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ABSTRACT
In this report, we introduce a system for running reimbursed surveys via text messages and mobile cash. The key advantage of this approach is the ability to conduct rapid surveys at an extremely low cost. After reviewing existing literature, we describe an automated system for conducting such surveys and demonstrate its merits in a proof-of-principle application in India. We obtain substantive insights on the effectiveness of a policy trial that are in line with expert assessments. This application suggests that our approach can be applied to a wide range of problems including impact assessment for policy or developmental aid, and monitoring of public sentiment, and possibly monitoring of conflict dynamics.
Acknowledgments
We would like to express gratitude for the financial support to the EU FP7 Marie Curie Zukunftskolleg Incoming Fellowship Program (Grant #291784) and the Zukunftskolleg of the University of Konstanz.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Notes
1. The source code of the RMS system can be found at https://github.com/schuttes/rms code here.
2. Telecom providers usually engage in multilateral agreements to route calls and text messages to recipients roaming in their networks. However, while calls can either be established or not, text messages need to be stored before delivery in a so-called ‘Short Message Service Center’. Depending on the provider, both the storage period and the number of attempts to deliver a message can vary. In our experience, roughly 50% of all of our internationally sent SMS were either lost or delivered after considerable delays. Section 3 of the supplementary information presents exact findings from a corresponding experiment.
3. A workaround for this problem might be mobile cash and airtime providers, such as wordlremit.com or joloapi.com.
4. See raspberrypi.org, last accessed 13 January 2017.
5. see wammu.eu, last accessed 13 January 2017.
6. See http://www.indiansciencejournal.in/india-sitting-on-an-environmental-tinderboxwarns-advocacy-cse/, last accessed 28 May 2017.
7. See http://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/kejriwal-odd-even-policy-in-delhioverafter-playing-odds-and-evens/, last accessed 28 May 2017.
8. See https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/nov/06/delhi-air-pollution-closes-schoolsfor-three-days, last accessed 28 May 2017.
9. Section 3 of the supplementary information presents the details.
10. A distribution of the survey duration is shown in section 2 of the supplementary information.
11. See http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-news-india/during-delhi-odd-evenphase-2-most-air-quality-stations-showed-spike-in-pollutants-2799650/; http://www.teriin.org/files/TERI-Analysis-Odd-even.pdf, both last accessed 3 February 2017.
12. See http://www.hindustantimes.com/delhi/odd-even-repairs-breakdowns-chaos-jams-ruleddelhi-roads-on-monday/story-e7pemlXHQ4KN2xadjBiJdL.html, last accessed 4 June 2017.
13. See http://indianexpress.com/article/cities/delhi/odd-even-phase-ii-delhi-govt-decodesreasons-for-traffic-jams-new-cars-new-e-rickshaws-new-rules-2762900/, last accessed 4 June 2017.
14. See http://www.hindustantimes.com/delhi/odd-even-repairs-breakdowns-chaos-jams-ruleddelhi-roads-on-monday/story-e7pemlXHQ4KN2xadjBiJdL.html, last accessed 4 June 2017.
15. See http://indianexpress.com/article/cities/delhi/delhi-odd-even-phase-2-vijay-goel-2777134/, last accessed 4 June 2017.
Additional information
Funding
Notes on contributors
Sebastian Schutte
Sebastian Schutte is a Marie Curie fellow at the University of Konstanz. His research is mainly focused on civil conflicts and methodological problems.
Roos Haer
Roos Haer is an Assistant Professor at Leiden University (2017-). Her research is mainly focused on micro-level conflict research, children in conflict, and survey methodology.