Planning and conducting field-tracking studies

This paper reviews the major aspects of planning and conducting field-tracking studies, including: (i) establishing well-defined, realistic objectives; (ii) designing data collection and analysis procedures to meet the objectives; and (iii) ensuring the successful implementation of these procedures. The paper gives general guidelines on matching study objectives and procedures, as well as detailed information on sample size selection for some common field-study situations. Several studies recently conducted by Bell Laboratories Quality Assurance Center are used to illustrate the principles of field-study planning and implementation.