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Viewpoint: High-frequency phone surveys on COVID-19: Good practices, open questions

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  • Gourlay, Sydney
  • Kilic, Talip
  • Martuscelli, Antonio
  • Wollburg, Philip
  • Zezza, Alberto

Abstract

Following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, face-to-face survey data collection efforts came to a halt due to lockdowns, limitations on mobility and social distancing requirements. What followed was a surge in phone surveys to fulfill rapidly evolving needs for timely and policy-relevant microdata for understanding the socioeconomic impacts of and responses to the pandemic. Even as the face-to-face survey data collection efforts are resuming in different parts of the world with COVID-19 safety protocols, the rapidly-acquired experience with phone surveys on the part of national statistical offices and survey practitioners in low- and middle-income countries appears to have formed the foundation for phone surveys to be more commonly implemented in the post-pandemic era, in response to other shocks and as complementary efforts to face-to-face surveys. Informed by the practical experience with the high-frequency phone surveys that have been implemented with support from the World Bank Living Standards Measurement Study (LSMS) to monitor the socioeconomic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, this paper provides an overview of options for the design and implementation of phone surveys to collect representative data from households and individuals. Further, the discussion identifies the requirements for phone surveys to be a mainstay in the toolkits of national statistical offices and the directions for future research on the design and implementation of phone surveys.

Suggested Citation

  • Gourlay, Sydney & Kilic, Talip & Martuscelli, Antonio & Wollburg, Philip & Zezza, Alberto, 2021. "Viewpoint: High-frequency phone surveys on COVID-19: Good practices, open questions," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 105(C).
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:jfpoli:v:105:y:2021:i:c:s0306919221001317
    DOI: 10.1016/j.foodpol.2021.102153
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    Cited by:

    1. Margherita Squarcina & Donato Romano, 2022. "Identifying the transmission channels of COVID-19 impact on poverty and food security in refugee-hosting districts of Uganda," Working Papers - Economics wp2022_08.rdf, Universita' degli Studi di Firenze, Dipartimento di Scienze per l'Economia e l'Impresa.
    2. Joshua Brubaker & Talip Kilic & Philip Wollburg, 2021. "Representativeness of individual-level data in COVID-19 phone surveys: Findings from Sub-Saharan Africa," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 16(11), pages 1-27, November.
    3. Tilman Brück & Mekdim D. Regassa, 2023. "Usefulness and misrepresentation of phone surveys on COVID-19 and food security in Africa," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 15(2), pages 423-453, April.
    4. Glazerman, Steven & Grépin, Karen A. & Mueller, Valerie & Rosenbaum, Michael & Wu, Nicole, 2023. "Do referrals improve the representation of women in mobile phone surveys?," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 162(C).
    5. Gouveia, Catarina & Kalakou, Sofia & Cardoso-Grilo, Teresa, 2023. "How to forecast mental healthcare needs? Distinguishing between perceived and unperceived needs and their impact on capacity requirements," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 87(PA).
    6. Semakula, Henry Musoke & Liang, Song & Mukwaya, Paul Isolo & Mugagga, Frank, 2023. "Application of a Bayesian network modelling approach to predict the cascading effects of COVID-19 restrictions on the planting activities of smallholder farmers in Uganda," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 211(C).
    7. Rodriguez-Segura, Daniel & Schueler, Beth E., 2022. "Can learning be measured by phone? Evidence from Kenya," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    COVID-19; Phone surveys; Household surveys; Survey methods;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C83 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Data Collection and Data Estimation Methodology; Computer Programs - - - Survey Methods; Sampling Methods
    • I15 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health and Economic Development
    • I31 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - General Welfare, Well-Being
    • O12 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Microeconomic Analyses of Economic Development

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