How do defense contractors usually research buyer decision-making?

In defense procurement research, in-depth interviews with actual contracting officers and program managers are usually the go-to starting point — structured surveys rarely cut through the complexity here. Win/loss analysis is also huge; talking to people post-award gives you real insight into how decisions actually got made vs. how they're supposed to get made. If you can get access to GAO bid protest records, those are a goldmine for understanding decision criteria too.