New forms of data collection

Theme overview

The parallel sessions within new forms of data collection theme focused on the following issues. Select the presentation titles to download the slides as PDFs.

Using innovative technology
Chaired by David Porteous, Generation Scotland
- SMS surveys in the Global South: Insights from field studies in Tanzania
  Johanna Choumert-Nkolo, EDI Global
- “We hope to visit you again soon”: Updating location information from participants of a longitudinal studies during COVID-19 in four Low-Middle-Income-Countries
  Maria De Los Angeles Molina, Young Lives

Experimental designs and clinics
Chaired by Paz Garcia, TwinsUK
- Cohort Re-engagement Strategies
  Sarah Sullivan, Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children
- Concurrent, Sequential or Web-Only? Evidence from a mixed-mode recruitment experiment in FReDA
  Pablo Christmann, GESIS

Summary of key points

Issues with new forms of data collection include costs involved and lack of participant familiarity.
Mixing new data methods with existing techniques can maximise responses and reduce missing data.
Studies need to consider ethics and trade-off of re-engaging past participants compared to active participants.
Smartphones are ideally suited to short, closed studies (e.g. via SMS) or passive data collection (e.g. via GPS).
Advantages including ease of use, reduced fieldwork and staff costs, whilst limitations include user bias, safety and security, and less participant engagement/trust compared to F2F ‘gold standard’.
Text messaging is a useful method of prompting cohort members who are familiar with F2F contact.