A better way to put it maybe is "In your opinion, does the lifecycle hinder project completion, and if so, why?"

Your phrasing allows for no dissent. If a person doesn't feel the project is hindered by the lifecycle, there is no room for him to say so.

I did a survey on the new 'Premier Format' in which Pocket Books has started publishing. I hate it frankly and wanted to tell them so. I came to this question: "What do you like best about the new format?" and there were 4 or 5 choices.

Well, there is nothing I like about it, but I was forced to pick something in order to continue the survey. Was I cheesed off!?

>Ok, I get what you're saying.
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>How would you put this into a survey? Would you say, "In your opinion, what phase of the the lifecycle most hinders project completion and why?"
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>I'd ultimatly like to be able to quantify this.
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>Thanks
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>>I think it's pretty easy... using Waterfall management methodologies. There's too much up front planning and not enough actual development. By the time coding actually starts, the business needs have changed.
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>>>I'm doing research for a Software Project Lifecycle paper. I first want to collect data on what people think about the lifecycle. If you were going to put out a simple survey intended to examine the causes of software project failure, what questions would you ask?
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>>>Thanks