Our ODK Training Experience (Materials Included)

Posted on October 20, 2011

NOTE TO THE READER: This post serves as a follow up to and elaboration on our first training post. That post, while titled ”Introduction to AfSIS Enumerator Training,” served as an introduction to our project more generally. We hope this post answers more … Continue reading →

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Testing GPS Quality on Android Devices

Posted on October 18, 2011

During a recent discussion of our work, one Earth Institute scientist mentioned that he was worried about the quality of the GPS built into Android devices. It is a real concern. Depending on the level of precision that your organization … Continue reading →

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Like Buttons on a Vending Machine: Language Issues in Survey Creation

Posted on October 13, 2011

From Surveying 101, we all know that how you ask a question can radically change the answer you get. We work in a bilingual office (English and Kiswahili) and are researching a bilingual population (Kiswahili and Kimaasai), so this truth … Continue reading →

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A Look at Different Apps for Conducting Surveys: Part 3 (Locus Free)

Posted on October 12, 2011

Android devices are powerful tools for surveying because they are multifaceted. We used them to conduct questionnaires, to navigate, and to measure the area of plots. For each of these processes, we used a different free application (or app). This … Continue reading →

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Enumerators Offer Perspectives on ICT4Ag Pilot Survey

Posted on October 7, 2011

We are excited to present the following video highlighting the perspectives of two of our enumerators. While this does not represent the entire group (five in total), we believe that it is generally representative. These particular enumerators were chosen because … Continue reading →

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A Look at Different Apps for Conducting Surveys: Part 2 (Distance and Area Measurement)

Posted on October 6, 2011

UPDATE: (13 October 2011) We added feedback for the app’s creator at the bottom along with his great recommendation for improving our protocol. —– Android devices are powerful tools for surveying because they are multifaceted. We used them to conduct … Continue reading →

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A Look at Different Apps for Conducting Surveys: Part 1 (Using ODK Collect)

Posted on October 3, 2011

Android-devices are powerful tools for surveying because they are multifaceted. We used them to conduct questionnaires, to navigate, and to measure the area of plots. For each of these processes, we used a different free application (or app). We will … Continue reading →

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What’s a ‘Household?’

Posted on September 26, 2011

The word and concept of household is incredibly loaded, and creating a unified definition of “household” across different cultures and countries can be very difficult. Ultimately, defining this term will be very important for AfSIS as our household survey expands … Continue reading →

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Pace of Enumeration

Posted on September 23, 2011

On Wednesday the 21st of September, we completed the survey phase of our ICT4Ag pilot.  We conducted a final debriefing session with the enumerators, they are returning to their regular routine as agriculture extension officers, and we are turning our … Continue reading →

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Device Prep and Management

Posted on September 20, 2011

Preparing for an agriculture survey using Android phones and OpenDataKit tools is very similar to preparing for a paper-based survey. The research team must design the survey questions, select enumerators, develop a sampling plan, meet with community leaders, and deal … Continue reading →

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