Supervisor

Proposals

Research supervisors are often tasked with the responsibility of helping to submit proposals. This can become an arduous activity with little promise of success. Typically for large contracts, multiple proposals for different projects must be submitted before a project is approved. It is beneficiai for the supervisor to have a full-time staff member assisting with proposal submissions.

Budgetary

Budget is a primary concern for all organizations. Supervisors must have a clear picture of all operational costs affecting their department, including facility costs, payroll, and supply expenditures. Research supervisors may be responsible for estimating project costs and then ensuring actual costs fall within those projections.

Hiring

Supervisors are engaged in various aspects of the hiring process. This may include advertisement, application review, interviews with candidates, and often acting as the liaison between human resources and their data collection staff.

Staff Performance Evaluation

Performance evaluations are critical to the growth of an organization. Evaluations outline goals for individuals which, if carried out, can improve the organization's performance. It is imperative supervisors have in place an equitable and regular evaluation system.

Project Development

Research supervisors are often tasked with developing the operational features of projects from the ground up. They may work in cooperation with their client or with topical experts, as necessary, to develop the operationalization of the research design, questionnaire, and data processing stages. Of course, this varies greatly depending on the specifie research firm or project. At times, research supervisors may be fulfilling only specific research requests such as data collection. This is often the case when research firms conduct data collection for government agencies.

Survey Design

Clear research objectives need to be set in advance of creating any research design. The target population and points of interest must be outlined. Question design is both a science and an art form and should be handled by the most experienced and knowledgeable people. Objectivity should be the goal of every question. This can be difficult when researching heated or political topics. Supervisors have the responsibility to make certain all these aspects of the survey design have been addressed and resolved before a project can begin data collection.

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