Insights into the Utility and Management of Mobile Phone Panel Surveys: Evidence from Surveys of Household Resilience in Myanmar

Interest in the use of mobile phone surveys has skyrocketed in recent years. The need for quick, reliable and low-cost information in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic has only added to the momentum. Phones survey offer numerous advantages when considered alongside traditional face-to-face surveys, including: remote access to respondents; near-real-time data collection; and lower administration costs. Many of these benefits are especially relevant to evaluators seeking to track resilience in post-disaster environments – contexts where it is often unsafe or difficult to access communities of interest. While rapid proliferation of phone networks and use in developing countries has opened new opportunities for researchers and development practitioners, the strengths and limitations of mobile phone surveys are still poorly understood.In this paper we provide insights into the utility and management of mobile phone surveys using quantitative and qualitative results from a unique high-frequency mobile phone panel survey on household resilience in Myanmar. In particular, we draw on a programme of work launched by Building Resilience and Adaptation to Climate Extremes and Disasters (BRACED), an initiative that collected seventeen waves of survey data across two sites in eastern Myanmar between June 2017 and March 2019. By comparing phone surveys with a parallel face-to-face survey we reveal modest mode effects in perceived levels of resilience. For the most part, however, mode effects do not differ significantly across key socio-economic groups. The same is also true for non-response rates across panel waves – with the exception of household size. We also highlight a series of lessons learned in promoting low attrition rates in high-frequency phone surveys, including discussion of intrinsic and extrinsic motivations drawing on key informant interviews with enumerators and respondents. Finally, we offer suggestions and tips on how to effectively manage a mobile phone panel survey drawing on the experiences of the BRACED programme – ranging from call centre set-up to quality control and enumerator.