  Context: Surveys constitute an valuable tool to capture a large-scale
snapshot of the state of the practice. Apparently trivial to adopt, surveys
hide, however, several pitfalls that might hinder rendering the result valid
and, thus, useful. Goal: We aim at providing an overview of main pitfalls in
software engineering surveys and report on practical ways to deal with them.
Method: We build on the experiences we collected in conducting many studies and
distill the main lessons learnt. Results: The eight lessons learnt we report
cover different aspects of the survey process ranging from the design of
initial research objectives to the design of a questionnaire. Conclusions: Our
hope is that by sharing our lessons learnt, combined with a disciplined
application of the general survey theory, we contribute to improving the
quality of the research results achievable by employing software engineering
surveys.
