Research Methods Initiative

The Research Methods Initiative is a joint effort by IPA and the Methods Cluster of the Global Poverty Research Lab at Northwestern University. Together, they work to produce and fund research to improve the methods and measurement in research on global poverty alleviation. The Initiative is organized around three themes.

Currently there are no open calls for funding. Check our Open Funding Opportunities page for updates when new funding rounds become available.

Contact us: researchsupport+methods@poverty-action.org
 

Research Themes

Research Design

How can we improve the implementation of RCTs? Study areas include innovations in RCT designs, such as adapting designs for interviewer recruitment, testing different sampling strategies, and designing for replication and scale.

Questionnaire Design and Measurement

How can we improve survey instruments to reduce biases in key variables? Study areas include attention checks, defining households, question framing, estimating biases, survey modes, and response design.

Data Quality

How can we improve data collection? Study areas include interviewer effect studies, phone survey methods studies, recruitment methods, enumerator training, monitoring, and data validation checks.

Behind every number in a paper, there can be hundreds, or thousands, of individual conversations. Learn more in this blog post authored by Steven Glazerman, IPA's Chief Research & Methodology Officer.
 

Methods Innovation

Building a Community of Researchers

Competitive Funding for Methods Research

The RMI has issued four rounds of competitive funding for researchers interested in adding on methods work into existing studies. The goal is for these to be small grants with big leverage for the field.

Annual Research Methods Conference

Every year, researchers in our field convene and share methods findings and works in progress in our field. We invite researchers to present their methods work at a fall conference hosted jointly by IPA and GPRL on the Northwestern University campus.

Work with Us

Email us at researchsupport+methods@poverty-action.org if you are interested in collaborating with us or have other inquiries.

 

What Have We Learned?

A Repository of Measurement and Survey Design Resources

Phone Surveys  |  Interviewer Effects  |  Sensitive Questions  |  Representativeness  |  Data Quality  |  Response Rates  |  Indirect Surveying Techniques  |  Geospatial Tools | Soft Skills Measures 

Phone Surveys

• Comprehensive Guides
  • Remote Surveying in a Pandemic: Handbook
  • Remote Surveying in a Pandemic: Research Synthesis
• Methods Notes
  • Assessing Repeated and Rescheduled Attempts in Random Digit Dial Survey
  • Optimal Timing for Random Digit Dialing
  • Understanding Response Rates in Random Digit Dial Surveys
• Case Studies
  • Asking Sensitive Questions by Phone
  • Building Rapport and Trust in Phone Surveys
  • Contracts and Incentives for Virtual Phone Banks
  • Implementing Interventions Using Video Calls
  • Managing Time Use for Virtual Phone Banks
  • Remote Qualitative Interviews in the Philippines
• Evidence Briefs
  • Mode Effects of CATI Surveys
     
• Blogs and Events
  • Blog: Using SurveyCTO for Phone Surveys
  • Webinar: SurveyCTO Plug-ins for Phone Surveys

Interviewer Effects

• Can a Peer-referral System to Recruit Enumerators Increase Data Quality in the Philippines? (research project summary)
• Feasibility of caregiver-administered anthropometric measurements of children under age 5: evidence from Zambia (published journal article)

Sensitive Questions

• Asking Sensitive Questions by Phone (case study)
• Measuring Remittances (published paper)

Representativeness

• Can remote survey methods yield representative samples in LMICs? (policy brief)
• Can remote survey methods yield nationally representative samples in LMICs? A cross-national analysis of pandemic-era studies (working paper)
• Whom to ask? Testing respondent effects in household surveys (published journal article)
• Measuring Remittances (published paper)

Data Quality

• Mode Effects on Data Quality for CATI Surveys (evidence brief)
• Data Quality Checks with Audio Recordings (case study)
• Measuring Vaccine Acceptance and Uptake in LMICs: Challenges and Insights (policy brief)
• Assessing survey methods for measuring vaccine acceptance and uptake in 14 African countries (working paper)

Response Rates

• Messaging to Improve Response Rates: Effectiveness of Pre-Survey SMS Messages (methods note)
• Pre-Contact Notifications in Remote Surveys (evidence brief)
• Monetary Incentives in Remote Surveys (evidence brief)
• Attrition in Mobile Phone Panel Surveys (evidence brief)
• Automating Quota Sampling Protocols (case study)

Indirect Surveying Techniques

• Measuring Relative Poverty through Peer Rankings: Evidence from Côte d'Ivoire (working paper)

Geospatial Tools

• Geospatial Tools for Creating Sample Frames (case study)

Predictive Validity of Soft Skills Measures

• Research Synthesis 
• Policy Brief

Our Team