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Abstract When traditional research data collection methods were stalled due to the COVID-19 driven large-scale lockdown across India, it led to a sharp rise in the use of digital platforms to collect research data. In 2020, we launched three online surveys (including cross-sectional and longitudinal surveys) aimed at understanding the mental health concerns and needs of different populations in India. This paper presents the learnings from conducting these surveys and highlights the experience of our team with respect to different phases of the studies such as conceptualisation, development, recruitment, and dissemination. Our key findings are that: collaboration with relevant organisations was the most effective method for mass dissemination and recruitment; despite an aim of wide recruitment, survey recruitment came primarily from known networks; if aiming for recruitment via significant social media dissemination, then translation into regional languages was not effective on its own; and the visual design, user interface, and ease of language play a key role in making the survey accessible, inclusive, and easy to navigate. Based on these learnings, we present recommendations for the planning and execution of online surveys in low-resource settings.
Kashyap et al. (Wed,) studied this question.