Tips for planning formal farm surveys in developing countries

After briefly describing the strengths and weaknesses of the various information gathering tools used in applied agricultural research, the document proposes that a set of 10 questions be used by researchers to guide the planning, implementation, and analysis of formal survey questionnaires. The bulk of the paper illustrates the use of these questions in determining the following information: (1) who will use the survey results; (2) when a formal survey is needed; (3) what the survey should accomplish; (4) what information to gather; (5) what type of survey to use; (6) the questionnaire"s format; (7) who to interview; (8) how to organize field work; (9) how to analyze data; and (10) how to present the results. The paper concludes by stressing the importance of designing questionnaires that are sharply focused, relatively short, and inexpensive. Appended is a 9-item bibliography (1979-84).