| Who or what is being studied? |
| Who are the specific individuals or organizations invited to participate in the study? |
| Are portions of the intended applicant pool invited to participate (sample), or is the entire population invited to participate (census)? |
| Does the survey invite a particular respondent type? |
| Is the survey designed so that an individual or organization can respond to all questions in the survey, or is the content better suited to a collective response supported by multiple individuals and organizations? |
| Will the survey be successful only if it is administered through a partner organization? |
| What topics are included in the survey; does it address a single specific aspect of the public health system such as how public health agencies set budgets and priorities or a broad selection of topics to provide a complete picture of an organization such as the ASTHO and NACCHO profile surveys? |
| What is the target length of the survey (in minutes or questions)? |
| What are the dates the survey is expected to be in the field? |
| Is the survey intended to be used once on the same population, once on multiple populations, or multiple times on the same population (longitudinal)? |
| What is the needed response rate (is statistical power a consideration)? |
| Is this survey optional for respondents to participate in, or must they participate because of statute, regulations, grant requirements, or the like? |
| Will this survey require institutional review board clearance? |
| Does this survey need to be anonymous or confidential? |
| Will sensitive information be collected? |
| Over which medium will this survey be administered? |
| How will this instrument be pretested or validated? |
| How many reminders will there be, and how will they occur? |
| What types of incentives can be used in this survey? |
| What kinds of data validation can be used in this study? |
| What types of questions will be useful to address the research questions? |
| What metadata can be collected alongside the survey that might be useful later? |
| Will the survey data be publicly available? |
| Who will be included in the development of the survey instrument and the sampling and fielding design? |
| Will the instrument be publicly available? |
Note. ASTHO = Association of State and Territorial Health Officials; NACCHO = National Association of County and City Health Officials.