The Effects of Phone-Based Surveys on Measurement Quality: When and Why Does Modality Matter?

Mobile phone-based surveys are an increasingly popular tool allowing researchers to collect data more frequently and cheaply than traditional, face-to-face surveys. However, phone surveys can potentially introduce measurement error by exacerbating respondent attrition or reporting error. We conduct a field experiment on a set of 900 micro-entrepreneurs in Uganda in which we randomly assign participants to face-to-face or to phone surveys. Data we collected prior to this experiment will allow us to characterize any attrition bias introduced by a differential tracking rate. We will assess how measurement varies for 1) simple, objective questions, such as age and experience, 2) complex, objective questions, such as business profit and labor supply, 3) subjective, sensitive questions, such as social and political attitudes on controversial topics, and 4) subjective, non-sensitive questions, such as subjective well-being. We will test whether modality effects can be mitigated by fixing enumerator-respondent pairings across survey rounds, or by including a trust-building activity prior to the survey.