The Listener Survey Toolkit
Chapter 1
To receive reliable statistical information about listeners, not just anecdotes

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Overview
Why Conduct a Listener or Member Survey
Research Myths and Misconceptions
Building the Survey
Survey Methodology
Survey Questions
Processing the Data
Data Analysis and Reporting
Applying the Survey Results
Station Service and Support for the Listener Survey Toolkit
Sample Questions
Listening to listeners is important for every radio station. However, in public radio we sometimes overreact to anecdotal comments that may not represent the opinions held by most listeners. Some stations consider changing or canceling a program or a policy the moment that they receive several negative letters or telephone calls. While listening to listeners is important, this kind of overreaction is ill-advised.

Consider this: If your station has 50,000 listeners, you are unlikely to come in direct contact with more than 500-1000 of them. That's only one to two percent of the total audience. Yet, if 50 persons (½ of 1% at our hypothetical station) called or wrote the station after a change was made, it might influence this station's decisions.

Please understand that stations should not ignore their listener's comments. Each listener's opinions deserve consideration, respect, and a response. This is a part of providing quality customer service. Nevertheless, it is illogical for a station to overreact to a minuscule percentage of your audience without other valid reasons.

A survey provides the opportunity to discover how many listeners agree or disagree with those who contact a station. Listeners who contact the station may indeed hold opinions that are in the vast majority, or they may simply have the most motivation or the loudest voices while representing only a handful of listeners. Without the perspective of a valid survey, a station can never be sure!

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