The careers of those qualifying from diploma courses are of considerable interest, given the substantial professional and financial investment made in the Project 2000 strategy. This paper is concerned with a longitudinal study of the careers of a nationally drawn cohort of diplomates qualifying from the adult, child, mental health and learning disability branches in 1997/98. Reasons for choosing a longitudinal design are described, together with the problems it presents and the strategies developed to tackle these in the course of the project to date. The paper then turns to the ways in which the aims of the project are being pursued in the context of two linked questionnaires: the first sent to the cohort at qualification and the second six months later. The importance of pilot work is discussed throughout the paper. KEY WORDS Careers of nurse diplomates, Longitudinal design, Questionnaire development, Importance of pilot work BACKGROUND AND AIMS OF THE RESEARCH