Survey design

Design the survey and its intended analysis together. A useful instrument connects a management question to an observation, a calculation and a decision. The household roster, activity modules, selection procedures, translations and field manual should express the same definitions.

The baseline collection method establishes the scope of inquiry. The detailed questionnaire and fieldwork guide develops the operational specifications, while the sampling guide addresses coverage, selection, weights and uncertainty.

Start with the population and output

State who the survey will describe, when, and at what geographic level. Distinguish a household from a dwelling, person, parcel, enterprise and resource-use activity. Link their records through identifiers so that several users of one asset remain identifiable without duplicating that asset's value.

Draft the intended tables and measures before drafting the complete questionnaire. An employment table needs eligible people, work definitions and a reference period; a livelihood-restoration measure also needs the original affected cohort and follow-up history. The UN survey guidelines connect questionnaire design to an explicit tabulation and analysis plan. UN, 2008, sections 2.2.2–2.2.3

Specify a knowledgeable respondent for shared household conditions and individual respondents for relevant personal experience. Record proxy reporting. Decide how temporarily absent members, household splits, seasonal users and people without a fixed dwelling enter the frame and analysis.

Align the core with national definitions

Use the questionnaire and documentation for a named national survey edition. Compare the population, respondent, wording, reference period, codes, units and aggregation method with the proposed project measure. Retain an explicit crosswalk when adapting a question.

The Indonesia guide connects the historical Maluku modules with BPS evidence. The Nepal guide connects district context and national survey documentation to project design. Copying an older form or a national code list alone does not establish comparability. Survey samples also need their own justified frame and design.

Keep a comparable core and add modules for the project's pathways: customary access, fishing seasons, construction restrictions, rental arrangements or assistance received. A national welfare measure and a project eligibility record serve different purposes; define both when needed.

Turn topics into questions and records

Give each variable a stable ID, purpose, eligible respondent, exact wording, reference period, unit, response codes, missing-value statuses, skip rule and calculation. Distinguish observed zero from refusal, uncertainty and an inapplicable question. Store the reported unit alongside any standardized conversion.

Separate wages, enterprise sales and costs, own-produced consumption, transfers and compensation. Select recall periods that suit the measure and document the aggregation. Keep questions about current conditions, project expectations and informed decisions separate.

Structure the interview so respondents can follow it. Use clear transitions, manageable rosters and neutral prompts. Collect sensitive information only when its analytical purpose and field safeguards justify it; the detailed guide addresses consent, privacy and specialized protocols.

Test the whole instrument

Test understanding with intended respondents, then test the field procedure and the data produced. Include the important language, livelihood and access conditions. Review missing answers, conflicting units, interview burden, routing and the resulting tables. Record revisions and release one approved form, translation and manual version together.

Digital checks can help reveal contradictory answers, unreachable questions and duplicate identifiers. Preserve a review route for unusual but possible values. Tosch and Berger's SurveyMan research treats surveys as programs with analyzable control flow and response-quality problems. It is a useful historical reference for testing instrument logic, with evaluations in online survey settings. Tosch and Berger, 2014

Use the print preparation and translation notes alongside that testing. Preserve raw submissions, a correction log and the code that produces analytical tables.

Historical module library

The original modules are a question library for adaptation and testing:

The methods references retain the earlier reading trail and distinguish it from the primary methodological sources used here.