Research conducted over the past 30 years has demonstrated a reduction in errors and improvement in data quality when face–to-face social surveys are carried out using computers instead of paper and pencil. However, research examining the quality of data collected by interviewers using mobile devices is in its infancy and is based in developed countries. In a small pilot study conducted during the World Bank’s Kenya State of the Cities Baseline Survey, a face-to-face survey on living conditions, infrastructure and service delivery, the authors compared the quality of data collected using smartphones to data collected using tablets. The study of …

The article summarizes how monitoring of fieldwork was conducted in the fourth wave of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) by using the conceptual framework of total survey error as a guiding principle. I describe the technological and governance-related background of monitoring and managing fieldwork in a tiered principal-agent environment of a cross-national, longitudinal survey operation. Findings on selected indicators are presented as they were utilized in fortnightly reports to contracted survey agencies during the entire data collection period. Reporting was intended to stimulate corrective action by contracted for-profit survey businesses. I summarize our experience of …