In December 2020, the IDEAMAPS Network worked with community mappers from the Nigerian Slum/Shack Dwellers International (SDI) Federation and students at the University of Lagos to perform an Area Observation Survey. Data from this survey will be used to model deprivation across all of Lagos.
Due to COVID-19 restrictions, the training for data collectors took place at two separate locations in Lagos - the SDI Federation, and the University of Lagos - with the IDEAMAPS trainer joining remotely over Zoom. The two-day training used a mix of Zoom-based lectures, field data collection activities tailored to each training site, real-time field survey submissions and monitoring via Kobo Collect, and a WhatsApp-based quiz game. In the end, 18 data collectors were ready to navigate with phone apps, and complete and submit area observation forms from the field.
The Area Observation Survey was a 32 item form of yes/no questions about characteristics that could be observed by data collectors from a public location. The questions aligned with IDEAMAPS' Domains of Deprivation Framework and open-source database. To ensure the safety of data collectors and the public during COVID-19, the Area Observation Survey was designed to be completed without speaking to residents. Data collectors simply navigated to predefined point locations, observed the surroundings in a roughly 20m radius, and recorded whether or not 32 characteristics were present at the location; for example, single-room buildings, water drains, trash piles, or dusty or smoggy air. Use of Kobo Collect and WhatsApp meant that the survey managers and data collectors were in regular communication, allowing real-time monitoring of data quality and completeness.
The field work was conducted at 300 point locations across 30 neighbourhoods in the Lagos metropolitan area over two weeks by five teams.
Data collectors traversed the entire city of Lagos by bus, motorbike and boat through all types of neighbourhoods.
To implement an Area Observation Survey in your city, we provide a few resources that might help: our questionnaire, handout, and training slides:
0_AOS_Lagos_QuestionnaireDownload
