Overview
Conducting traditional research surveys in developing countries can be labor-intensive and costly, and the end result can lack nuance and multi-dimensionality. Mobile phones are increasingly being used by researchers to conduct surveys cheaply and dynamically, particularly in low-resource settings. This project will augment an existing randomized controlled trial (RCT), leveraging mobile phones to administer long-term follow-up surveys and achieve high-frequency data collection, the flexible addition of questions, automatized surveying via text messages, and SMS-based thought diaries.
Demonstrating the DIL Approach
Proven ways to utilize information and communication technologies (ICTs) as instruments of development and as robust research tools remain scarce. Leveraging an existing ongoing study, this project will bring together engineers and economists to more effectively model how to use mobile phones for optimized data collection and surveying.
2013 Updates
This project supplements an existing RCT that uses mobile technology to examine the impact of cash transfers to poor households in Kenya via GiveDirectly.
Lead Researchers
- Johannes Haushofer, PhD, MIT, the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL)
- Professor Paul Niehaus, UC San Diego, Department of Economics
Partnerships
GiveDirectly, a non-profit organization that transfers funds directly to the poor.