First CAPI-enabled HIES in the Solomon Islands

The Solomon Islands National Statistics Office (SINSO) needed support to implement the 2024 Household Income and Expenditure Survey (HIES), their first-ever survey using Computer-Assisted Personal Interviewing (CAPI). rowsquared, in close collaboration with The World Bank’s Living Standards Measurement Study (LSMS), provided comprehensive assistance during survey design, preparation, and implementation to ensure successful execution.

Based on the questionnaire drafts, we developed a robust CAPI tool that handles the complexity of the instruments while enhancing user-friendliness for interviewers. We integrated a system into the consumption and agricultural modules that allowed item-specific non-standard units to be captured, automatically converted, and checked in the back-end.

To facilitate the design process involving multiple stakeholders across extreme time (and date) differences, we created an online spreadsheet to organize and structure all design work. The spreadsheet also served as an interface for SINSO to list and map all items and units, and to record conversion factors and cut-off values in a structured yet accessible way. The sheet automatically populated the CAPI questionnaire.

We provided comprehensive feedback on questionnaire drafts and developed a multi-level agricultural questionnaire that were incorporated into the final survey.

rowsquared delivered comprehensive capacity building at SINSO for electronic data collection, focusing on data quality assurance, digital workflows, and operational planning. Our training included hands-on workshops for the Survey Solutions CAPI software and a specialized QGIS training that equipped the team with GIS processing skills to create and utilize field maps effectively.

We developed a high-frequency data monitoring pipeline to ensure high quality data is collected. rowsquared provided backstopping support to SINSO throughout the 12-month fieldwork period.

Our collaboration built local capacity in a team with no prior CAPI experience. rowsquared delivered a well-designed, complex CAPI questionnaire with supporting infrastructure and processes, while SINSO colleagues quickly adapted to the new technology. Together, we successfully implemented the first-ever CAPI-based survey for the Solomon Islands National Statistics Office.