# A short guide to running a survey

A survey puts a structured set of questions to a sample so you can say something about a larger group, and the mode has to follow the budget, the people, the sample and the clock.

## What a survey is

A survey is the structured gathering of information from a sample of people, so you can draw conclusions about a larger group.

## Before you start

Set a clear purpose. Write the questions the survey has to answer. Then choose how you will collect the data.

## Ways to collect it

The modes we listed in 2012 are still the ones in ordinary use.

1. Online, on a web page.
2. Online, by email.
3. Face to face, on paper or on a tablet.
4. By telephone. Our note on [the telephone interview](/blog/telephone-interview/) covers the call itself.

The mode depends on four things.

**Budget.** An all-island panel interview is about J$470-700 per respondent. Face-to-face is about J$1,800-2,500 per respondent. These are indicative 2026 quotation-model figures. The face-to-face range is our estimate. The panel is not a probability sample. The panel site is [myVoice](https://myvoice.page).

**Target population.** How large that group is, and whether you have a list for it, changes the selection. The [questions to ask of each item](/blog/questions-for-a-questionnaire/) apply in every mode.

**Sample size.** A short phone follow-up and a large face-to-face sample are not run the same way.

**Timeline.** If the answers are needed quickly, a mode that takes weeks of travel will not fit.

When the interviews are in, the file still has to be checked, analysed and presented. That is work we do: [data management](/data-management/).

## Updated October 2026

- Face-to-face in the 2012 list was interviews, with no mention of a tablet. Tablet collection now sits beside paper. Telephone is the same mode.
- The budget sentence uses the 2026 quotation model: about J$470-700 per respondent on the all-island panel, and about J$1,800-2,500 face-to-face, the second range our estimate. The panel is not a probability sample. Link: [myVoice](https://myvoice.page).
- Grammar in the April 2012 post was repaired, including the broken word "P opular" and "vary base on". No sample size from a named job was added.
- The diagram `survey-methodology.png` is named in the 2 April 2023 Wayback snapshot. No archived image file was found for it, so the image field is empty.


Source: https://balcostics.com/blog/run-your-own-survey/