How To increase the certainty of GPS Capturing in your interviews

Overview

Location can be determined by either the GPS system, WiFi or Cellular networks.

The one obtained through the GPS system is the most accurate while the others can be much less accurate.

You can read more about location accuracy on Android devices here: https://support.google.com/maps/answer/2839911?co=GENIE.Platform%3DAndroid&hl=en

There are 5 main factors that determine how high will the percentage of interviews that will have a location associated with them be:

• Devices: Type and Settings
• Environment: Geographic Location, Networks presence, within a building or under skies, clouds etc.
• SurveyToGo: App Settings
• SurveyToGo: specific script
• Surveyors attention and training 

The following sections we will refer to those points and mention what can be done on each one:

Devices

1. Ensure the devices you use have a GPS on them if you need your location to come from the GPS only.
2. Train/instruct your surveyors to make sure the location services are set as high accuracy and are turned on. That can be frequently easily checked by opening Google Maps etc.

Environment

A device will capture a location in those cases:

• For GPS originated location you need to be under clear skies, without heavy clouds and/or stormy area etc. If you google the GPS accuracy you will get many results but here is one https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Accuracy_of_GPS_data
• For Network originated location (WiFI, Cell etc.) you need to be in a place where a connection exists.  

SurveyToGo: Settings

1. The Android App settings should have the ‘Use GPS’ turned on
2. Depending your needs you set the ‘Use Only GPS Hardware' for GPS only originated location or un-check if you allow any source. 
3. You can centrally setup all your device settings so not rely on your surveyors to check and lock the option for your surveyors to change them.

SurveyToGo: specific script

1. By Default at the start of every interview the App tries to associate a location to the interview if available. However, you can add more specific places in the script where you will instruct it to capture a location. Add location questions in various parts of the script that are set that way:
   
   You can also add an enforcement for the surveyors at the script start where they will not be able to start the interview if no location was captured.

Surveyors attention and training

 Instruct your surveyors to verify that:

1. Location Services are on
2. The SurveyToGo: App has captured a valid location.