Accompany Surveyors

This guide provides comprehensive guidelines on why, when, and how to accompany surveyors during data collection. It covers the importance of monitoring data quality, ensuring accuracy, understanding respondent reactions, and building accountability through structured observation and feedback.

Key Takeaways
  • Accompanying surveyors ensures high-quality data collection by monitoring their performance and providing feedback.
  • It helps detect issues early, verify question accuracy, and understand respondent reactions.
  • Regular accompaniment builds accountability and reinforces ethical data collection practices.

Why Accompany Surveyors

Accompanying surveyors is a key step in ensuring high-quality data collection. It allows researchers to monitor data quality, provide feedback, and detect any issues early in the survey process. By demonstrating commitment to accuracy, this practice sets expectations for the team and reinforces the importance of ethical and accurate data collection.

Motivations for Accompanying Surveyors

  • Ensuring Accuracy: Observing surveyors helps verify that they ask questions correctly and consistently.
  • Understanding Respondent Reactions: Researchers can identify whether respondents interpret questions as intended.
  • Detecting Issues Early: Researchers can catch and correct mistakes or inconsistencies before they affect the dataset.
  • Improving Surveyor Performance: Providing targeted feedback helps surveyors improve their skills.
  • Building Accountability: Regular monitoring discourages falsification and reinforces ethical data collection.
  • Strengthening Relationships: Engaging with surveyors demonstrates appreciation for their work and provides firsthand experience of their challenges.

How to Accompany Surveyors

  1. Full Accompaniment at the Start:
    • During the initial days of the survey, observe each surveyor for an entire interview to ensure they understand and apply the questionnaire correctly.
  2. Ongoing Partial Accompaniment:
    • As the survey progresses, limit accompanying to key sections of the interview such as two to three sections per visit.
  3. Structured Observation and Feedback:
    • Use standardized forms to document observations and track surveyor performance.
    • Provide immediate feedback and follow up on recurring mistakes.
  4. Random and Scheduled Observations:
    • Mix planned and unannounced observations to get a realistic picture of surveyor performance.
  5. Escalation for Persistent Issues:
    • Address repeated mistakes with training or corrective actions.
    • If necessary, implement penalties or contract termination for continued poor performance.

Monitoring and Reporting

  • Research Protocol: Accompany at least 10% of surveys to comply with best practices.
  • Survey Diary: Maintain a log of observations and feedback for continuous improvement.
  • External Resources: See the paper version and SurveyCTO XLSForm of IPA’s accompaniment template for documentation and reporting.
Back to top