Talk or Text? : Evaluating Response Rates by Remote Survey Method during COVID-19
Researchers and policy makers face significant challenges in selecting a method to conduct remote surveys, especially when collecting sensitive information or during turbulent life stages of hard-to-reach groups. In the context of the COVID-19 lock...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Working Paper |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
World Bank, Washington, DC
2022
|
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/099257304062250873/IDU0938b36de03c6b0461a091200168c90fe4c9a http://hdl.handle.net/10986/37279 |
| Summary: | Researchers and policy makers face
significant challenges in selecting a method to conduct
remote surveys, especially when collecting sensitive
information or during turbulent life stages of hard-to-reach
groups. In the context of the COVID-19 lockdown, this study
randomly selected about 600 adults in El Salvador to survey
using two different tools: telephone interviews or a
self-completion survey via WhatsApp. The findings show that
phone-based surveys increase the rate of survey completion
by 42 percentage points. Even larger effects are documented
for women and older adults. Although the direct costs of
phone-based surveys are substantially higher—doubling
implementation cost—the estimates imply that when adjusted
for the probability of completion, the costs of conducting
phone-based surveys can be 25 percent lower. |
|---|