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Asian Journal of Agriculture and Development (AJAD) - Call for papers!

A study of Response Errors in Rice and Corn Surveys.

(Philippines), Master of Science (University of the Philippines Los Baños)

Thesis Abstract:

 

The study investigated response errors in rice and corn surveys conducted by the Bureau of Agricultural Economics (BAEcon) through its Integrated Agricultural Surveys (IAS). Measurement of data reliability was made possible by the design of the questionnaire which repeated questions on specific items for a particular reference period in two or more IAS rounds.

For the subsample of matching households, summarized results were found more stable over different rounds than individual responses. The variability in responses for different rounds, the arithmetic and absolute differences between responses for different rounds, and the response deviations from one round to another was related to the item considered for investigation, to some characteristics of the farm household, and to the difference in time between the interview dates. Measures of interclass correlation and response variance were also estimated.

The extent of discrepancy in responses about the month of harvest brings into focus the problems of telescoping and transference in surveys based on the ability of the respondents to recall events. However, the effect of the length of the recall period was cofounded by the possible effects of the interviewer, the editor and the respondent. The results point to the need for further studies specifically designed for examining response errors in surveys.