The document provides 7 tips for obtaining high quality data from mobile surveys: 1. Ensure clear objectives for the data being collected and how it will be used. 2. Provide an informative introduction to enlighten participants. 3. Consider incentives and timing of surveys to increase response rates. 4. Ask simple, unbiased questions that avoid repetition and ambiguity. 5. Encourage accurate responses through concrete timeframes and number ranges. 6. Choose optimal answer styles and languages for participants.

1. The
Road
to
Success
Top tips to obtain high quality data

2. Your
objectives
should
be
very
clear.
Know
exactly
what
data
you
want
to
collect
and
how
this
will
help
you.
Create
up
to
3
objectives
to
>ine
tune
your
mobile
research.
WHAT
IS
YOUR
OBJECTIVE?

3. Consider
the
following:
1 What
information
are
you
trying
to
discover
from
your
audience?
2 What
are
you
trying
to
learn
from
your
results?
3 How
will
you
use
the
data
you
collect?

4. #1
THE
INTRODUCTION
• Always
include
an
informative
introduction
message
to
enlighten
your
audience
of
the
nature
of
the
survey.
• This
is
particularly
important
if
asking
about
a
sensitive
topic.
EG:
Hello!
mSurvey
invites
your
to
participate
in
this
survey
about
education
systems.
It
is
free
to
participate
and
you
will
be
credited
with
40
Ksh
airtime
upon
completion.

5. #2
RESPONSE
RATES
• When did you last interact with this audience?
Engaged audiences, who are expecting a mobile survey, will generate much
higher response rates.
• Have you considered adding an incentive?

6. Data
Point
Interesting
to
note:
Incentives can
increase
response rates
by 35%

7. #3
QUESTION
STYLE
Your
questions
should
collect
high
quality
data.
Ensure
they
are:
u Simple
and
concise
-­‐
avoid
misinterpretation
or
ambiguity
u Neutral
-­‐
remain
unbiased
u Not
repetitive
-­‐
change
up
questions
to
keep
audience
engaged.

8. #4
BE
ACCURATE
Encourage accurate answers to increase reliability.
Consider
including:
• Concrete
timeframes
–
encourages
more
current
answers
• Concrete
number
ranges
–
avoids
ambiguity

9. #5
SURVEY
TIMING
Consider the best time to send the
survey to you target audience.
Don’t send if they might be asleep or
busy at work.

10. #6
ANSWER
STYLE
• Open-­‐ended
questions
allow
free
expression;
this
is
valuable.
• Multiple
choice
answers
are
good
for
providing
clear,
easy
to
analyse
data.
• Ensure
your
survey
participants
are
not
forced
to
choose
an
answer
just
to
move
forward.
This
generates
bad
data.
• Including
‘Other’
as
an
option,
allows
participants
to
elaborate
through
a
follow-­‐up
question.

11. #7
LANGUAGE
Choose
your
language
and
phrasing
carefully.
It
is
important
to
consider
that
sometimes
spoken
language
is
not
the
preferred
written
language.
EG:
research
has
shown
that
the
majority
of
Kenyans
prefer
speaking
in
Kiswahili
and
writing
in
English.