Real-Time Social Data Collection in Rural Bangladesh via a 'Microtasks for Micropayments' Platform on Android Smartphones.
The advent of cheap smartphones in rural areas across the globe presents an opportunity to change the mode with which researchers engage hard-to-reach populations. In particular, smartphones allow researchers to connect with respondents more frequently than standard household surveys, opening a new window into important short-term variability in key measures of household and community wellbeing. In this paper, we present early results from a pilot study in rural Bangladesh using a 'microtasks for micropayments' model to collect a range of community and household living standards data using Android smartphones. We find that more frequent task repetition with shorter recall periods leads to more inclusive reporting, improved capture of intra-seasonal variability, and earlier signals of events such as illness. Payments in the form of mobile talk time and data provide a positive development externality in the form of expanded access to mobile internet and social networks. Taken to scale, programs such as this have potential to transform data collection in rural areas, providing near-real-time windows into the development of markets, the spread of illnesses, or the diffusion of ideas and innovations.
Department of Environmental Studies, New York University, 285 Mercer St., New York, NY, 10003, United States of America.
Andrew Reid
http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1164-312X
AR
Bell
International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), 2033 K St. NW, Washington, DC, 20006, United States of America.
Patrick S
PS
Ward
Department of Environmental Studies, New York University, 285 Mercer St., New York, NY, 10003, United States of America.
Mary E
ME
Killilea
International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) Dhaka Office, House 10A, Road 35, Gulshan 2, Dhaka, 1212, Bangladesh.
Md Ehsanul Haque
ME
Tamal
D001459:Bangladesh; D003625:Data Collection / Q000191:economics / Q000379:methods*; D005191:Family Characteristics; D006801:Humans; D010865:Pilot Projects; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D012423:Rural Health; D012424:Rural Population; D000068997:Smartphone / Q000191:economics; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D060145:Text Messaging / Q000191:economics