Human Resources - Building the Survey Team

Question 1

Which of the following should go into a survey plan?

Research question
Paper vs electronic data collection
In-house vs outsourced data collection
Local Permissions
Pre-analysis plan

Answer 1

Paper vs electronic data collection
In-house vs outsourced data collection
Local Permissions

Question 2

Enumerator - role

Answer 2

asks questions to respondents and records responses

Question 3

Editor - role

Answer 3

checks if questionnaire is complete and if there are any errors before sending it back to the office

Question 4

Tracker - role

Answer 4

Identifies and executes strategies to interview respondents who are unavailable in the initial visit

Question 5

Supervisor

Answer 5

Manages people who collect data and checks for the quality of the data collected

Question 6

Field manager role

Answer 6

Responsible for recruiting, training, and daily management of the team

Question 7

Suppose you need a team of 50 surveyors. How many individuals would you put through a surveyor training, given the recommendations from the lecture?

Answer 7

we recommend training 30% more individuals than needed for the survey team. So for a team of 50, it is recommended to train around 65 individuals.

Question 8

Which of the following should be provided to prospective surveyors during the training?

A survey manual
Food or money for food
Compensation for their time
Stationary and other survey materials
Training on human subjects and informed consent
A detailed description of the intervention(s) and research design
A contract for the full survey period

Answer 8

A survey manual
Food or money for food
Compensation for their time
Stationary and other survey materials
Training on human subjects and informed consent

It is not advisable to provide a detailed description of the intervention or the full contract (before the training is complete).

Question 9

The benefits of choosing a “conversational interview” style include:

Answer 9

Increases the likelihood that respondent understands the questions (and response options)

Question 10

Which of the following are discussed in the safety component of training?

Answer 10

discusses safety in relation to road safety, conduct in the field, security of equipment and sexual harassment

Question 11

“Piece rate” compensation

Answer 11

Paying per survey completed

it is not advisable to pay by survey as it may evoke negative motivation. For example, a surveyor may falsify data to show a higher number of ‘completed’ surveys to secure additional compensation

Question 12

With respect to cost, hiring a survey firm is:

Answer 12

Can be either more or less expensive

While survey firms often charge more (on overhead) to make a profit, they are also able to reduce costs along other dimensions for example, they can afford to pay surveyors lower salaries because in return, they can offer surveyors more long-term job security.

Question 13

If we decide to hire a survey firm, which components of data collection can we delegate to the firm?

Answer 13

When hiring survey firms, it is ok to delegate logistics, recruitment and management of survey staff. It is important that the researcher continues to manage training and data quality.