home » taking action » plan your survey Plan Your Survey Now that you have completed the Store Alert training, and practiced your skills using the Virtual store, you are ready to conduct the Store Alert survey in your neighborhood stores. There are two main issues to consider when planning your store surveys. The first is deciding which stores you wish to survey. The second is how and when you will visit the stores you have selected. Which stores will you survey? Below is a chart that shows what types of stores are likely to sell tobacco products in your community. This may help you decide on the types of stores you wish to include. Once you have determined the types of stores you wish to survey, you will need to create a list of specific stores with their addresses and phone numbers. One good source of this information is online databases, such as the Yahoo Yellow Pages. The database allows you to search for different kinds of stores within a particular city, zip code, or even near specific addresses. For example, if you decide to survey all convenience stores that are located within 2 miles of your local schools. Type the street address of a school in the "location" field. Click on "convenience store" (Under retail shopping > convenience store) on the main category list. Yahoo! will provide a list of nearby stores and the distance (number of miles) from the school address. When you click on the store name, it will even provide you with a map to the store location. If you are uncertain whether a particular store sells tobacco products, you can make a quick phone call and ask. Conducting the survey: How and when You will also need to consider how and when to survey the stores. You might choose to do a Store Alert "blitz" and survey all of the selected stores in one week or weekend. Alternately, you might provide each of your observers with a list of stores and allow them flexibility in scheduling the visits during a specific time period. Whatever you decide, it's probably best to perform the store observations during daylight hours. Next, decide how you will group the observers into teams. We recommend working in groups of two or more. This increases safety and decreases the burden on each individual. Splitting the tasks into manageable assignments may enhance the accuracy of the data. For example, one member of the team can look for tobacco placement, shelving and movable displays, while the partner finds ads and functional objects. Remember, youth may need adult chaperones or drivers. Be sure that all volunteers return the all the completed Store Alert Report Cards. Then you'll be ready to Take Action!
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This website is based on a website originally developed by Battelle Memorial Institute pursuant to grants from the National Cancer Institute (Grant Numbers 5R01CA086232 and 5R01CA093955). Its contents, however, are solely the responsibility of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids and do not necessarily represent the official views of the National Cancer Institute or Battelle Memorial Institute