Organisations collect more data than ever, yet much of it cannot be trusted. Paper forms keyed in weeks later, ambiguous questions and untracked enumerator behaviour all introduce errors that analysis cannot repair. Mobile tools have made collection cheaper and faster, but they also make it easy to launch a poorly designed survey at scale.

The Data and Analytics for Data Collection, Survey Design & Mobile Tools Training Course joins design, technology and analysis into one workflow. Participants begin with research questions and indicators, translate them into well-structured questions, and draw defensible samples. They then build digital forms, configure servers and test devices before taking the instrument through a pilot. During fieldwork simulation they monitor submissions as they arrive, apply automated quality checks and correct problems while enumerators are still in the field.

The closing sessions concentrate on analytics: data cleaning, coding open responses, weighting where needed, descriptive statistics and visual dashboards that answer the original questions. Throughout, participants work on laptops and phones with a shared case survey, and each leaves with a form, a sampling plan, a cleaning script and a dashboard they can adapt for their own projects.

By the end of the course, participants will be able to:

• Translate research questions into measurable indicators and well-formed survey questions.
• Calculate sample sizes and apply simple, stratified and cluster sampling designs.
• Build mobile forms in XLSForm with skip logic, constraints and calculations.
• Deploy and manage a survey on KoboToolbox or ODK, including offline collection.
• Plan enumerator training, piloting and ethical consent procedures.
• Monitor incoming submissions and apply automated data quality checks.
• Clean, merge and recode datasets ready for analysis.
• Produce descriptive statistics and interactive dashboards that communicate results.

The course is relevant to anyone who designs, runs or uses surveys, including:

• Monitoring, evaluation and learning officers
• Survey managers and field supervisors
• Research assistants and graduate researchers
• Statisticians and planners in government ministries
• NGO and humanitarian assessment staff
• Market research and business intelligence analysts
• Agricultural extension and public health data officers
• Programme managers who commission baseline and endline studies

Participants leave the course with:

• A tested XLSForm questionnaire built from their own research questions.
• A sampling plan with sample size justification and selection steps.
• A field protocol covering enumerator training, supervision and consent.
• A data quality checklist and monitoring template for live fieldwork.
• A cleaning workflow for merging and recoding raw exports.
• A starter dashboard built in Power BI or Excel from survey data.

The course is organised as a simulated survey project that every participant carries from design to dashboard. Activities include:

• Hands-on labs on laptops and Android devices
• A shared case study survey used across all five days
• Pair testing of each other's questionnaires
• Live submission monitoring during a fieldwork simulation
• Clinics for participants' own current survey problems

Participants who attend the programme and complete the labs earn a CPD-accredited Certificate of Completion from Vision Reach Global Consultancy, confirming their practical grounding in digital survey work.