Programmes, ministries and research teams are collecting more data than ever, much of it on phones and tablets, yet quality has not kept pace. Poorly designed instruments, inadequate sampling and weak field supervision produce figures that cannot be defended to donors or used to steer programmes. Switching from paper to digital tools removes transcription errors, but it also makes it easy to launch a flawed survey at scale.

Planning and Implementation of Data Collection, Survey Design & Mobile Tools Training Course follows a survey from first idea to final dataset. Participants clarify research questions and indicators, choose between quantitative and qualitative methods, design questionnaires, and select probability and non-probability samples with appropriate sample sizes. They then build forms for mobile devices, handle ethics, consent and data protection, plan logistics and train enumerators. Final sessions cover supervision, back-checks, cleaning, documentation and sharing data responsibly.

The course is highly practical. Every participant works on a laptop and a phone or tablet, builds and deploys forms, collects test data in the room and reviews it on a server. They go home with working templates for questionnaires, sampling, training and field monitoring.

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

• Translate research questions and indicators into a data collection plan.
• Write clear, unbiased questions and organise them into a logical questionnaire.
• Choose a sampling method and calculate a defensible sample size.
• Build mobile forms with skip logic, constraints and calculations using XLSForm.
• Deploy forms on KoBoToolbox or ODK and manage submissions on a server.
• Plan fieldwork logistics, enumerator training and supervision.
• Apply ethical and data protection safeguards, including informed consent.
• Monitor, clean and document survey data to a standard ready for analysis.

The course serves those who commission, design or run surveys, including:

• Monitoring and evaluation officers and managers
• Research officers and survey coordinators
• Field supervisors and enumerator team leaders
• Statisticians and data analysts in government and NGOs
• Programme officers conducting baselines and endline studies
• Graduate researchers and university lecturers
• Health, agriculture and education programme staff
• Information management officers in humanitarian agencies

Participants leave with:

• A tested digital questionnaire built in XLSForm and deployed on a server.
• A sampling plan with a worked sample size calculation.
• An enumerator training agenda and field manual outline.
• A data quality monitoring checklist, including back-check procedures.
• A cleaning log and codebook template.
• A realistic survey workplan and budget outline.

Training is laboratory based, with devices in participants' hands:

• Guided form-building labs with phones, tablets and a shared server
• Mock interviews in pairs to pilot questionnaires
• Spreadsheet exercises for sampling and sample size
• Review of intentionally flawed instruments and datasets
• Planning clinics where participants refine their own survey designs

Participants who attend the sessions and complete the hands-on labs receive a CPD-accredited Certificate of Completion issued by Vision Reach Global Consultancy.