Learn Hardcore Japanese: sono tyousa ha kikan ga mizikasugite, sippaisimasita. - That survey failed because the period was too short.

その points to something already known in the discourse or context (roughly “that” previously mentioned/known).
この = “this” (near the speaker or the speaker’s side of the discourse).
あの = “that (over there)” or something distant from both speaker and listener, or not just mentioned. All three are grammatically fine, but they change what you assume about shared knowledge and “distance.” Here, その調査 implies “that investigation we both know about.”

Why is は used after 調査? Could I say その調査が instead?

は marks the topic: “As for that investigation… (it failed because…).” It frames what you’re talking about.
が marks the grammatical subject and often introduces new information or contrasts with expectation. その調査が失敗しました is possible and means “That (particular) investigation failed,” often as the main news. Because you also have 期間が in the reason clause, using は on the main clause’s topic keeps roles clear and natural: その調査は… 期間が….

Why is 期間 marked with が? Could it be 期間は?

With adjectives, the default way to ascribe a property is [NPが + adjective], so 期間が短い/短すぎる is the neutral pattern. You can say 期間は短すぎて, but は then adds contrastive/topic nuance (“as for the period, it was too short”), which you’d use if you contrast it with other aspects (e.g., “the budget was fine, but the period was too short”). In a simple causal clause, 期間が is most straightforward.

Should it be 調査の期間 or 調査期間 instead of just 期間?

All are possible:

その調査は期間が短すぎて… relies on context to understand that “period” = “the investigation’s period.”
その調査は 調査の期間 が短すぎて… explicitly says “the investigation’s period.”
その調査は 調査期間 が短すぎて… uses a common compound noun; this is concise and very natural.

How is 短すぎて formed? What’s the rule for 〜すぎる?

〜すぎる means “too (excessively).”

i-adjectives: drop い + すぎる → 短い → 短すぎる → 短すぎて (te-form)
na-adjectives: adjective + すぎる → 静か → 静かすぎる → 静かすぎて
verbs: verb stem + すぎる → 食べる → 食べすぎる → 食べすぎて Note: いい → よすぎる.

Why is it 短すぎて (non-past) when the sentence is in the past (失敗しました)?

The て-form here links a reason to a result and doesn’t itself express tense. The tense comes from the final verb 失敗しました (past polite). So 短すぎて works for past outcomes. If you switch to reason connectives that carry tense in the clause, you’d use past: 短すぎたので/ため.

Could I use から, ので, ため, or せいで instead of the て-form? What’s the nuance?

〜て: light, colloquial link; often cause/result.
〜から: clear, direct reason (speaker’s judgment).
〜ので: softer/more objective-sounding reason.
〜ため（に）: formal/literary “due to”; good in reports.
〜せいで: “because of (and that’s to blame),” negative outcome. Examples:
期間が短すぎたので/から、失敗しました。
期間が短すぎたため、失敗しました。 (more formal)
期間が短すぎたせいで、失敗しました。 (assigns blame)

Is 〜すぎて always negative?

No. 〜すぎる itself just means “excessive.” It often leads to a negative or problematic result, but not always. Examples:

美味しすぎて、食べすぎた。 (tastes great → overate; mixed outcome)
好きすぎて困る。 (liking something to a problematic degree) Positive “excess” can sound humorous or emphatic, but grammatically it’s fine.

What’s the difference between 失敗しました, 失敗した, 失敗でした, and 失敗に終わりました?

失敗しました: polite past “(it) failed.”
失敗した: plain past “failed.”
失敗でした: “was a failure” (as a noun predicate). Use when treating it as a label/state (e.g., 結果は失敗でした).
失敗に終わりました: “ended in failure” (more formal/report-like).

Why use 失敗する (a verb) rather than just 失敗 (a noun)?

Japanese freely makes verb phrases with suru-verbs. 失敗する (to fail) is the most direct way to state the event. Bare 失敗 is a noun; to predicate with it you’d need だ/です (e.g., 失敗でした), which shifts the nuance to labeling the outcome rather than describing the action of failing.

Is 期間 the right word here? How is it different from 時間, 期限, and 期日?

期間: a span/interval with start and end (the time window allotted).
時間: “time”/“hours” (quantity of time; e.g., 2 hours).
期限: deadline/time limit by which something must be done.
期日: specified date. So “the allotted period was too short” rightly uses 期間. If you mean “not enough time,” you might also hear 時間が足りなくて.

Can I reorder the parts of the sentence?

Yes. Common variants:

期間が短すぎて、その調査は失敗しました。 (reason first)
その調査は、期間が短すぎたため失敗しました。 (more formal)
期間が短すぎたので、その調査は失敗しました。 All are natural; word order mainly adjusts emphasis and formality.

Are the spaces in the Japanese sentence normal?

No. Standard Japanese writing doesn’t insert spaces between words. They were added for learners. A natural formatting is: その調査は期間が短すぎて、失敗しました。

What does the comma after 短すぎて do? Is it required?

The Japanese comma 、 simply helps readability and indicates a pause before the result. It’s optional here; both …短すぎて、失敗しました。 and …短すぎて失敗しました。 are fine.

How would I say it more formally, like in a report?

Use ため, nominalizations, or set phrases:

その調査は調査期間が短すぎたため、失敗に終わりました。
調査期間が短すぎたことが失敗の一因となりました。

How do I pronounce each part?

その: sono
調査: ちょうさ (chōsa)
期間: きかん (kikan)
短すぎて: みじかすぎて (mijikasugite)
失敗しました: しっぱいしました (shippai shimashita)

Could I say 時間が短すぎて instead?

You can, and people will understand it as “there wasn’t enough time,” but it focuses on the amount of time available rather than the designated span. For scheduled/allocated windows, 期間が短すぎて or 時間が足りなくて are more idiomatic depending on nuance.