Surveying Professionals in India: Doctors, Tradespeople and Other Specialists
How to survey professionals in India, such as doctors and carpenters: screener rules, what you can ask, consent, honest limits and a question bank.
In shortTo survey a professional audience in India, define the role with a screener, ask for a feasibility count before you commit, keep questions short and respect consent. Panel members include general consumers and professionals such as doctors and carpenters, and we publish no counts for any profession. Ask what proof of occupation the vendor holds, because a self-declared occupation is a claim. Doctor and patient studies also need safety reporting and consent.
Contents
A Role Is Harder to Reach Than a City
Reaching a role, not just a demographic, is harder: the audience is small, busy and easy to fake. A good design confirms the role without giving the answer away, asks for little time and states what is not known.
This guide covers screeners, feasibility, consent and a question bank. Panel members include general consumers and professionals such as doctors and carpenters. We do not publish counts for any profession, so every study starts with a feasibility check.
Confirm the Role Without Leading
- Ask the occupation from a list that includes decoys and other roles.
- Then ask a follow-up only a real practitioner can answer easily, such as specialty, years in practice or the tools they use.
- End the survey politely for those who do not qualify. Screened-out people do not count towards a response bundle.
- Ask how the vendor verified occupation. A self-declared occupation is a claim.
| Audience | Screener, illustrative | Follow-up |
|---|---|---|
| Doctors | Occupation list with decoys | Specialty and type of practice |
| Carpenters and tradespeople | Occupation list with decoys | Type of work and how they find jobs |
| Freelancers | Work arrangement from a list | Main field and client type |
| Business owners | Role and ownership from a list | Business type and size band |
Ask for a Feasibility Count First
Professional audiences are small, so incidence is low. Give the vendor the role, the cities and the sample you need, and ask for a count and a range. The audience guide explains incidence arithmetic: the lower the share of people who qualify, the more people must be screened.
Consent and Rules
Doctor and patient studies fall under extra rules on consent and adverse-event reporting. Read the pharma research guide. Collect only what you need and tell respondents why. See the ICC/ESOMAR Code. Our panel keeps respondents anonymous to researchers.
Question Bank for a Trades Study
Illustrative, for a study of carpenters on tool and material choices.
| # | Question | Type |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | What is your main occupation? (list with decoys) | Single choice |
| 2 | What type of work do you do most often? | Multi-select |
| 3 | Which brands of [tool] have you used in the last year? | Multi-select |
| 4 | Where do you usually buy it? | Single choice |
| 5 | Who decides what you buy: you, your employer or the customer? | Single choice |
| 6 | What would make you change brand? | Multi-select |
| 7 | Describe the last time a tool failed | Open text |
Limits
The panel is app-based, so smartphone users only. Small professional groups give wide margins. Report the number of respondents and avoid generalising to the whole profession. For decision-makers in companies, see the B2B guide.
Running This Study on Hercules
If your job is a survey of a professional audience in India, start with a feasibility count, then run the pilot and main study at list price. Screened-out people do not count towards a bundle.
| Step | Plan | Responses | Price per response | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Test the questionnaire | Free | 30 | ₹0 | ₹0 |
| Small pilot | Plus | 100 | ₹150 | ₹15,000 |
| Main study | Pro | 400 | ₹120 | ₹48,000 |
Pro is sold in bundles of 400 to 1,000 responses and costs 20% less per response than Plus. Enterprise plans come with a dedicated research team and are priced on request.
The SuperJ network has a 25M+ consumer footprint. The survey-eligible panel is a subset, and availability depends on your targeting. Members complete Aadhaar-based KYC once, and each study receives a zero-knowledge proof of verification. Surveys run in as many Indian languages as the study needs. Quality checks flag speeders, straight-lining and inconsistent answers. Read /panel-methodology and pricing.
The limit: the app reaches smartphone users only, so offline households need face-to-face fieldwork.
Frequently asked questions
Can I survey doctors in India on a consumer panel?
Panel members include professionals such as doctors. We publish no counts, so ask for a feasibility count. Doctor studies also need consent and safety reporting. See the pharma guide.
Can I survey carpenters or other tradespeople?
Panel members include carpenters. Use a screener on occupation, ask a follow-up only practitioners can answer easily and request a feasibility count.
How do I know a respondent is really a doctor?
Ask the vendor how occupation was verified. A self-declared occupation is a claim, so add a screener follow-up on practice details.
How many professionals can I reach?
We publish no counts for any profession. Give the role, cities and sample you need and ask for a feasibility count.
Is the result representative of the profession?
Not usually. Report the number of respondents and the method, and avoid generalising to everyone in the profession.
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