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Conducting survey research among organisational populations in developing countries: can the drop and collect technique make a difference?

Article Excerpt
This paper draws upon relevant empirical evidence to suggest the greater effectiveness of the drop and collect survey (DCS) method in enhancing response rates among sub-Saharan African (SSA) organisations. It proposes these improved response rates to be more likely among smaller organisations, and in situations where direct, face-to-face contact can be achieved with key informants, by appropriately trained/experienced field staff. The implications of these findings for improving the overall flow and validity of research information in SSA and beyond are discussed.

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Introduction

Conducting successful survey research among organisational populations is, at the best of times, tasking and challenging. While this observation generally applies to all research contexts, it is undoubtedly exacerbated by the realities of the environment of developing countries. The sub-Saharan African (SSA) region arguably presents an interesting case study. Despite the well-documented complexity of research undertakings in this part of the world (Goodyear 1982; Mytton 1996), the marketing research community may soon have to engage more actively with the region in order to capitalise upon emerging research opportunities. Indeed, recent reports suggest a generally improving trade and investment climate in a small but growing number of SSA countries, as local and international players move to take advantage of the preferential trade benefits arising from the US African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) (BBC 2002; Business Day 2003; UN 2003).

The above trend is likely to heighten demand for high-quality research insights on SSA countries, on the part of local and international companies considering appropriate resource, strategic asset, relationship and market-seeking investments within the region. Marketing researchers, therefore, need to enhance their capacity to provide informed guidance to these decision-makers. Part of this capacity-development effort must involve improving their understanding of the factors influencing data collection and response rates in the SSA context. This has become particularly necessary in view of the apparent neglect of the region in previous multicountry studies of survey research response rates (see for example Jobber & Saunders 1988; Harzing 1997) and in research methodology literature generally--the last systematic effort to illuminate marketing research practice in SSA (Goodyear 1982) was undertaken over 20 years ago!

This paper aims to contribute towards addressing the above research gap. It draws upon relevant literature insights and a recent Nigeria-based study in examining the relative efficacy of a particular data-collection approach, the drop and collect survey (DCS) method, among organisational populations in SSA. The rest of the paper is structured as follows. First, it draws from appropriate theoretical streams and personal insights to develop a number of research propositions. Second, it presents the methodology employed in the DCS-based investigation reported in this paper. This is followed...

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