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The Statistical Analysis Process - Three critical "Touch Points"...
- Sampling methodology: Early in each project comes the discussion about sampling. What population do you want to be able to generalize the results to? What population do you have access to? How will you be able to access them? And finally, who will ultimately be selected for your survey? A seemingly simple task—deciding who to invite to participate in your survey—can quickly become complicated. Yet there's no reason to panic! Our statistician will provide a clear path to ensure what you learn from your respondents is representative of your population.
- Questionnaire review: With clearly defined goals in place and sampling methodology determined, we'll take the next step - creating your questionnaire. After a draft or two, the statistician is called on a second time for two reasons. First, to help in constructing questions and the associated response categories. Second, to develop the statistical analysis design of your project.
- Statistical Analysis: Because of the statistician's earlier involvement in your study, the analysis of the data is generally straight forward. Following the plan set in advance, the statistician is able to move quickly to the areas of interest.
But doesn’t the statistical work dramatically increase the cost?
No, not really. From our point of view, not using a statistician in a survey project significantly lowers the overall quality. Without the statistical touch, there's no reliable way to understand the
strength of the results—and we’d hate to have you making decisions based on information that’s less than the best.
As an added benefit, our statisticians are active academically-based professionals; They're up-to-date researchers who keep their skills sharp by continually working real-world projects like yours. The bottom line? You can’t afford to do a survey research project without them.
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