Assessing the Opportunities and Challenges in the Transition to Computer-Based Survey Data Collection: The Role of Key Software System Features

Abstract

This report examines the opportunities and challenges associated with the adoption of computer-assisted interviewing (CAI) technology for data collection in household surveys in the Indian context, following a recent large-scale test of CAI in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu. The issues identified are highly relevant to the Government of Tamil Nadu’s (GOTN) ongoing work to convert state survey data collection operations to CAI. These issues are also more generally informative to the shift from paper-based questionnaire instruments to CAI technology for state governments throughout India. The Survey Research Center (SRC) at the University of Michigan has worked closely with a Tamil Nadu state government agency—the Department of Economics and Statistics—that is at the center of this shift to CAI. Based on this experience, and our background running major CAI surveys in the U.S., Nepal, China, and elsewhere, this report provides some broader context about CAI, key features to consider in the selection of CAI software platforms, issues in the management of CAI operations, and related topics. This report was prepared by SRC independently of GOTN, but in service of the GOTN’s work to expand CAI data collection.