ABSTRACT
We all know the saying: “Garbage in; garbage out.” For communication managers, this means “collect data effectively to report data effectively.” The best survey will seem easy to answer, straightforward to analyze, obvious to report, and intuitive to the reader. Although most of the work goes into the writing of questions themselves, research managers also need to think ahead to analysis and reporting strategies. Designing surveys and training interviewers with data entry in mind can improve the speed and reliability of results. Prioritizing how and what results will most convincingly guide and justify proposed communication strategies can aid analysis and ensure that managers collect data in a way that makes it possible to create necessary tables and figures. Once the results become available, the manager can think about how to share good, bad, or surprising news with the client.
