The Student Survey of Motivational Attitudes toward Statistics is a new instrument designed to measure affective outcomes in statistics education. This instrument is grounded in the established Expectancy-Value Theory of motivation and is being developed using a rigorous process. This paper provides an overview of the four pilot studies that have been conducted during the survey development process. Additionally, a description of the methods used for analyzing the data and the way the results are used to holistically make decisions about revisions to the survey is included. Brief confirmatory factor analysis results are included from two pilot studies to demonstrate that substantial progress has been made on the development. Once finalized (Spring 2023), the survey will be made freely available.