Do Mobile Phone Surveys Work in Poor Countries?

Ben Leo, Robert Morello, Jonathan Mellon, Tiago Peixoto, and Stephen Davenport. 2015. "Do
Mobile Phone Surveys Work in Poor Countries?" CGD Working Paper 398. Washington, DC:
Center for Global Development.

The project analyzed whether mobile phone-based surveys are a feasible and cost-effective approach for gathering statistically representative information in four low-income countries (Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Mozambique, and Zimbabwe). Specifically, it focused on three primary research questions. First, can the mobile phone survey platform reach a nationally representative sample? Second, to what extent does linguistic fractionalization affect the ability to produce a representative sample? Third, how effectively does monetary compensation impact survey completion patterns?