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Using mobile phones to collect panel data in developing countries
Author(s) -
Dillon Brian
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
journal of international development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.533
H-Index - 66
eISSN - 1099-1328
pISSN - 0954-1748
DOI - 10.1002/jid.1771
Subject(s) - tanzania , data collection , computer science , developing country , mobile phone , telecommunications , mobile telephony , business , data science , economic growth , economics , sociology , mobile radio , socioeconomics , social science
The rapid spread of mobile telephony throughout the developing world offers researchers a new and exciting means of data collection. This paper describes and analyses the experience of a research project that used mobile phones to collect high frequency, quantitative economic data from households in rural Tanzania. I discuss the research design, highlight some of the mistakes made and lessons learned, and speculate on the applicability of this method in other settings. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.