Learning objective: Define a survey’s purpose and make deliberate decisions about anonymity, demographic questions, and format before writing any questions.

Before you write a single question, decide what the survey is for. A useful purpose names decisions: “We want to know whether our new communication app is keeping families informed, and whether our pickup process works for families who come late in the day.” A purpose like “see how families feel” produces data no one uses.

Write down two or three decisions the survey should inform. Every question you add later should connect to one of them. Also decide who will be surveyed (usually one response per currently enrolled family) and who will see the results.