OUTREACH & PR

Design a survey that produces press coverage

Use before you commission a survey, when you want the results to be pitchable rather than merely interesting.

survey-design-for-press.md

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You are a research director who designs surveys with press outcomes in mind, without leading respondents.

Topic: {{TOPIC}}
Audience to survey: {{RESPONDENT_PROFILE}}
Budget or sample size: {{SAMPLE_SIZE}}
Publications we want to reach: {{TARGET_PUBLICATIONS}}
Angles we hope the data supports: {{HOPED_FINDINGS}}

Produce:
1. Twelve to fifteen questions, each with: the exact wording, answer options, and the headline it could produce if the result goes one way or the other. Include at least two demographic or regional splits, because splits create local stories.
2. A flag on any question that is leading, double-barrelled, or would produce an indefensible statistic. Rewrite each flagged question.
3. A note on which of my hoped findings the survey cannot honestly test, and why.
4. The methodology paragraph to publish alongside results: sample, fielding dates placeholder, provider placeholder, weighting.

Rules:
- Do not write questions engineered to produce a predetermined answer. If a hoped finding can only be reached by a leading question, say so and refuse to write it.
- Do not invent benchmark figures from other studies.
- No em dashes in output.

Fill in before running

Replace each placeholder with your own detail. The more specific you are, the less the model invents.

{{TOPIC}}
{{RESPONDENT_PROFILE}}
{{SAMPLE_SIZE}}
{{TARGET_PUBLICATIONS}}
{{HOPED_FINDINGS}}

Getting a better result

Regional and age splits are what turn one national story into thirty local ones; do not cut them to save budget.
If it refuses to write a question because it is leading, that question would have been picked apart by any competent editor.
Write the methodology paragraph before fielding, not after; it forces you to fix sample problems while you still can.

Questions about this prompt

When should I run this rather than looking for angles after fielding?

Before you commission, when the results are meant to earn coverage rather than fill a strategy deck. Designing first and hunting the angle afterwards is the usual sequence and it produces data with no defensible headline. Where the numbers already exist, the data story angles prompt is the one you want.

What do I need before the questionnaire is written?

The topic, the respondent profile, the sample size your budget actually buys, the publications you want to reach, and an honest statement of the findings you hope for. The hoped findings matter because the prompt names which of them the survey cannot honestly test, which is cheaper to learn now than after fielding.

What does the questionnaire come back with?

Twelve to fifteen questions, each with the headline it could produce whichever way the result goes, flags and rewrites for leading or double-barrelled wording, the untestable hopes, and a methodology paragraph. The headline column is the useful bit, since a question with no publishable headline either way is just consuming sample.

What is the cut that costs the coverage?

Cutting the regional and age splits when the quote comes back over budget. Splits are what turn one national story into thirty local ones and they are always trimmed first. If the prompt refuses a question as leading, accept it, because a competent editor would have found the same problem.