About Survey and Respondent Tracking
Overview of IPA’s tracking resources for fieldwork, covering survey progress tracking, respondent tracking, longitudinal strategies for panel studies, replacement procedures, and mop-up operations.
Tracking systems monitor two things at once: how fieldwork is progressing overall, and what happened to each individual respondent. Together they prevent sample loss, minimize attrition, and protect the representativeness of your data—especially in panel studies that return to the same respondents over multiple rounds.
What You Will Find Here
- Why Tracking Matters - How tracking systems prevent sample loss, minimize attrition, and ensure representative data
- Survey Tracking - Monitoring aggregate fieldwork progress with standardized metrics and real-time reporting
- Respondent Tracking - Outcome codes, contact information, tracking documentation, and attrition management for individual respondents
- Longitudinal Tracking Strategies - Proactive techniques for maintaining contact across survey rounds in panel studies
- Replacement Procedures - When replacement is permitted at baseline, protocols to minimize selection bias, and why follow-up rounds never allow replacements
- Mop-Up Operations - Reaching difficult respondents to achieve target response rates and minimize differential attrition
Getting Started
Setting up tracking for a new study? Read Why Tracking Matters first, then set up Survey Tracking for progress monitoring and Respondent Tracking for case management. Panel studies should also review Longitudinal Tracking Strategies.