The Listener Survey Toolkit
Chapter 3
Who should be included in the survey?

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
Only members? Lapsed members? Listeners who have never contributed? Who to include in the survey depends entirely on the objectives of the research. Each survey is designed to uncover a varying scope of results. For example, if most questions deal with member service, surveying only members may be perfectly adequate. On the other hand, if a station desires a broader look at programming, a sampling of all listeners is required.

One very important caveat is that the results of any survey will only represent the opinions and perceptions of those groups who were actually represented in the sample. For instance, a survey including only members does not represent the opinions of all listeners, just those of members. A survey of first-year members does not necessarily reflect the opinions of all members, just that of all first-year members. This may sound obvious, but many stations misinterpret the results of their research. Inaccurate research can be worse than no research at all!

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