An Intern’s Experience at EAI
Hello there!
I’m excited to share my journey as an intern working with EAI in Abuja, where I had the incredible opportunity to lead a project using remote data collection methodologies for a HiV and nutrition intervention in Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps at Wukari and Gassol LGAs of Taraba State with text messages (yes! the regular Short Message Service or SMS - on phones).
Buckle up, because this experience was thrilling and, let's be honest, a bit overwhelming at times!
Meet the Intern
Before diving into the details of the project, a bit about me - I’m a newly minted Economist. After completing my NYSC, I joined Evidence, Analytics and Insights eight months ago with high hopes and a curious mind, eager to soak up all the knowledge I could. Having previously supported various team members for just over five months, I was happy, learning a lot and settled in the team.
Our evaluation Director looked up at me in a team meeting and told me I was ready to be a leader - supported leadership of course, and I could not believe it. Me? my own project? Yep! Just like that I was assigned a Monitoring project. My first ever. I was nervous, excited and my head was spinning all at the same time!
It was time for a real test, and boy, did this project deliver! An Evaluation Manager was asked to supervise my work and she was a huge help and blessing with developing my monitoring approach for our mobile phone surveys and the data collection tools. She also reviewed and signed off all my reports.
The Why Behind Our Approach
So, why did we decide on SMS responses for data collection? In the face of logistical challenges and security issues in the region, traditional methods just wouldn’t cut it. We needed a way to reach project beneficiaries quickly and efficiently while ensuring their safety and privacy. Plus, with individuals in the IDP camps scattered and frequently moving, SMS was both accessible and convenient. It felt like we were entering the modern age!
Utilising SMS for data collection in the development sector has numerous advantages. When conducted properly, it can serve as a low cost, independent and feasible strategy, especially in contexts where individuals may not feel comfortable sharing sensitive information in person. This helps reduce social desirability bias — where respondents tend to answer questions in a manner they believe will be viewed favourably by others — overcoming logistical constraints that may prevent in-person visits.
For example, when gathering information about nutritional habits or health concerns, sensitive questions can be answered more honestly via SMS than in person, leading to more accurate data collection. Additionally, by using SMS technology, we allowed for crisis reporting to identify, manage or prevent conflict by identifying concerns and addressing them right away. I deeply believe that this approach allowed the project to improve its efficiency and increased beneficiary engagement and satisfaction. This is because we produced these short reports for every round of data collection through which we captured areas for improvement that could be quickly addressed by the NGO that commissioned us.
It's important to note that the use of mobile technology is well used in conflict-mitigation programmes for other aspects of programme delivery for instance: in Identifying and mapping hate speech and rumours; countering hate speech and rumours; identifying and mapping risks to livelihood or other likely causes of conflict; collating and analysing citizens’ perceptions of risk and conflict; mapping violent incidents, tracking armed groups; and providing early warning.
Setting Up the SMS System
The design stage was where the magic began. After the sign-off of my plan and utilising an open-source software platform, we set up a data collection system that relied on the Global System for Mobile (GSM) communication modem connected to a laptop computer.
To maximise the network signal—because let me tell you, we needed every ounce of connectivity—a trusty external signal amplifier was installed and connected to the GSM modem. This creative use of technology allowed us to ensure we could reach participants even in areas where the network was notoriously weak.
Project participants received SMS prompts through a Java-based mobile platform (what we all know as the torchlight phone) which most people on the project already had, allowing them to respond using a simple digit code system that summed up their answers. The process was straightforward: participants could easily text their responses back to us, making it easier for individuals who might face barriers to in-person interviews. All the text messages received were automatically uploaded to an online server and we could download responses on an excel sheet.
Navigating Bureaucracy and Gaining Approvals
Now, let’s talk about the bureaucratic maze that is obtaining approvals from local authorities. Initially, I faced challenges as government staff queried our use of SMS compared to the preferred face-to-face engagements usually done through paper based or online surveys delivered by enumerators. These face-to-face data collection approaches allow them to provide oversight to the data collection process, ensure ethical data collection, give them a sense of what is going on in the field and of course they often get stipends for their time doing all this work. The back and forth led to delays in getting the necessary paperwork. The approval process felt like trying to go uphill in quicksand—frustrating and slow!
To overcome this, we tried to build rapport and demonstrate the importance of our work to the local authorities. Presenting our project’s benefits clearly and persistence with the responding to queries raised in our application for approvals allowed us to eventually move forward.
Gaining approvals was essential for ethical collection of data, even though we decided against formal ethical approval in this instance, as our methodology aimed to ensure minimal risk to respondents, we were mindful to obtain necessary authority approvals to ensure that our project was within the legal framework and respected community norms, such as ensuring that our participants were informed about the purpose of the study and how their data would be used.
The Learning Experience: Challenges and Overcoming Them
As we embarked on the execution phase, I experienced a mix of excitement and nerves. Although we had done a pilot, on day one, when the SMS survey went live, my heart raced as my Evaluation Manager supervised the data collection that was live on our server, while I coordinated with IT to be sure that the setup of our SMS system worked. Working with our data analyst, I learned how to manage incoming responses, ensuring accuracy and organisation.
In working with our target population—the participants who had at least a mobile phone—one challenge came to the surface very quickly: not everyone had consistent access to mobile networks. In some rural areas, connectivity issues and message delivery failures became a hurdle. These were mitigated by closely monitoring message delivery and timing our messages to account for peak connectivity hours.