Like many other evaluators, Khulisa had to transform from face-to-face data collection to remote data processes due to the Covid-19 crisis. We find this Remote Survey Toolkit useful for one of our research projects in Kenya. It’s designed by 60 decibels in specific response to the new coronavirus pandemic.

60 decibels has been investing heavily in phone-based surveys since 2014, deeming it a method that obtains high-quality data at a fraction of the cost of traditional in-person surveys. The toolkit includes 10 handy tips for remote phone surveys.

It also includes a cheat sheet for choosing the most appropriate technology, whether phone, SMS/USSD or interactive voice response (IVR).

Another resource, published in January 2019 by the UN’s statistics arm, provides guidelines on the use of electronic data collection technologies in population and housing censuses. In the current context, this is more relevant than ever.

Conducting a population and housing census is one of the most expensive and complex data collection operations any National Statistics Office could embark on. The use of mobile technology (such as cloud computing, smart mobile devices, GPS and web GIS ) is becoming integral in improving the cost, quality, speed and efficiency of censuses. The below chart maps some of the factors that affect technology selection.