Could we survey a nationally or sub-nationally representative sample of the population simply by using mobile phones? Mobile polling would revolutionize how civil society and human rights organizations operate, allowing researchers to ask people what they think on any given issue at a fraction of the cost of traditional face-to-face surveys, and then track changes in public opinion in near real-time.
Of course, this technique also has drawbacks—understanding these strengths and weaknesses will help determine when it’s appropriate and when it’s not.
Traditionally, the only way to reach a nationally representative sample of the population was to conduct a household survey using enumerators, who would be sent around the country to conduct face-to-face interviews with a diverse and representative cross-section of the population based upon official census tracts. This produces accurate data (though fraud can be a concern), but it is both expensive and time-consuming. Collecting numbers from program beneficiaries and then conducting phone interviews—or crowdsourcing using a platform like Ushahidi—is less expensive. However, these approaches do not accurately gauge overall public opinion as they do not generate a nationally representative sample.
