Collecting High-Frequency Data Using Mobile Phones : Do Timely Data Lead to Accountability?
As mobile phone ownership rates have risen dramatically in Africa, there has been increased interest in using mobile telephones as a data collection platform. This note draws on two largely successful pilot projects in Tanzania and South Sudan that...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Language: | English en_US |
| Published: |
World Bank, Washington, DC
2014
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2013/01/17172618/collecting-high-frequency-data-using-mobile-phones-timely-data-lead-accountability http://hdl.handle.net/10986/17046 |
| Summary: | As mobile phone ownership rates have
risen dramatically in Africa, there has been increased
interest in using mobile telephones as a data collection
platform. This note draws on two largely successful pilot
projects in Tanzania and South Sudan that used mobile phones
for high-frequency data collection. Data were collected on a
wide range of topics and in a manner that was
cost-effective, flexible, and rapid. Once households were
included in the survey, they tended to stick with it:
respondent fatigue has not been a major issue. While
attrition and nonresponse have been challenges in the
Tanzania survey, these were due to design flaws in that
particular survey, challenges that can be avoided in future
similar projects. Ensuring use of the data to demand better
service delivery and policy decisions turned out to be as
challenging as collecting the high-quality data. Experiences
in Tanzania suggest that good data can be translated into
public accountability, but also demonstrate that just
putting data out in the public domain is not enough. This
note discusses lessons learned and offers suggestions for
future applications of mobile phone surveys in developing
countries, such as those planned for the World Bank's
"Listening to Africa" initiative. |
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