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Participating Stakeholders The survey used purposeful sampling to maximize information-rich cases—with the expectation of discovering, understanding, and gaining the most insight possible from which much could be learned (Merriam & Tisdell, 2015). The aim was to blend typical, unique, and network sampling. As such, the audience would include acquisition professionals who were less experienced (typical sampling) or highly experienced (unique sampling), and each of these participants would refer others for study participation (network sampling) (Merriam & Tisdell, 2015). The target audience was DoD professionals with varying acquisition experience and breadth across numerous organizations. The desired primary audience was engineers and PMs within the Space Force acquisition career field. However, the survey purposefully included contracting and business operations professionals who work closely with their PM counterparts, as the relationship between a PM and a Contracting Officer (CO) is explicitly emphasized in the 9 Tenets. The survey obtained a variety of breadth, depth, and experience across participants, which are highlighted in the Analysis and Findings section of this article. Data Collection and Instrumentation The survey was released on March 21, 2024, and remained open for approximately 1 month. Qualtrics, a customer and employee experience management software program provided through Johns Hopkins University, was used to create the survey. Social media, LinkedIn, and personal professional networks were the primary methods of survey dissemination. The survey link was embedded in Facebook posts because closed groups encompassed only the target audience. LinkedIn posts did not include the link because posts were open to the public, and therefore, participants had to be filtered to ensure that only the targeted audience responded. Every prospective participant who emailed or commented on a social media post was contacted. Candidates who met the desired criteria were sent a link to the survey. Of note, a small sample of participants were from commercial industry and worked directly with the government in their current roles; these individuals were primarily retired military.
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Defense ARJ, Summer 2025, Vol. 32 No. 2: 132—193
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