A Comparison of CAPI and PAPI Through a Randomized Field Experiment

56 Pages Posted: 8 Feb 2011

See all articles by Bet Caeyers

Bet Caeyers

Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS)

Neil Chalmers

affiliation not provided to SSRN

Joachim De Weerdt

University of Antwerp - Institute of Development Policy and Management; KU Leuven - Centre for Institutions and Economic Performance (LICOS)

Date Written: November 2010

Abstract

This paper reports on a randomized survey experiment among 1840 households, designed to compare pen-and-paper interviewing (PAPI) to computer-assisted personal interviewing (CAPI). We find that PAPI data contain a large number of errors, which can be avoided in CAPI. We show that error counts are not randomly distributed across the sample, but are correlated with household characteristics, potentially introducing sample bias in analysis if dubious observations need to be dropped. We demonstrate a tendency for the mean and spread of total measured consumption to be higher on paper compared to CAPI, translating into significantly lower measured poverty, higher measured inequality and higher income elasticity estimates. Investigating further the nature of PAPI’s measurement error for consumption, we fail to reject the hypothesis that it is classical: it attenuates the coefficient on consumption when used as explanatory variable and we find no evidence of bias when consumption is used as dependent variable. Finally, CAPI and PAPI are compared in terms of interview length, costs and respondents’ perceptions.

Keywords: CAPI, PAPI, electronic surveys, measurement error

JEL Classification: C42, C88, C81, C93, O12

Suggested Citation

Caeyers, Bet and Chalmers, Neil and De Weerdt, Joachim, A Comparison of CAPI and PAPI Through a Randomized Field Experiment (November 2010). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1756224 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1756224

Bet Caeyers

Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) ( email )

7 Ridgmount Street
London, WC1E 7AE
United Kingdom

Neil Chalmers

affiliation not provided to SSRN ( email )

Joachim De Weerdt (Contact Author)

University of Antwerp - Institute of Development Policy and Management ( email )

City campus building S
Lange Sint Annastraat 7
Antwerp, 2000
Belgium

KU Leuven - Centre for Institutions and Economic Performance (LICOS) ( email )

Waaistraat 6 - box 3511
Leuven, 3000
Belgium

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