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Interview Monitoring, Paradata, and Quality Control

Introduction

Continuous quality control (QC) and high-frequency checks (HFC) are vital to preventing non-sampling errors during fieldwork.

SurveySolutionsAPIv2 equips survey teams with real-time tools to: 1. Monitor interview workflow statuses. 2. Take supervisory actions (commenting, approving, rejecting, reassigning). 3. Query real-time response distributions. 4. Process granular event paradata (timings, pauses, and spatial traces).

1. Tracking Interview Progress

Every interview in Survey Solutions moves through a defined lifecycle:

[Created / Assigned]
        │
        ▼
   [Completed] ──► [Supervisor Review]
                          │
             ┌────────────┴────────────┐
             ▼                         ▼
   [RejectedBySupervisor]    [ApprovedBySupervisor]
             │                         │
             ▼                         ▼
   (Back to enumerator)       [Headquarters Review]
                                       │
                          ┌────────────┴────────────┐
                          ▼                         ▼
               [RejectedByHeadquarters]  [ApprovedByHeadquarters]

Querying Interviews by Status

suso_getAllInterviewQuestionnaire() retrieves all interviews matching target criteria:

# Get all completed interviews awaiting review
completed_ints <- suso_getAllInterviewQuestionnaire(
  questID = "17a9fa22-1ef6-46d2-8c30-426aa876f273",
  version = 1,
  workStatus = "Completed"
)

The resulting table provides status, error counts, enumerator assignment, and last modification timestamp:

# Sample interview statuses
demo_ints[, .(InterviewId = substr(InterviewId, 1, 13), ResponsibleName, Status, ErrorsCount)]
#>      InterviewId ResponsibleName                 Status ErrorsCount
#>           <char>          <char>                 <char>       <int>
#> 1: a1b2c3d4-0001   interviewer01              Completed           0
#> 2: a1b2c3d4-0002   interviewer01   ApprovedBySupervisor           0
#> 3: a1b2c3d4-0003   interviewer01   RejectedBySupervisor           2
#> 4: a1b2c3d4-0004   interviewer02    InterviewerAssigned           1
#> 5: a1b2c3d4-0005   interviewer03 ApprovedByHeadquarters           0
# Summary breakdown of interview statuses
demo_ints[, .N, by = Status]
#>                    Status     N
#>                    <char> <int>
#> 1:              Completed     1
#> 2:   ApprovedBySupervisor     1
#> 3:   RejectedBySupervisor     1
#> 4:    InterviewerAssigned     1
#> 5: ApprovedByHeadquarters     1

2. Supervisory Actions and Audit

When high-frequency checks flag inconsistencies, supervisors or HQ monitors can interact directly with the interview.

Leaving Comments on Question Responses

Comments can be attached directly to a specific variable with optional feedback:

# Leave a comment on the respondent age variable
suso_commentInterview(
  intID    = "a1b2c3d4-0003-4000-8000-000000000003",
  variable = "age",
  comment  = "Reported age (14) is inconsistent with marital status (Married). Please verify with respondent."
)

Rejecting and Approving Interviews

# Reject back to supervisor with explanation
suso_patchRejectInterview(
  intID   = "a1b2c3d4-0003-4000-8000-000000000003",
  comment = "Multiple validation errors require re-visiting the household."
)

# Approve interview at Headquarters
suso_patchApproveInterview(
  intID   = "a1b2c3d4-0001-4000-8000-000000000001",
  comment = "Passed all automated consistency audits."
)

Downloading Interview PDF Transcripts

For formal documentation or audit trails, download the full interview transcript as a formatted PDF:

# Download completed transcript
pdf_file <- suso_getInterviewPDF(
  intID = "a1b2c3d4-0001-4000-8000-000000000001",
  path  = "audits/interview_0001_transcript.pdf"
)

3. Real-Time Question Statistics

To detect enumerator fabrication or question misinterpretation early, suso_get_stats() queries live response distributions directly from the server:

# Query response distribution for a categorical question
q_stats <- suso_get_stats(
  questID = "17a9fa22-1ef6-46d2-8c30-426aa876f273",
  version = 1,
  qQuest  = "household_head_gender"
)

4. Paradata Processing

Paradata captures timestamped events triggered during data collection: question focus, response edits, validation messages, and pauses.

Exporting Paradata with suso_export_paradata()

suso_export_paradata() downloads and structures paradata events into an enriched exportClass table:

# Export paradata for a questionnaire
para <- suso_export_paradata(
  questID           = "17a9fa22-1ef6-46d2-8c30-426aa876f273",
  version           = 1,
  onlyActiveEvents  = TRUE,
  reloadTimeDiff    = 0
)

Key QC Metrics from Paradata

  1. Active Interview Duration: Calculates total active time excluding breaks (default break threshold is 120 seconds).
  2. Response Latency: Measures elapsed seconds per question to identify speeders or difficult modules.
  3. GPS Coordinates: Automatically extracts geographic coordinates associated with paradata events to verify that interviews occurred within assigned sample clusters.

These binaries (installable software) and packages are in development.
They may not be fully stable and should be used with caution. We make no claims about them.
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