Do referrals improve the representation of women in mobile phone surveys?

Steven Glazerman; Karen A. Grépin; Valerie Mueller; Michael Rosenbaum; Nicole Wu

doi:10.1016/j.jdeveco.2023.103077

Do referrals improve the representation of women in mobile phone surveys?

Steven Glazerman, Karen A. Grépin, Valerie Mueller, Michael Rosenbaum, Nicole Wu

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

5 Scopus citations

Abstract

Random digit dial surveys with mobile phones risk under-representation of women. To address this, we compare the characteristics of women recruited directly with those of women recruited through referrals from male household members. The referral process improves representation of vulnerable groups, such as young women, the asset poor, and those living in areas with low connectivity. Among mobile phone users, we show a referral (rather than a direct dial) protocol includes more nationally representative proportions of women with these attributes. While seeking intra-household referrals may improve representation, we show that it does so at a higher cost.

Original language	English (US)
Article number	103077
Journal	Journal of Development Economics
Volume	162
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jdeveco.2023.103077
State	Published - May 2023
Externally published	Yes

Keywords

Gender representation
Mobile phone surveys
Referral
Survey methods

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Development
Economics and Econometrics

Access to Document

10.1016/j.jdeveco.2023.103077

Cite this

@article{23150511e5ea4996aebfea09ed0d99ef,

title = "Do referrals improve the representation of women in mobile phone surveys?",

abstract = "Random digit dial surveys with mobile phones risk under-representation of women. To address this, we compare the characteristics of women recruited directly with those of women recruited through referrals from male household members. The referral process improves representation of vulnerable groups, such as young women, the asset poor, and those living in areas with low connectivity. Among mobile phone users, we show a referral (rather than a direct dial) protocol includes more nationally representative proportions of women with these attributes. While seeking intra-household referrals may improve representation, we show that it does so at a higher cost.",

keywords = "Gender representation, Mobile phone surveys, Referral, Survey methods",

author = "Steven Glazerman and Gr{\'e}pin, {Karen A.} and Valerie Mueller and Michael Rosenbaum and Nicole Wu",

note = "Funding Information: We gratefully acknowledge the support by Simon Fraser University under the Gender and COVID-19 Project, which is financed by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation under investment INV-017300. We also thank our partners at Innovations for Poverty Action (especially, Elliott Collins, John Mungai, Debborah Muthoki Wambua, and Shana Warren) for research advice and technical support throughout the project. Funding Information: We gratefully acknowledge the support by Simon Fraser University under the Gender and COVID-19 Project, which is financed by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation under investment INV-017300. We also thank our partners at Innovations for Poverty Action (especially, Elliott Collins, John Mungai, Debborah Muthoki Wambua, and Shana Warren) for research advice and technical support throughout the project. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2023 The Authors",

year = "2023",

month = may,

doi = "10.1016/j.jdeveco.2023.103077",

language = "English (US)",

volume = "162",

journal = "Journal of Development Economics",