Abstract
The investigation of multiple sources in household water management is considered overly complicated and time consuming using paper and pen interviewing (PAPI). We assess the advantages of computer-assisted personal interviewing (CAPI) in Pacific Island Countries (PICs). We adapted an existing PAPI survey on multiple water sources and expanded it to incorporate location of water use and the impacts of extreme weather events using SurveyCTO on Android tablets. We then compared the efficiency and accuracy of data collection using the PAPI version (n = 44) with the CAPI version (n = 291), including interview duration, error rate and trends in interview duration with enumerator experience. CAPI surveys facilitated high-quality data collection and were an average of 15.2 min faster than PAPI. CAPI survey duration decreased by 0.55% per survey delivered (p < 0.0001), whilst embedded skip patterns and answer lists lowered data entry error rates, relative to PAPI (p < 0.0001). Large-scale household surveys commonly used in global monitoring and evaluation do not differentiate multiple water sources and uses. CAPI equips water researchers with a quick and reliable tool to address these knowledge gaps and advance our understanding of development research priorities.
Highlights
Most surveys conducted for global water, sanitation and hygiene (WaSH) research neglect aspects of household water management that are widespread and essential in many developing country settings
Preliminary findings of the computer-assisted personal interviewing (CAPI) survey indicate the importance of multiple water sources in household water management in Pacific Island Countries (PICs), and the capability of CAPI as an effective tool to address these knowledge gaps
The CAPI survey instrument was verified by household interviews in PICs, which identified the routine use of more than one water source in
Summary
Most surveys conducted for global water, sanitation and hygiene (WaSH) research neglect aspects of household water management that are widespread and essential in many developing country settings. Notable among these is the exclusive focus of household surveys on the “primary” source of water for drinking and cooking [1]. This has led to underrepresentation of multiple water source use in household (HH) water management and its relevance for important and timely issues in global WaSH including hygiene, household water quantity needs, and adaptation of water practices by season and climate resilience. The importance of multiple household water sources in many developing country settings and the associated gaps in knowledge have been acknowledged recently by WaSH researchers (e.g., [3,4])
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