After weeks of programming, enumeration training and piloting, my workload has now reduced significantly. I’ve attempted to switch from micromanaging technical boss to African housewife who happens looks over the data when the enumerators return. I don't transition easily to housewife, but my colleagues brought back a live chicken from the village today, so I think I'm on my way. Anyway, a few things I’ve learned over the past two months and some unsolicited opinions:
- Electronic personal interviewing (or CAPI or PDA) is better than paper.
- Hiring enumerators who are currently unemployed makes the logistics of a flexible field schedule much easier, even if they have approval from their employer to take a leave.
- Young enumerators learn PDAs more quickly, but older enumerators speak the local language better and generally garner more trust.
- Headlamps are particularly useful. Especially when the power goes out and you still have two hours of programming left before the last day of enumeration training and exactly two hours of computer battery.
- Don’t lock the keys in the car.
- Using an external GPS connected via Bluetooth to a third party software is frustrating. It seems to work about 75% of the time. And despite all my best efforts to determine the problem, speak with three different customer service lines and learn all user manuals, the errors continue in a totally unsystematic way.
- Getting the sub-village leader to do every initial household introduction is worth having to drive him/her around: we have not (yet!) been refused from a single household.
-The best time to interview a household here (and during cotton harvest season) is morning or late afternoon, but there is no Subway on the corner where we can hang out while we wait.
- Programming and fully translating a household survey with ten sections (about 30 pages on paper) into electronic format takes about five weeks.
- Power converters are really important for electronic data collection, given that PDAs need to be charged about once every two days. Although converters are sold in Tanzania, the ones from the states are much higher quality. Same goes for batteries.
- The idea of sharing feedback and interesting facts from interviews during a debrief at the end of the day is a good one, but perhaps because I am viewed as a boss, and used to a very American- style of feedback learning, my enumerators are very hesitant to share anything except GPS problems. And of course, I'm asking questions in English and my colleagues are more comfortable in Swahili.
- Security guards are very important.
-Always format a flash drive after you’ve used it on a computer at an internet shop. This erases everything off the flash, including viruses.
- Looking at the data every single day after it has been synced is very useful for discovering both enumerator mistakes and programming errors.
- Nothing beats a moleskin and mechanical pencil.
- Electronic personal interviewing (or CAPI or PDA) is better than paper.
- Hiring enumerators who are currently unemployed makes the logistics of a flexible field schedule much easier, even if they have approval from their employer to take a leave.
- Young enumerators learn PDAs more quickly, but older enumerators speak the local language better and generally garner more trust.
- Headlamps are particularly useful. Especially when the power goes out and you still have two hours of programming left before the last day of enumeration training and exactly two hours of computer battery.
- Don’t lock the keys in the car.
- Using an external GPS connected via Bluetooth to a third party software is frustrating. It seems to work about 75% of the time. And despite all my best efforts to determine the problem, speak with three different customer service lines and learn all user manuals, the errors continue in a totally unsystematic way.
- Getting the sub-village leader to do every initial household introduction is worth having to drive him/her around: we have not (yet!) been refused from a single household.
-The best time to interview a household here (and during cotton harvest season) is morning or late afternoon, but there is no Subway on the corner where we can hang out while we wait.
- Programming and fully translating a household survey with ten sections (about 30 pages on paper) into electronic format takes about five weeks.
- Power converters are really important for electronic data collection, given that PDAs need to be charged about once every two days. Although converters are sold in Tanzania, the ones from the states are much higher quality. Same goes for batteries.
- The idea of sharing feedback and interesting facts from interviews during a debrief at the end of the day is a good one, but perhaps because I am viewed as a boss, and used to a very American- style of feedback learning, my enumerators are very hesitant to share anything except GPS problems. And of course, I'm asking questions in English and my colleagues are more comfortable in Swahili.
- Security guards are very important.
-Always format a flash drive after you’ve used it on a computer at an internet shop. This erases everything off the flash, including viruses.
- Looking at the data every single day after it has been synced is very useful for discovering both enumerator mistakes and programming errors.
- Nothing beats a moleskin and mechanical pencil.
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