Quality protocols for Quantitative Data Collection
To ensure the highest standard of data collection, every field staff goes through rigorous training. Supervisors, team leaders, surveyors receive different trainings, tailored to their roles in the data collection. CDCR Researchers and Consultants adept in the local language lead the training, mocks and debrief for the field team. They are trained on the following topics:
➢ Project Overview
➢ Sample size and location of the study
➢ Team setup - Reporting protocols
➢ Local Context
➢ Question-by-question overview of the questionnaire
➢ Ethical Protocols - sensitizing our field team on research ethics, data confidentiality, and privacy protocols
➢ CAPI training - Instruction on the usage of tablets on the field
➢ Instruction on field observation notes
➢ Obtaining informed consent
➢ Data security and data transfer protocols
➢ Classroom Mock and Field Mock
➢ Debrief
To ensure high quality and reliable data collection, We enable our data collection platform with the following audits and checks:
1. Location Tracking:
Devices are used to get the location of each respondent or household. The GPS coordinates are then plotted using Google Earth to visualize the location of the survey.
2. Time Audits:
Our surveys are time-stamped and thus it is easy to estimate the duration of each survey, as well as the duration of different sections within the tool. This helps us to check whether each survey has been filled authentically. If the survey has been filled in an unusually shorter or longer time then we question the surveyor and run additional checks on the survey.
3. Form Design:
A rigorously designed form prevents errors from happening by preventing surveyors from entering non-sensible values. We put in constrains, logical checks and speed violation warning system in our surveys to ensure data collection is reliable and authentic. We also build in hints and notes for surveyors' assistance.
4. Surveyor Incentives
We provide monetary incentives to our field teams if they meet our data quality standards. This motivates them to honestly carry out data collection.
5. Spot Checks:
We monitor our surveyors and occasionally accompany them to the households to see how they are asking questions and interacting with the respondents.
6. Feedbacks from monitoring: Feedbacks from monitoring are given both at the Individual and Team level. Regular Data quality reports are shared with the surveyors so that timely corrections can happen while they are on the field.
7. Back-Checks:
We use Back-checks (in-person and telephonic) as a quality control method to verify the quality and legitimacy of data collected during a survey. A back-check team comprising of supervisors and field staff returns to a randomly-selected subset of households for which data has been collected. These households are interviewed again with a short subset of survey questions. We usually conduct back check surveys on 2-5% of the total sample using a verification questionnaire i.e. few questions identified in the tool before the commencement of data collection, answers to which are likely to remain unchanged.
Protocol for Qualitative Data Collection
Our internal quality protocols for qualitative data collection are based on the following criteria:
To ensure the above-mentioned criteria's we practice the following in our qualitative interviews
Field notes: Our researchers collect extensive field notes for documenting contextual information. Field notes are also essential in filling in gaps and become a valuable source of data provided. We document the setting of the interview, participants present during the interview, instances of interruptions and other relevant events during the discussion.
Recordings: After informing the participants, we record the interviews so that they can be revisited while preparing transcriptions. This ensures that transcriptions are accurate and do not lose meaning owing to translation.
Note Taker and Field Worker: For all group-based interviews at least three people carry out the discussion - researcher facilitator, a note taker ( for a thick description of the setting and he also acts as a supporting facilitator) and a field worker. A field worker helps with ensuring there are no interruptions and in understanding local innuendoes and references.
Interruptions/ onlookers during a qualitative interview is an important factor that affects the quality of data gathered. For example, interruptions or presence of onlookers during the interview often result in respondents twisting their responses or giving politically correct answers. Often when a woman is being interviewed, her husband/other members of the household refuse to leave them alone. In such cases, one researcher or field staff ensure that they separate the respondent individuals/groups and engage with onlookers or other family members, while the other researcher continues to interview with the target respondent.
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