Using Surveys
Once the framework and key stakeholders for the supply chain have been developed, and key activities and flows have been mapped, a survey can help to focus analyses in later steps of the study. The survey should aim to assess partners' perceptions of the relative importance of different areas in the supply chain. Questions should therefore aim to generate data that will help prioritize future explorations in the supply chain analysis. Steps for conducting a survey include:
- Identifying the respondent population: Ideally, all stakeholders in the supply chain should be asked to complete the survey. This would include internal partners with a variety of perspectives (for example, program staff as well as logistics specialists), plus outside stakeholders who also participate in the supply chain. There may also be community members whose input would be helpful, for instance recipients of the commodity or other agencies operating parallel supply chains.
- Setting an approach for the survey: How will the data be collected? Common approaches include telephone calls, email questionnaires, or online survey tools. Each method has strengths and weaknesses. For example, telephone interviews allow for probing and follow-up to questions, and participants may find it less onerous than other methods. But it also may reduce their level of openness and honesty as the data collection process is clearly not anonymous. This survey must balance the benefits of ensuring respondents’ honest opinions are incorporated into the project, and the risks of overburdening them early in the process. The survey approach should take this equation into consideration.
- Developing survey questions: Based off the framework and flows maps, there should be a set of questions to assess the relative impact of different activities on supply chain efficiency. Questions might focus on the how and why of these activities, as well as an activity to prioritize those that are most relevant and important. These questions can also help highlight areas of risk and uncertainty in the supply chain, thus informing a greater understanding of unique areas of challenge and opportunity for improvement. If the questions will be collecting data about the respondents (for example, their opinions or their specific experiences), this may be categorized as human subjects research and require Institutional Review Board approval.
- Executing the survey and collecting results: The survey should be made available to all project partners. There should be sufficient time provided for all respondents to access and complete the survey. It may be helpful to send reminder emails to participants.
- Analyzing the data: Quantitative questions can be analyzed for averages and medians. Depending on the size of your study population, it may be helpful to also calculate standard deviations and modes. Qualitative data can be coded for themes (results that appear for multiple respondents), and quotations or paraphrased remarks can be helpful as well.
- Understanding your results and utilizing them: Results from this survey can help prioritize focus for the supply chain analysis. You can compare medians and/or averages for categories of questions to see respondents’ perspectives on the relative importance of different topics. Qualitative data may also help you uncover different and important areas for exploration.
Strategic Issues in Surveys
There are a number of important issues to resolve when developing a survey.
- Topics for the survey: In addition to the stages of the supply chain (ideally arrayed according to the framework developed in the project process), it may be important to include other topics in the survey. For example, are there parallel or intersecting supply chains that are also important to study? RUTF is reliant on availability of other supplies, including anthropomorphic equipment, and other nutrition commodities such as corn-soya blend (CSB) and ready-to-use supplementary foods. It may be important to develop questions that will help illustrate their importance and impact on your supply chain.
- Qualitative versus quantitative questions: A survey should include a balance of quantitative questions and qualitative questions. Quantitative questions are quicker for respondents to answer and they are easier for the researcher to analyze, but they lose the richness of content and context that qualitative questions can provide. This is a trade-off that is important to consider when you develop a survey.
- Framing the questionnaire: It should be clear to all respondents that the survey is the start of a longer process, and that it will help the project team better engage with the supply chain stakeholders. The stakeholders should not feel as if they are being quizzed on their performance--rather, it should be clear that the survey is capitalizing on their expert perspectives and it should help foster buy-in early in the project.
- Depth versus breadth: The survey will target a particular supply chain, but it can be a broad or a narrow perspective on that supply chain: for example, all RUTF products versus just Plumpy’Nut. Additionally, it should have a geographic focus, which can also be broad (regional) or more narrow (country- or district-level). Survey respondents may have differing experiences at different breadths of the supply chain, so it’s important to clarify early the target level of the survey. It may also be important to ask, for each respondent, their position and field of responsibility in the supply chain. Additionally, a “big picture” question that explores complementary issues to the supply chain might help ensure that other major variables are not overlooked.
- Pre/post testing: A survey can also help illuminate changes over time. It may be useful to design this survey to also capture activities or opinions that could change over the course of the project, or due to supply chain improvements.