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The modernization of the production of official statistics faces challenges related to technological developments, budget cuts, and growing privacy concerns. At the same time, there is a need for shareable and scalable platforms to support comparable data, leading to several online data collection strategies being rolled out. Time Use Surveys (TUS) are particularly affected by these challenges and needs as they (while producing rich data) are complex, time-intensive studies (because they include multiple tasks and are administered at the household level). This article introduces the Modular Online Time Use Survey (MOTUS) data collection platform and explains how it accommodates the challenges of and changes in the production of a TUS that is carried out in line with the Harmonized European Time Use Survey guidelines. It argues that MOTUS supports a shift in the methodological paradigm of conducting TUS by being timelier and more cost efficient, by lowering respondent burden, and by improving the reliability of the data collected. Importantly, the modular structure allows MOTUS to be easily deployed for various TUS configurations. Moreover, this versatile structure allows comparable, complex diary surveys (such as the household budget survey) to be performed on the same platform and with the same applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Researchers are combining self-reports from mobile surveys with passive data collection using sensors and apps on smartphones increasingly more often. While smartphones are commonly used in some groups of individuals, smartphone penetration is significantly lower in other groups. In addition, different operating systems (OSs) limit how mobile data can be collected passively. These limitations cause concern about coverage error in studies targeting the general population. Based on data from the Panel Study Labour Market and Social Security (PASS), an annual probability-based mixed-mode survey on the labor market and poverty in Germany, we find that smartphone ownership and ownership of smartphones with specific OSs are correlated with a number of sociodemographic and substantive variables. The use of weighting techniques based on sociodemographic information available for both owners and nonowners reduces these differences but does not eliminate them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Land tenure is an individual relationship to the land. Vietnam applies a regime of universal ownership of land. The land belongs to all the people of Vietnam, but the State represents the owner. Land ownership in Vietnam includes three fundamental rights: the right to possess, use, and dispose of land. When the State allocates land to land users, it only assigns them the right to own and use land. This article evaluated one out of eight rights to dispose of land by the State, land acquisition. Data was collected from a survey with 100 land-expropriated households, five interviews with authorities at all levels, and five interviews with households living next to the study area. The results show that land acquisition does not ensure fairness for families who lose land. Compensation rates are six to eight times lower for agricultural land. The right to access land information is also not appreciated when people do not know their household compensation details. Another inequity was also seen between households who lost land and those living around the land acquisition project. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Are social science, cross-border research projects, where recruitment and data collection are carried out remotely (e.g. through social media and online platforms), required to follow similar ethical and data-sharing procedures as 'on-the-ground' studies that use traditional means of recruitment and participant engagement? This article reflects on our experience of dealing with this question when we (multi-national but UK based researchers) had to switch to online data collection due to the restrictions posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, such as the inability to travel or work in person with local communities and collaborators. Using social media platforms and online data collection when conducting research brings many advantages, such as being able to communicate remotely but directly with gatekeepers and collaborators, and in reaching potential participants on a global scale. However, neither the guidelines and advice for conducting ethically sound internet-based research, nor the academic literature focussed on building equitable research partnerships between the Global North and the Global South, offer much information regarding the ethical concerns, or address the grey areas, posed by this type of digital and distanced transnational research. In our experience, conducting research remotely made negotiations of access very challenging due to the politics of positionality between Global North and South researchers, lack of clarity on ethical processes and (mis)perceptions of gatekeepers who we could not meet in person. We hope the reflections on, and discussion of, our experience encourage deliberation on the present ethical challenges posed by online and social-media-disseminated data collection, particularly in cross-border circumstances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an exemplar of blending the principles of participatory action research and elements of grounded theory in a disaster risk reduction education case study. It illustrates and describes a modified methodological approach that was used during the needs' assessment and analysis phase of a multiphase study on teaching of disaster risk reduction in science among public schools in Biliran Province, the Philippines. The approach was conceived upon considering the overarching aim of the study which is the effective, efficient, inclusive, and proactive teaching of disaster risk reduction in science, the complex nature of the disaster risk reduction education, and the multiple stakeholders involved in disaster risk reduction among public schools. Results revealed that the modified methodological approach provided a co-learning environment for both participants and researchers, created an opportunity to maximize participation toward generating knowledge, prioritizing problems, and conceptualizing solutions, strengthened the data collection and analysis process, hence ensuring quality in the entire research process, and addressed the participation issues pointed out in grounded theory studies. The modified methodological approach may be relevant and applicable to similar studies that are complex and emerging like the teaching of disaster risk reduction in science. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Qualitative researchers face unique opportunities and challenges as a result of the disruption of COVID-19. Although the pandemic represents a unique opportunity to study the crisis itself, social distancing mandates are restricting traditional face-to-face investigations of all kinds. In this article, we describe options and resources for researchers who find themselves needing to alter their study designs from face-to-face qualitative data collection to a "socially distant" method. Although technologies are constantly changing, we review the latest videoconferencing services available to researchers and provide guidance on what services might best suit a project's needs. We describe options for various platforms and applications including information about enhanced security applications for researchers collecting sensitive patient health information. Concerns about these technologies including security of the platform and logistical needs such as computer equipment are also discussed. Special attention is given to ethical issues when transitioning research efforts to online venues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) collects information on nonfatal personal and property crimes both reported and not reported to police. As part of the ongoing redesign efforts for the NCVS, the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) added sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) questions to the survey's demographic section in July 2016. The inclusion of these measures will provide important national-level estimates of victimization among lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people and allow researchers to understand victimization risk and access to victim services. This article includes a discussion of the sexual orientation and gender identity measures that were added to the NCVS, and findings from the monitoring activities conducted during the first six months of data collection. In addition, population counts by sexual orientation and gender identity are estimated using July through December 2016 NCVS data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Customer satisfaction is an important objective in all areas of business and services. A key issue in today's design activities is to achieve customer satisfaction in an economical way by finding the attributes that are most valuable to customers. In this paper we propose a formal and efficient methodology to design a new service, which is an improvement on a platform service. We propose a methodology to link two tools--the statistical design of experiments (SDE), for data collection, and quality function deployment (QFD), for the development of conceptual alternatives. The focus is only on functional dimensions, but it can be used in symbolic and aesthetic dimensions. The study uses a recent survey on the development of an operations management course curriculum to illustrate the conjoint methodology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article addresses methodological issues related to the consequences of researchers' range of insider identities that emerge over the course of completing subsequent stages of qualitative migration research projects. Taking on a temporal approach to the insider status evolving over the course of field entry, data collection, data analysis, and dissemination, this article engages with nuanced insider positionalities. These range from apparent, to trespassing, to distanced, and to ambassadorial insiderness. Exploring a specific case of Polish mobility, this article assumes a methodological focus and argues that being "on the inside" of the migration research field may go beyond gender, ethnicity, and social status when it is linked to a project's life cycle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Collecting data for cross-cultural research is time consuming and expensive. We report on techniques for efficient and effective cross-cultural data collection, drawn from 18 cross-cultural studies we conducted in 22 countries. We discuss research design, site selection and collaboration building, ethical review, cross-site protocol design, data collection pitfalls, and data quality checks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Strides in Neuroscience, coupled with Futures Studies, have the potential to complement one another in exploring how the brain thinks about the future and how we might anticipate disruption. This article explores disruption through anticipatory thinking and the lenses of both Futures and Neuroscience in bringing a cross-disciplinary approach to understanding how we think about futures and how Futures and Neuroscience might join forces to create broader insights and adapt futurist toolsets leading to better foresight models and data collection methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Contextualized in postpurchase consumption in business-to-business settings, the authors contribute to customer experience (CX) management theory and practice in three important ways. First, by offering a novel CX conceptual framework that integrates prior CX research to better understand, manage, and improve CXs—comprised of value creation elements (resources, activities, context, interactions, and customer role), cognitive responses, and discrete emotions at touchpoints across the customer journey. Second, by demonstrating the usefulness of a longitudinal CX analytic based on the conceptual framework that combines quantitative and qualitative measures. Third, by providing a step-by-step guide for implementing the text mining approach in practice, thereby showing that CX analytics that apply big data techniques to the CX can offer significant insights that matter. The authors highlight six key insights practitioners need in order to manage their customers' journey, through (1) taking a customer perspective, (2) identifying root causes, (3) uncovering at-risk segments, (4) capturing customers' emotional and cognitive responses, (5) spotting and preventing decreasing sales, and (6) prioritizing actions to improve CX. The article concludes with directions for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Population health data, collected worldwide in an effort to monitor mortality and morbidity of mothers and babies, namely, perinatal data, are mandated at a federal level within Australia. The data are used to monitor patterns in midwifery, obstetric and neonatal practice, health outcomes, used for research purposes, funding allocation and education. Accuracy in perinatal data is most often reported via quantitative validation studies of perinatal data collections both internationally and in Australia. These studies report varying levels of accuracy and suggest researchers need to be more aware of the quality of data they use. This article presents findings regarding issues of concern identified by midwives relating to their perceptions of how technology affects the accuracy of perinatal data records. Perinatal data records are perceived to be more complete when completed electronically. However, issues regarding system functionality, the inconsistent use of terminology, lack of data standards and the absence of clear, written records contribute to midwives’ perceptions of the negative influence of technology on the quality of perinatal data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We study a newsvendor who can acquire the services of a forecaster, or, more generally, an information gatherer (IG) to improve his information about demand. When the IG's effort increases, does the average ex ante order quantity rise or fall? Do average ex post sales rise or fall? Improvements in information technology and in the services offered by forecasters provide motivation for the study of these questions. Much depends on our model of the IG and his efforts. We study an IG who sends a signal to a classic single-period newsvendor. The signal defines the newsvendor's posterior probability distribution on the possible demands and the newsvendor uses that posterior to calculate the optimal order. Each of the possible posteriors is a scale/location transform of the same base distribution. When the IG works harder, the average scale parameter drops. Higher IG effort is always useful to the newsvendor. We show that there is a critical value of order cost. For costs on one side of this value more IG effort leads to a higher average ex ante order and for costs on the other side to a lower average order. But for all costs, more IG effort leads to higher average ex post sales. We obtain analogous results for a 'regret-averse' newsvendor who suffers a penalty that is a nonlinear function of the discrepancy between quantity ordered and true demand. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors address the issues faced while collecting survey data as part of a large multisite, multidisciplinary long-term project using interviewers rather than self-administered questionnaires in a country in which the researchers are not native. The issues pertain to the collection of highquality data that accurately measure the variables of interest from which generalizations can be made. Three issues were prominent: potential cross-cultural variation in the validity of measures; how to manage multiple control sites and multiple study sites; and how to control for problems presented by series/panel data (i.e., the influence of prior interviews or subsequent intervening events on later interviews). The authors addressed these issues through five strategies at different points in the study. This discussion concerns the challenges and benefits of using these techniques to address the three main issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mobile technology offers a promising means to collect survey data, though the factors that influence people's willingness to participate in mobile surveys and their actual participation remain unknown. To identify these factors, this study considers six conceptually distinct influences that may relate to the propensity to participate in mobile surveys. Some of them affect technology acceptance and usage of (mobile) technology in general; another set comes from studies of participation in computer-assisted surveys. The proposed unified framework encompasses utilitarian, affective, hedonic, social, self-expressive, and trust-related factors. An empirical study suggests that this framework explains the intention to participate and actual participation well, though of the six factors, hedonic, affective, self-expressive, and trust-related ones are most influential. Utilitarian aspects and beliefs about perceived social pressure to participate do not play significant roles. The authors discuss the practical implications of these results and outline some further research avenues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study is to identify the key determinants of high-level mobile phone use in a highcoverage target group by replicating an Australian study conducted by Walsh and White. Factors predicting high-level mobile phone use and relations between self- and prototypical identity are investigated by using an extended version of the theory of planned behavior (TPB). A total of 215 Austrian university students participated by completing two questionnaires, 1 week apart. The first questionnaire assessed attitude, subjective norm, perceived behavioral control (PBC), and intention as well as self- and prototypical identity variables. The second questionnaire assessed mobile phone use in the previous week. It was found that all three TPB variables significantly predicted intention. The addition of identity variables improved the model with self-identity becoming the second strongest overall predictor. In terms of predicting high-level mobile phone behavior, intention and subjective norm, but not PBC, were significant predictors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A questionnaire survey on health among students of higher education was planned. To produce a response rate high enough for the analysis in a costeffective manner, a pilot study was carried out to test various methods of data collection. Electronic invitation by the university messaging system to fill a Web-based questionnaire, invitation by the same means to fill paper-based questionnaires at a predefined place and time with or without conditional incentives yielded response rates below 10%. Therefore, a combination of postal and Internet-based questionnaires was used for data collection enhanced with a small up-front gift and conditional incentives suggested by a student focus group. This modality resulted in a 68.6% response rate (65.2% after data cleaning). Those who responded through the Web were more likely to be males and residing in larger settlements. However, no statistically significant differences were observed on the primary health status variables with respect to modality. Use of Web-based questionnaires is recommended in combination with other data collection methods and incentives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the fluidity and dynamicity of a Chinese PhD student's research experience in negotiating her identities in a longitudinal ethnographic study, first in China and then in the UK. It adopts retrospective and reflexive document analysis of research journals written by her over a 5-year period of overseas study. The analytical framework for the critical reflection of knowledge production synthesizes key concepts of ontology, epistemology, reflexivity, positionality, serendipity, and intersectionality to describe and interpret the researcher's struggles between insider and outsider, uncertain feelings about different values and beliefs, and emotions due to changing circumstances of family life. The reflexive analysis indicates that PhD students who undertake qualitative studies would function in a far more fluid manner than the often simplistically documented binary roles between an "insider" participant and an outsider researcher in their theses. The article argues that this fluidity in identity shifts and complexity in data collection and analysis are in most cases part and parcel of the research process, which is crucial for researchers to be aware of. Researchers should feel confident to tell the "messy stories" reflexively so as to enhance credibility and trustworthiness of the research findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers brief inforamtion on SV3X data collector to collect complete, accurate and consistent data.

An introduction to the journal is presented in which the editor discusses various reports published within the issue, including one on the use of contextial design methology in medication management, development of seating in Sri Lanka during the 4th century BCE, and a description of the communication data collection tool developed by the Army Research Laboratory.