World Technology Access Program

About the survey

• Purpose:
  • To generate a quick overview of the effect of COVID-19 lockdowns on people’s income, employment, food availability/affordability/security, coping strategies, and health related behavioral responses
• Survey focused on five countries in the South Asia region –Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka
• Survey was conducted from April 18-May 4, 2020
• Implemented as a web survey
• Research protocol was reviewed and approved by the Institutional Review Board at Michigan State University prior to the start of the survey (Study ID: 4421)
• Sampling methodology:
  • Convenience sampling method was used (i.e., sample selection was based on a non-probability sampling method)
  • Sample consisted of people who can be contacted by email, web, or social media (WhatsApp, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc.) through personal and professional networks of study authors
  • Respondents were encouraged to share the survey link with others within their networks using email or social media
  • Respondents were also encouraged to complete the survey by phone by calling someone they know who may not have access to Internet (i.e., computer or a smart phone) to complete the web survey
• More than 1400 responses were recorded at varying stages of completion when the survey was closed on May 4. About 6% of respondents were from countries other than the five focused countries.
• After dropping the responses from other countries and respondents that did not complete at least the employment section, the total sample size used for this analysis is 1,153. Out of these 1,028 had completed all the sections of the survey.