Can phone surveys be representative in low- and middle-income countries? An application to Myanmar

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cg.authorship.typesCGIAR and developing country instituteen
cg.contributor.affiliationInternational Food Policy Research Instituteen
cg.contributor.affiliationMyanmar Survey Researchen
cg.contributor.donorUnited States Agency for International Developmenten
cg.contributor.donorLivelihoods and Food Security Fund, Myanmaren
cg.coverage.countryMyanmar
cg.coverage.iso3166-alpha2MM
cg.coverage.regionSouthern Asia
cg.creator.identifierIsabel Lambrecht: 0000-0003-1709-6611
cg.creator.identifierJoanna Van Asselt: 0000-0002-0090-6166
cg.creator.identifierDEREK HEADEY: 0000-0003-2476-5131
cg.creator.identifierBart Minten: 0000-0002-2183-1845
cg.creator.identifierHnin Ei: 0000-0003-0925-9468
cg.howPublishedFormally Publisheden
cg.identifier.dataurlhttps://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/1R3F3Uen
cg.identifier.dataurlhttps://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/LPNMTKen
cg.identifier.dataurlhttps://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/GVJKAIen
cg.identifier.dataurlhttps://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/IKGJWFen
cg.identifier.doihttps://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0296292en
cg.identifier.projectIFPRI - Development Strategies and Governance Unit
cg.identifier.projectIFPRI - Systems Transformation - Transformation Strategies
cg.identifier.projectIFPRI - Myanmar Strategy Support Program
cg.identifier.publicationRankB
cg.isijournalISI Journalen
cg.issn1932-6203en
cg.issue12en
cg.journalPLOS ONEen
cg.number18(12)en
cg.reviewStatusPeer Reviewen
cg.volume18en
dc.contributor.authorLambrecht, Isabel B.en
dc.contributor.authorvan Asselt, Joannaen
dc.contributor.authorHeadey, Derek D.en
dc.contributor.authorMinten, Barten
dc.contributor.authorMeza, Patricken
dc.contributor.authorSabai, Moeen
dc.contributor.authorSun, Thet Suen
dc.contributor.authorEi Win, Hninen
dc.date.accessioned2024-01-04T20:40:25Zen
dc.date.available2024-01-04T20:40:25Zen
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10568/137176
dc.titleCan phone surveys be representative in low- and middle-income countries? An application to Myanmaren
dcterms.abstractFor decades, in-person data collection has been the standard modality for nationally and sub-nationally representative socio-economic survey data in low- and middle-income countries. As the COVID-19 pandemic rendered in-person surveys impossible and unethical, the urgent need for rapid monitoring necessitated researchers and statistical agencies to turn to phone surveys. However, apart from pandemic-related factors, a variety of other reasons can render large segments of a population inaccessible for in-person surveys, including political instability, climatic shocks, and remoteness. Such circumstances currently prevail in Myanmar, a country facing civil conflict and political instability since the February 2021 military takeover. Moreover, Myanmar routinely experiences extreme weather events and is characterized by numerous inaccessible and remote regions due to its mountainous geography. We describe a novel approach to sample design and statistical weighting that has been successfully applied in Myanmar to obtain nationally and sub-nationally representative phone survey data. We use quota sampling and entropy weighting to obtain a better geographical distribution compared to recent in-person survey efforts, including reaching respondents in areas of active conflict. Moreover, we minimize biases towards certain household and respondent characteristics that are usually present in phone surveys, for example towards well-educated or wealthy households, or towards men or household heads as respondents. Finally, due to the rapidly changing political and economic situation in Myanmar in 2022, the need for frequent and swift monitoring was critical. We carried out our phone survey over four quarters in 2022, interviewing more than 12,000 respondents in less than three months each survey. A survey of this scale and pace, though generally of much shorter duration than in-person interviews, could only be possible on the phone. Our study proves the feasibility of collecting nationally and sub nationally representative phone survey data using a non-representative sample frame, which is critical for rapid monitoring in any volatile economy.en
dcterms.accessRightsOpen Access
dcterms.audienceAcademicsen
dcterms.available2023-12-22
dcterms.bibliographicCitationLambrecht, Isabel; Van Asselt, Joanna; Headey, Derek D.; Minten, Bart; Meza, Patrick; Sabai, Moe; Sun, Thet Su; and Ei Win, Hnin. 2023. Can phone surveys be representative in low- and middle-income countries? An application to Myanmar. PLoS ONE 18(12): e0296292. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0296292en
dcterms.extente0296292en
dcterms.isPartOfPLoS ONEen
dcterms.issued2023
dcterms.languageen
dcterms.licenseCC-BY-4.0
dcterms.publisherPublic Library of Scienceen
dcterms.relationhttps://doi.org/10.2499/p15738coll2.135931en
dcterms.relationhttps://doi.org/10.2499/p15738coll2.136364en
dcterms.replaceshttps://ebrary.ifpri.org/digital/collection/p15738coll5/id/9017en
dcterms.subjectsurveysen
dcterms.subjectdeveloping countriesen
dcterms.subjectpandemicsen
dcterms.subjectfragilityen
dcterms.typeJournal Article

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