Combining Multiple Methods in Establishment Questionnaire Testing: The 2017 Census of Agriculture Testing Bento Box

McCarthy Jaki S. (), Ott Kathleen (), Ridolfo Heather (), McGovern Pam (), Sirkis Robyn () and Danna Moore ()
Additional contact information
McCarthy Jaki S.: USDA – National Agricultural Statistics Service, 1400 Independence Ave., SW, Washington, DC20250, U.S.A.
Ott Kathleen: USDA – National Agricultural Statistics Service, 1400 Independence Ave., SW, Washington, DC20250, U.S.A.
Ridolfo Heather: USDA – National Agricultural Statistics Service, 1400 Independence Ave., SW, Washington, DC20250, U.S.A.
McGovern Pam: USDA – National Agricultural Statistics Service, 1400 Independence Ave., SW, Washington, DC20250, U.S.A.
Sirkis Robyn: USDA – National Agricultural Statistics Service, 1400 Independence Ave., SW, Washington, DC20250, U.S.A.

Journal of Official Statistics, 2018, vol. 34, issue 2, 341-364

Abstract: There are many methods that can be used to test questionnaires, each with its own strengths and weaknesses. The best approaches to questionnaire testing combine different methods to both broaden and strengthen the results. The US Census of Agriculture (COA) is conducted every five years and collects detailed information on agricultural production, inventories, practices, and operator demographics from agricultural establishments. Preceding each COA, evaluation and testing is done to test new items in the questionnaire and improve data quality for the subsequent COA. This article will describe how a multi-method approach, which we call Bento Box Testing, was applied to establishment questionnaire testing leading up to the 2017 COA. Testing included solicitation of expert opinion, historical data review, cognitive testing, a large scale field test, and qualitative follow-up interviews. The benefits of these testing methods, considerations for establishment survey testing, and how their results in combination provide a stronger evaluation are discussed.

Keywords: Cognitive interview; field test; expert review; multi-method testing; establishment survey (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://doi.org/10.2478/jos-2018-0016 (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:vrs:offsta:v:34:y:2018:i:2:p:341-364:n:4

DOI: 10.2478/jos-2018-0016

Access Statistics for this article

Journal of Official Statistics is currently edited by Annica Isaksson and Ingegerd Jansson

More articles in Journal of Official Statistics from Sciendo
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Peter Golla ().