Survey study going into period of revival (14)
I believe the answer is:
reconnaissance
'survey' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'study going into period of revival' is the wordplay.
'study' becomes 'con' (con can mean to study).
'going into' indicates putting letters inside.
'period of revival' becomes 'renaissance' (period of rebirth).
'con' going into 'renaissance' is 'RECONNAISSANCE'.
(Other definitions for reconnaissance that I've seen before include "Scouting" , "Preliminary survey" , "Initial survey" , "Military observation" .)