A Single-Day Survey, also known as a One-Day or Same-Day Survey, refers to a rapid data collection effort that is conducted and completed within a single day. These surveys are typically used when quick data collection is necessary, and they often have a narrow time frame to gather information from participants. Single-Day Surveys are often used in situations where quick feedback is essential, such as gathering voter opinions during exit polls, collecting feedback from event attendees, or assessing customer satisfaction after flash sales or product launches. They are also employed in emergency responses to quickly identify community needs or during public events like protests to capture immediate reactions.
During the 2024 national elections in South Africa, the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC), with the assistance of GeoScope as their technology partner, conducted a comprehensive exit poll. The survey covered 1 200 voting stations across the country, where researchers interviewed over 15 000 voters as they left the polling stations. GeoScope provided the technological infrastructure that enabled real-time data collection and analysis, ensuring that the HSRC could gather accurate and timely insights into voter behaviour and opinions on election day.
These surveys are designed to capture real-time data, providing valuable insights that inform decisions and actions promptly. However, due to the limited time available to collect the data, there are specific challenges associated with Single-Day Surveys, such as the inability to revisit participants for follow-up questions, limited time to address any technical issues, and the finality of the data collected, as there’s no opportunity to correct errors afterward.To mitigate these challenges, thorough preparation, testing, and real-time support are essential to ensure the survey runs smoothly and the data collected is reliable.
Our experience has shown that these are the possible issues arising from Single-Day Surveys:
- There is very little time to resolve any issues that arise on the day
- The output you have is final and you can’t go back and fix it or re-interview later
- Device malfunctions need immediate attention and ability to resolve problems
- Survey scripting issues require real time attention and reprogramming
- Overcoming mobile network issues.
Through the conducting of the exit polls for the HSRC during the last three national and local elections, GeoScope has developed strategic approaches to implement Single Day Surveys and to minimise the impact of any issues from occurring. The lessons learnt from conducting these Single-Day Surveys include:
- Testing the questionnaire thoroughly before the survey date – Testing that the questionnaire is optimally scripted and working properly happens at least two weeks before the survey date. From these tests, the exported data is checked for completeness and to identify any anomalies. This is a good way of making sure that the questionnaire has been scripted properly. This also informs the researcher of any changes that need to be made to the scripted questionnaire to maximize the data output. Remember that the data output from the survey date cannot be changed. A final test is performed two days before the survey date.
- Making sure that all tablets are in good working condition – Software updates and device functionality checks are done at each of the questionnaire tests. It goes without saying that interviewers should make sure that their devices are fully charged the night before the survey date.
- Thorough Training and Briefing – Effective training for interviewers is crucial, covering survey procedures, device operation, and troubleshooting common issues. This ensures they are well-prepared to conduct the survey accurately and efficiently. A final briefing the day before the survey is essential to review procedures, assign roles clearly, and confirm readiness among the team. This ensures everyone understands their responsibilities and contributes to a smooth execution of the survey on the day.
- Coordination and monitoring – During the day, it’s crucial to closely monitor the survey process to to ensure that the interviews are going according to plan and promptly address any issues that may arise. Professional data collection technology ensures regular backups of collected data throughout the day to mitigate the risk of data loss in case of device failures or other disruptions.
- Essential Real-Time Support for Addressing Technical Issues – Even having performed the above pre-survey procedures. There will normally be some technical issues that arise. This is why it is critical to have a support communication procedure is place. These can be done via a communication platform such as WhatsApp. WhatsApp groups for the interviewer teams allows for issues to be conveyed to their supervisors, with the supervisor being the first tier of support.
The second tier support are research technicians. If the supervisor is unable to resolve the issue within 15 minutes, it’s escalated to the research technician for resolution. Any solutions to issues at this point and any support should be shared with the supervisors and other research technicians so they know how to solve the issue going forward. The third tier of support are the senior researchers.
At this stage of support, all issues should be resolved. Any solutions to issues at this point and any support will be shared with the supervisors and all research technicians so they know how to solve the issue going forward.
- Post-Survey Data Validation – After completing the survey, it is important to perform a comprehensive data integrity check to verify the completeness and accuracy of the collected data before proceeding with analysis. This ensures that the survey results are reliable and ready for interpretation. geocope has the unique ability to use geospatial methods in checking to see whether the interviewing is being done at all the sites and that interviews are being conducted in the correct location. This confirms the level of integrity in the data collection. A thorough review of any issues that occurred are documented including how they were resolved and noting solutions for future reference.
Whilst these procedures are recommended for all types of surveys, for Single-Day Surveys, they are critical. GeoScope’s expertise in Single-Day Surveys is exemplified by its successful management of rapid data collection during the 2024 South African national elections. By leveraging thorough pre-survey testing, device readiness, and real-time technical support, GeoScope ensures precise and reliable data collection within tight timeframes. Their advanced geospatial methods and structured support system enable them to overcome challenges and deliver actionable insights efficiently.
