Abstract
There is growing use of household surveys by conservation organizations as they seek to measure the social impacts of conservation initiatives, especially in developing countries. Several recent health-sector studies suggest that computer-aided personal interviewing may be a cheaper and faster alternative to the traditional paper-based interviewing. Here, a comparison of The Nature Conservancy-funded tablet computer-based and paper-based household surveys is presented. Because the tablet and paper surveys were not identical except for the data collection tool, the results are suggestive. In the comparison, the cost per completed interview for the tablet-based survey was 74% less than the paper-based survey average, and the average time per interview question for the tablet-based survey was 46% less than the paper-based survey average. The cost saving came primarily from less need for data cleaning and lower enumerator fees. The time saving came primarily from faster data entry. The results suggest that there may be substantial savings in costs and time when using tablets rather than paper for survey data collection in a developing country.
Highlights
Within conservation, the number of new household surveys has grown almost every year for the last two decades (Figure 1)
When surveys are the tool of choice, data collection is commonly done either remotely or face-to-face [7]
The paper-based surveys were chosen for the comparison because they share with the tablet-based survey a face-to-face data collection mode, a project-area sampling frame, a cluster-sampling method, the use of trained local enumerators and local supervisors, and a similar East African geographical context
Summary
The number of new household surveys has grown almost every year for the last two decades (Figure 1). Conservation organizations are using household surveys as the data collection tool for, inter alia, project baselines and impact assessments (e.g., [1,2]) and to inform the detailed design of new projects. When surveys are the tool of choice, data collection is commonly done either remotely or face-to-face [7]. Remote data collection involves mail, phone or Internet surveys. This type of data collection affords a higher degree of privacy to respondents but depends on reliable mail service or a high percentage of phone/computer ownership. Face-to-face data collection involves in-person interviews where responses are recorded with pen and paper or electronically. In a developing country context, face-to-face data collection may be more practical than remote data collection when communications infrastructure is limited
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