Distributional Impacts of COVID-19 in the Middle East and North Africa Region

Page 83

Chapter 2: Unequal Impact of COVID-19 on MENA Households 49

BOX 2.1

Limitations of Phone Surveys Phone interviews have turned out to be a valuable alternative to primary data collection using face-to-face surveys, particularly during the pandemic. In normal circumstances, these surveys would be a useful complement to other ways of collecting data, but they would not replace face-to-face surveys, because phone surveys come with a number of limitations. First, areas or respondents with limited network coverage or no access to phones, typically the poorest segments of the population, will be under covered in the sample. Second, indicators that are measured at the individual level (such as employment and unemployment) may be biased because of respondent selection. Especially in countries where high-frequency phone surveys (HFPSs) are sampled from an existing nationally representative (prepandemic) survey, the respondent is often the head of household, and thus some statistics (such as employment rates) would differ from those estimated by a conventional labor force survey, which collects information from all household members. Third, women tend to be under represented because they are less likely to be the head of household, or, in instances where a random digit dialing approach is used, they are less likely to own a phone or respond to an unknown caller. Fourth, the length of a phone interview is limited, making it challenging to design

an effective survey because the number of questions that can be asked is small and because the questions need to be short and precise for easy comprehension. One implication is that, in many instances, the ability to consider distributional impacts is limited. That occurs because the phone surveys lack the ability to generate estimates of poverty (as doing so would require a long list of consumption questions for which these surveys lack sufficient time). To estimate distributional impacts, proxy variables would have to be calculated (such as wealth quintiles) from the limited information on wealth that is collected in the phone surveys themselves. However, phone surveys that draw their samples from preexisting welfare surveys could derive the pre-COVID-19 poverty status. Fifth, sample sizes are typically relatively small—often less than 1,500 people—to allow for a rapid turnaround, with the exception of the West Bank and Gaza survey, with more than 9,000 observations. Small sample sizes make it more difficult to break down results by subgroups. Despite these limitations, phone surveys have demonstrated their ability to collect high-quality data. Their agility and the ability to collect data rapidly, without the need for personal presence by an enumerator, makes phone surveys a valuable tool for specific situations, such as emergencies, dangerous situations, or situations in which the respondent is mobile.


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook

Articles inside

Introduction

4min
pages 258-259

Transmission Channels

2min
page 260

Conclusion

2min
page 276

Large Poverty Setbacks

1min
page 269

Sensitivity Analysis

2min
page 272

Key Messages

1min
page 257

References

3min
pages 254-256

Sector and More Likely to Work in Sectors Affected during the Pandemic

2min
page 244

Impacts on Household Welfare and Poverty

2min
page 243

How the Study Is Conducted

3min
pages 236-237

Suffer the Biggest Income Losses

4min
pages 238-239

How This Study Fits into the Literature on Economic Shocks

4min
pages 234-235

References

3min
pages 228-230

Future Scenarios

2min
page 221

An Innovative Methodological Approach

11min
pages 205-210

Key Messages

1min
page 197

References

1min
pages 195-196

Notes

4min
pages 193-194

How the Study Is Conducted

5min
pages 185-187

Precrisis Situation: Poverty and Labor Markets

2min
page 179

Introduction

2min
page 176

Notes

3min
pages 171-174

Key Messages

1min
page 175

Conclusion

2min
page 170

5.3 Most Djiboutians Are Returning to Normal Workloads

2min
page 158

Introduction

2min
page 152

References

3min
pages 149-150

Conclusion

2min
page 145

Key Messages

1min
page 151

Which Households Were Most Likely to Declare Lower Living Standards

1min
page 142

during the COVID-19 Surge

1min
page 140

Distributed in Key Transmission Channels

1min
page 134

Phone Surveys to Quickly Check on Living Standards

1min
page 131

References

1min
pages 127-128

Conclusion

4min
pages 121-122

Key Messages

1min
page 129

Introduction

2min
page 130

A Complex Link: Food Insecurity, Income Loss, and Job Loss

2min
page 117

COVID-19 Impacts on Household Welfare

2min
page 112

More Than Doubled

1min
page 111

Key Messages

1min
page 101

Impacts on Employment: Work Stoppages

2min
page 85

Reference

1min
pages 99-100

2.1 Limitations of Phone Surveys

2min
page 83

Conclusion

1min
page 98

to Paint a COVID-19 Picture

4min
pages 70-71

Key Messages

1min
page 77

Introduction

1min
page 78

Preexisting Structural Problems

2min
page 64

Introduction

4min
pages 56-57

Key Messages

1min
page 55

Future Shocks

2min
page 51

COVID-19-Induced Shocks

2min
page 58

Notes

1min
page 52

Message 2: COVID-19 Is Just One of the Severe Socioeconomic Challenges Facing the Region

2min
page 45

References

1min
pages 53-54

Variations in Size and Timing of Containment Measures

1min
page 60
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.
Distributional Impacts of COVID-19 in the Middle East and North Africa Region by World Bank Publications - Issuu