents in the neighboring area. The portion of the population
that can be identified to be interviewed is called the sampling frame.