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Effectiveness of WhatsApp for measuring migration in follow-up phone surveys - Lessons from a mode experiment in two low-income countries during COVID contact restrictions

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  • Ndashimye, Felix
  • Hebie, Oumarou
  • Tjaden, Jasper

Abstract

Phone surveys have increasingly become important data collection tools in developing countries, particularly in the context of sudden contact restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Phone surveys offer particular potential for migration scholars aiming to study cross-border migration behavior. Geographic change of location over time complicates the logistics of face-to-face surveys and heavily increases costs. There is, however, limited evidence of the effectiveness of the phone survey modes in different geographic settings more generally, and in migration research more specifically. In this field experiment, we compared the response rates between WhatsApp—a relatively new but increasingly important survey mode—and interactive voice response (IVR) modes, using a sample of 8446 contacts in Senegal and Guinea. At 12%, WhatsApp survey response rates were nearly eight percentage points lower than IVR survey response rates. However, WhatsApp offers higher survey completion rates, substantially lower costs and does not introduce more sample selection bias compared to IVR. We discuss the potential of WhatsApp surveys in low-income contexts and provide practical recommendations for field implementation.

Suggested Citation

  • Ndashimye, Felix & Hebie, Oumarou & Tjaden, Jasper, 2021. "Effectiveness of WhatsApp for measuring migration in follow-up phone surveys - Lessons from a mode experiment in two low-income countries during COVID contact restrictions," OSF Preprints khd32, Center for Open Science.
    • Handle: RePEc:osf:osfxxx:khd32
    DOI: 10.31219/osf.io/khd32
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    1. Fei, Jennifer & Wolff, Jessica Sadye & Hotard, Michael & Ingham, Hannah & Khanna, Saurabh & Lawrence, Duncan & Tesfaye, Beza & Weinstein, Jeremy & Yasenov, Vasil & Hainmueller, Jens, 2020. "Automated Chat Application Surveys Using WhatsApp," SocArXiv j9a2y, Center for Open Science.
    2. Ben Leo, Robert Morello, Jonathan Mellon, Tiago Peixoto, and Stephen Davenport, 2015. "Do Mobile Phone Surveys Work in Poor Countries? - Working Paper 398," Working Papers 398, Center for Global Development.
    3. Pamina Firchow & Roger Mac Ginty, 2020. "Including Hard-to-Access Populations Using Mobile Phone Surveys and Participatory Indicators," Sociological Methods & Research, , vol. 49(1), pages 133-160, February.
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