2.2 Four kinds of project questions

2.2.1 Management questions

Management questions describe the decision or action problem. Examples include:

• Which services should receive additional capacity?
• Where should limited promotional resources be directed?
• Which customer groups require a different retention strategy?
• What operational risk deserves immediate attention?

These questions often cannot be answered directly by a single model. They provide the purpose to which several analyses may contribute.

2.2.2 Research questions

Research questions seek external context or subject knowledge. Examples include:

• How do comparable organizations define facility utilization?
• Which population projections are available for the service area?
• What evidence exists about barriers to recreation participation?
• Which retention measures are standard in membership organizations?

Research questions help the team interpret internal data and avoid inventing definitions that conflict with established practice.

2.2.3 Analytical questions

Analytical questions specify what can be learned from data. Strong analytical questions identify the unit, measure, comparison, time period, and intended use where possible.

Weak: “Why are members leaving?”

Stronger: “Which observed membership, usage, location, and service characteristics are associated with non-renewal within twelve months?”

The stronger question does not claim that the data can establish every cause of departure. It identifies a measurable outcome, time period, and set of candidate relationships.

2.2.4 Implementation questions

Implementation questions become important when the analysis supports action:

• Who would own the proposed retention pilot?
• Which member group would be included?
• What resources and approvals would be required?
• Which leading and outcome measures would be tracked?
• When would the organization decide whether to continue, revise, or stop the action?

Separating implementation from analysis prevents the team from treating a recommendation as complete merely because it sounds reasonable.