You are currently viewing Learn how GFEMS and ICF are using Audio Computer-Assisted Self-Interviewing (ACASI) in modern slavery studies to reduce social desirability bias (live event)

Note: The live webinar has already occurred. You can watch the video recording here.

Asking sensitive questions on surveys is often key to gathering necessary insights on some research topics. Given the nature of these questions, however, respondents may feel uncomfortable and reluctant to respond accurately. To overcome this and ensure quality data, there is a wide range of recommended methods, including self-administered questionnaires. In a recent prevalence study, funded by The Global Fund to End Modern Slavery (GFEMS) and implemented by the ICF, researchers used Audio Computer-Assisted Self-Interviewing (ACASI) in SurveyCTO to determine the proportion of children (ages 12 – 17) in households who have been sexually exploited for commercial gain in the region of Karamoja, Uganda. ACASI helped to minimize the social desirability bias in the responses provided for these sensitive topics.

Join us on Wednesday, November 3, 2021, at 1 PM UTC / 9 AM EST for our next live event, where you’ll hear from guest presenters from GFEMS and ICF about implementing ACASI surveys with SurveyCTO.

Watch the recording

In the context of face-to-face interviews (CAPI), dealing with questions that are emotionally upsetting and have socially undesirable answers becomes a particular challenge. That is why for this GFEMS project, researchers placed all these questions in a single module of the questionnaire. At this point, the mobile device was handed over to the respondent to enter their responses, in private, directly into the SurveyCTO form. The survey then guided respondents via recorded audio through a set of single-select questions displaying only the choices on the screen, where each choice was represented by a familiar image unrelated to the question. The combination of the usage of headphones and imperceptible communication displayed on the screen was crucial to ensure the safety and privacy of respondents and enhancing accurate answers.

What you’ll learn

In this November 3 webinar, the GFEMS and ICF teams will lead us through discussions of the following:

  • ICF’s study of Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children (CSEC) in Karamoja, Uganda
  • An introduction to using SurveyCTO to create an Audio Computer-Assisted Self-Interviewing (ACASI) module
  • How to tailor ACASI modules to specific users
  • Challenges and lessons learned from implementing the study in Uganda

Participants will gain valuable guidance on using ACASI in SurveyCTO for various use cases, and most especially, sensitive survey topics for vulnerable respondents. You can learn more about the GFEMS Uganda project here.

How to attend

This live event will be held on November 3, 2021, at 1 PM UTC / 9 AM ET. Register today to attend! We post video recordings of all webinars in our video library and share them on our Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn pages. 

Resources on using media files

In SurveyCTO, you can use media files to assist and enrich your digital survey. We support the usage of audio, videos, and images in question labels, as well as images in the choice labels related to single or multiple select questions. For more advanced usage of media files, take a look at our integration with YouTube via the scto-youtube and youtube-detector field plug-ins.

Lindo Simelane

Digital Analytics Associate

Lindo is a part of the marketing team at Dobility, the company that powers SurveyCTO. He is responsible for all aspects of data management and analytics for SurveyCTO’s website, social media, and other marketing efforts.

Lindo has a passion for research to inform policy in international development and economics. He has extensive experience in the ICT4D space that includes research work, and a background in international business and finance.