What is the main challenge in defining the survey population?
Survey researchers and experts are often challenged to define a population of interest that will not be attacked as being either too narrow or too broad. While legal strategy can guide survey experts in determining a population of interest, there are often a number of subtle choices that experts make which lead to the ultimate definition of the respondent population. A good strategy for guiding these choices is to consider the allegation(s) in light of two groups of people: those who may have been harmed and those who may potentially be harmed. It is then helpful to list as many dimensions as possible characterizing people within this spectrum (for example, how they are exposed to a product, how they use a product, how they get information, etc.). This exercise is beneficial because it exposes potentially subtle, yet important differences between segments, and then enables the expert to create specific screening questions to target and capture the relevant population.
