Here are some tips to use when writing your next RFP for surveys or other research services. We like to divide our proposals into the following sections: Introduction and Goal; Questionnaire Design; Research Methodology and Sampling Strategy; Computer Programming and Data Entry; Final Report with Statistical Tables and Graphs; Schedule; Costs; and Company Background.

Company Background--At least one executive should have a college degree that included statistics courses. This can be a bachelor’s degree, but a master’s degree or Ph.D. with courses in research methodology is preferable.

Ownership--Be sure that your assn owns the results.

Costs--Ask for a fixed cost for the research services and it is usual to pay half to start and half at the end. The cost should include design of research methodology and any sampling strategy, q're design, computer programming, data entry, and final report with tables and narrative analysis. With mail surveys there will be additional costs for printing, postage, and mail-related services. With Internet surveys there may be additional costs for sending and hosting.

Schedule--After you cut-off the surveys, it should take no longer than 3 to 4 weeks for the company to produce the final report. In my opinion, if it takes longer than a few weeks they are wasting your time and money.

Final Report--The final report should include a methodology statement, tables, narrative report with analysis, graphs such as pie charts/bar graphs, and an Executive Summary. What if you want more crosstabs in the future? My company offers to produce any crosstabs in the future at no extra cost. The summary statistics at the bottom of each crosstab table should include chi square and mean and possibly more since these help guide the data analyst. Results for salary surveys can be reported by quartiles or every tenth percentile. The summary statistics (at the bottom of each crosstab table) for salary surveys should include mean, median, and mode as well as the lowest and highest salary.

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