At the preliminary planning stage of the survey process, a number of basic issues must be addressed before a decision is taken to proceed with the design and conduct of a sample survey. It is assumed throughout this book that it is always a sample survey being considered, because in transport it is usually very difficult to survey an entire population; it is also usually unnecessary to sample the entire population, as will be shown in Chapter 4.

This chapter on Preliminary Planning covers the following topics:

2.1 OVERALL STUDY OBJECTIVES

2.2 SURVEY OBJECTIVES

2.3 REVIEW OF EXISTING INFORMATION

2.4 FORMULATION OF HYPOTHESES

2.5 DEFINITION OF TERMS

2.6 DETERMINATION OF SURVEY RESOURCES

2.6.1 Costs of Surveys

2.6.2 Time Estimates for Surveys

2.6.3 Personnel Requirements

2.6.4 Space Requirements

2.7 SURVEY CONTENT