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Adoption of Digital Data Collection Tools and Data Quality in Household Surveys in Southwestern Uganda

Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: Digital data collection is increasingly embedded in household survey operations, but acquiring devices does not by itself establish that the resulting data are accurate, complete or representative. This article examines the relationship between adoption of digital collection tools and household survey data quality, with an analytical focus on southwestern Uganda. A narrative review integrates technology acceptance theory, total survey error, African field studies, Ugandan statistical reports and current platform documentation. The synthesis identifies opportunities to reduce transcription errors, enforce appropriate routing, accelerate record transfer and support supervisory review. It also identifies risks from programming defects, restrictive validation, delayed synchronisation, insufficient training and inappropriate handling of personal information. The findings indicate that quality benefits depend on effective use, survey design and organisational support rather than adoption alone. They further show that complete digital records may still contain measurement errors or exclude eligible households. Three authordeveloped illustrations describe an adoption framework, a quality control workflow and an operational governance architecture. Evidence and measurement matrices translate these ideas into assessable survey practices. The article proposes linked questionnaire audits, platform records, staff accounts and independent back-checks for future evaluation. It concludes that digital adoption should be assessed as a managed survey process, with quality indicators defined before fieldwork. The findings are literature-based and do not estimate adoption rates or causal effects in southwestern Uganda.
DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.23805933
Language: English
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7224806937
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