With the UK Census in the next few days, we thought we'd share a great article from Rachel Antony-Roberts, Research and Customer Insight Manager and Assistant Census Liaison Manager in Westminster Council’s communications and strategy unit:
http://www.research-live.com/4004783.article
The Census, particularly one completed only once a decade as in England, is fraught with issues about compliance and cost.
On one hand, paper surveys are expensive to print, transport, double enter for validation, potentially to read. The respondent is subject to question fatigue and the veracity of the information provided can be questionable. For example, during the last UK census, 390,000 people listed their religion as 'Jedi Knight', clearly using humour to distance their own personal information from the needs of the government to base social policy on their requirements. Subsequent construction of Jedi temples to meet the demand in high density Jedi Knight regions have so far gone unreported ;)
Perhaps personal interviews, face to face at the door step, are a better solution? With the interviewers armed with a portable device (PDA, Android tablet or even an iPad?) the paper and data entry costs would be obsolete and the information would be validated at entry and clarified with the respondent right away. Multiple choice answers could be randomized to prevent question fatigue or bias. There would be less data entry errors. But how would you arrange to have enough interviewers in field to interview the population that night, without omitting the interviewers themselves from the census count?
What would happen if we gave people the option to self-complete using CAMI/ MCASI, as well as online and paper ?
To see how we used mobile to gather pre-census data in the USA, click here.
Update on 14th April 2011: For more information about how Census data is being used, the MRS is hosting a conference on 4 July. More information here.
http://www.research-live.com/4004783.article
The Census, particularly one completed only once a decade as in England, is fraught with issues about compliance and cost.
On one hand, paper surveys are expensive to print, transport, double enter for validation, potentially to read. The respondent is subject to question fatigue and the veracity of the information provided can be questionable. For example, during the last UK census, 390,000 people listed their religion as 'Jedi Knight', clearly using humour to distance their own personal information from the needs of the government to base social policy on their requirements. Subsequent construction of Jedi temples to meet the demand in high density Jedi Knight regions have so far gone unreported ;)
Perhaps personal interviews, face to face at the door step, are a better solution? With the interviewers armed with a portable device (PDA, Android tablet or even an iPad?) the paper and data entry costs would be obsolete and the information would be validated at entry and clarified with the respondent right away. Multiple choice answers could be randomized to prevent question fatigue or bias. There would be less data entry errors. But how would you arrange to have enough interviewers in field to interview the population that night, without omitting the interviewers themselves from the census count?
What would happen if we gave people the option to self-complete using CAMI/ MCASI, as well as online and paper ?
The number of mobile subscriber connections in the UK is expected to reach 88.8 million in 2012, it's one of the highest penetration figures in the world. A new report by IEMR indicates that 55% of total connections use the prepaid payment model. Two large brands (T-Mobile and Orange) have recently merged so that there are only 3 or 4 large telecoms players in the UK market.
The Q1 2011 report 'United Kingdom Mobile Operator Forecast, 2010 - 2015' expects that in the competitive UK market, wireless carriers are battling to attract and retain customers. Consumer research by The MMA and Lightspeed Research (October 2010) found that in UK 45 percent of consumers noticed mobile advertising. Of these, 29 percent responded to it and a whopping 47 percent of people went on to make a purchase. It's clear that consumers in the UK are saying that they want to use their mobile device to engage with offers.
So with such high mobile penetration, and only 3-4 key mobile operators vying to keep customers engaged, why couldn't you use mobile to answer questions about the census?
Rather than spending so much money on increasing compliance (even though there is a £1000 fine for not responding), why not incentivise the population by giving them credit for their phones? or credit for other mobile content?
The respondents could complete the survey while on the couch, or doing their usual evening activities.
The respondents could complete the survey while on the couch, or doing their usual evening activities.
Rather than the costs in printing, posting, completing, posting back, double entry and a delay in gathering the information (of those that are valid) using traditional print methods, why not incentivise people with a $5 credit against their phone bill, or a chance to win something that is compelling to the population to increase compliance?
Our surveys have shown that even an incentive as small as $1 (in points) rapidly increase compliance and response speed, even when the survey involves a task. The UK Government could even offer a coupon for a free fare on the public transport system, or points at the local supermarket loyalty program - of which there is huge adoption in the UK.
Perhaps with certain segments, like those over 40, they could opt in to use the traditional paper method or go online to complete. I'm sure for the majority of the population
Our surveys have shown that even an incentive as small as $1 (in points) rapidly increase compliance and response speed, even when the survey involves a task. The UK Government could even offer a coupon for a free fare on the public transport system, or points at the local supermarket loyalty program - of which there is huge adoption in the UK.
Perhaps with certain segments, like those over 40, they could opt in to use the traditional paper method or go online to complete. I'm sure for the majority of the population
respondents would prefer to complete it in a few minutes on the couch, avoid a £1000 fine and earn themselves an incentive. Using mobile apps, the UK Government would get higher quality information, validated, much faster than paper methods. And maybe a picture of these Jedi Knight worshippers ;)
There's nothing like mobile to get you an unfiltered, as-it-is photograph of someone's front door, and a GPS capture on the fly (55% of mobile users in the UK are taking photos with their phone on a regular basis). Mobile apps could give the UK government validated, valuable information about what's happening at people's homes for future social planning.
To see how we used mobile to gather pre-census data in the USA, click here.
Update on 14th April 2011: For more information about how Census data is being used, the MRS is hosting a conference on 4 July. More information here.
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