Field Data Collector at Malaria Consortium

Organisational background

• Malaria Consortium (MC) is one of the world's leading non-profit organizations dedicated to improving health and saving lives in communities affected by malaria and related inequities in Africa and Southeast Asia.
• With over 20 years of proven impact, the organization works with governments, academic institutions, local and international organizations to deliver scalable, locally led health solutions grounded in research and evidence to strengthen health systems, inform policy and derive sustainable impact through strategic partnerships and organizational excellence.
• Malaria Consortium, in collaboration with the National Malaria Elimination Programme (NMEP) and state malaria elimination programmes (SMEPs), will support the 2026 insecticide-treated net (ITN) mass distribution campaigns in Borno, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Kogi, and Abia, introducing pyrethroid-chlorfenapyr dual-active-ingredient ITNs for the first time in these states.
• To evaluate the implementation and impact of the campaigns, a series of cross-sectional household surveys. The surveys will verify ITN receipt immediately after distribution and assess household ITN ownership, utilisation, physical durability, and functional survival at baseline, one month, and 12, 24, and 36 months post-campaign. Findings from these surveys will generate evidence to inform malaria vector control policy and strengthen ITN programme implementation in Nigeria.

Purpose of the assignment

• The purpose of these terms of reference (TOR) is to engage research personnel who will carry out a baseline household survey before the campaign (survey A1), an immediate verification survey (survey A2) after the net distribution, and a one-month post-campaign evaluation survey (A3) in Abia State.

Scope

• The survey will be used to gather baseline and post-campaign data on coverage, ITN ownership and use rates and associated factors, physical conditions of the ITNs, malaria prevention in pregnancy, treatment-seeking behaviour, and other relevant variables, and also validate the ITN campaign data using an immediate post-distribution verification survey.

Methods

• During each of the surveys, (A1 and A3 surveys), a sample of 624 households will be selected in 52 wards across the state. For the ITN immediate verification (A2) survey, a sample of 2,160 households will be selected from 60 wards across the state within two weeks of the completion of the campaign. Each team will cover a ward per day.
• The wards will be selected based on population proportional to size (PPS) sampling strategy. The survey includes household enumeration to sample households in each ward (cluster) randomly and administering interviews involving household heads (and in the case of A1 and A3 surveys, also women 15–49 years old), using mobile devices with the SurveyCTO software.
• There will be back-checks in 50% of the wards selected randomly and 20% of the households in selected wards, in which a subset of the questionnaires will be administered for the purpose of data collection verification. After each survey in selected wards, new teams are assigned to conduct back checks to administer the additional interviews in a subset of the sampled households.

Personnel required:

• Coordinators
• Team leaders
• Field data collectors

There will be one household mobiliser selected from each ward to assist the survey teams (52 household mobilisers for A1 and A3 surveys and 60 household mobilisers for A2 survey.
Specific tasks

• Will be required to attend training prior to survey.
• Enumerates households in each selected settlement in each ward for A1 and A3 surveys.
• Carries out data collection in sampled households, including obtaining written consent, administering interviews with heads of households and women 15–49 years old, and collecting ITN physical integrity data by collecting data on each net owned by the household during A1 and A3 surveys.
• Carries out back-check interviews in assigned wards selected for data collection quality verification.
• Takes good care of the mobile device issued for data collection and ensures the device’s battery is kept charged.
• Uploads the data to the server at the required frequency according to relevant guidelines.
• Ensures confidentiality of respondents’ personal data during and after interviews.
• Reports to the team leader any issues and helps to solve problems.

Deliverables
Field Data Collector:

• Complete interview data from all assigned households collected and uploaded to the SurveyCTO server daily: four households per day during A1 and A3 surveys, and six households per day during the A2 survey.
• Written informed consent obtained and documented from all respondents prior to interview.
• Back-check interview data from assigned households in wards selected for data quality verification, uploaded to the SurveyCTO server.

Qualifications and experience

• A minimum of BSc or HND in health-related discipline and social sciences.
• 1-2 years’ experience in conducting household surveys
• Experience in electronic data collection systems such as SurveyCTO or ODK.
• Good knowledge of the English language.
• Ability to give attention to detail.
• Excellent proficiency in both the Igbo languages in the study communities.