Roles and responsibilities for the survey fieldwork team
In some instances, an external service provider may be contracted to undertake some or all aspects of the enumeration (such as fieldworker recruitment and hiring, training, fieldwork, data monitoring and fieldwork management)
Before fieldwork can start the project team must:
Produce a detailed fieldwork implementation plan
Ensure that sufficient processes are in place to protect the data that is collected
Develop an agreed stakeholder participation & engagement plan
This is the main liaison between the project team and the municipality or province
Performs general oversight and management of project team and project processes
Manages the relationships between the communities and local area committees to ensure participation and buy-in
In-field monitoring and support for fieldwork team
Performs general oversight and management of fieldwork supervisors, fieldworkers and data monitors
Device set-up and data management
Daily allocation of fieldworkers to households
Monitoring of fieldwork performance
Performs final sign-off on data collected and checked by data monitors
Provides infield assistance and support for core fieldwork team
Conducts quality assurance / "call back" surveys
The number of field supervisors required depends on the number of fieldworks - usually one supervisor is allocated to 5-10 fieldworkers
Perform enumeration / data collection
Act as witnesses to sale agreements
Data Monitors
Conduct data quality control checks for submitted surveys
It is critical that recruits understand the importance of the completeness and accuracy of the data they gather. They must therefore be provided with comprehensive training so that they understand why they are collecting data and how it will be used. Training takes place over three to five days depending on the number of fieldworkers to be trained. Aside from classroom-based training, there should be an opportunity for the team to test the survey instrument in field during a pilot. The pilot allows trainers to assess how well enumerators perform and identify weakness that need to be addressed with additional training.
The broad training curriculum includes:
Introduction to POPIA
Background and objectives of the project
Conducting an interview and good fieldwork practice
Survey / questionnaire training on devices
Role play
Health and safety protocols (e.g. COVID)
Pilot in field
Re-training where required
Maturity Roadmap: suggestion for improvement
Where enumerators facilitate the signing of sale agreements, training must include:
An overview of the sale agreement
The purpose and key clauses of the sale agreement so that the recruit can explain the document to signatories.
In particular, recruits need to stress that the sale agreement must be countersigned and that this will only occur if everything is in order.
It is therefore not a guarantee that the signatory will get a title deed
A suitably sized and Wi-Fi enabled venue for the training session should be made available close enough to the study area to allow for easy access to on-site visits to conduct the pilot
Demarcation maps for enumeration should be utilised during the training session so that the fieldworkers are able to receive clear and useful instructions from the fieldwork supervisors
Enumerators should be made aware of any sensitivities that might exist during home visits so that they deal with difficult situations appropriately. These might include:
Households who refuse to participate
Situations where enumerators feel unsafe or threatened
Concerns on the part of non-qualifiers or purchasers that they might lose their homes
Married owner respondents who claim there is only one owner of the property and refuse to allow spouses to be interviewed / sign sale agreements
Number of fieldworkers required depends on the timeline of the project and capacity of the project team (number of surveys in the study and the number of fieldwork supervisors available)
Some candidates may drop out at various stages of the process (recruitment, interviews, training and fieldwork). Therefore the project team should recruit, interview and train a larger number of fieldworkers than will be required so that there will be a sufficient number of individuals remaining to conduct surveys
Different contracts should be put in place depending on the project role (i.e. fieldworker, supervisor, manager or data monitor) and their responsibilities (i.e. working hours, remuneration, training bonus, performance bonus)
Fieldworkers and supervisors should
Be motivated, professional and skilled
Have prior experience in fieldwork using CAPI-based techniques
It would be advantageous to live near the project site as some of the work takes place after working hours
There are two main remuneration models that can be utilised for fieldworkers / enumerators:
Fieldworkers are paid per completed and approved survey
An expected average rate is to complete between 5 to 7 surveys a day
Payment per survey is recommended between R37 to R52 to align to StatsSA rates
Fieldworkers are paid per specified time period (daily, weekly, monthly)
The current rate paid by Stats SA for census enumerators is R260 per day
Survey collection is expected to go through an initial slow start up phase, a peak and then a drop off driven by the availability and co-operation of the community. Once most surveys are completed, it normally becomes more difficult to complete the ones that are left. This should be taken into account for remuneration.