Farm Household Surveys - Design and Sampling for Collection of Data

Farm Household Surveys - Design and Sampling for Collection of Data

Ernest L. Molua

(University of Buea, Cameroon)

04/22/23 Training on Ecomomic Analyses of Climate Change

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Data Collection for Impact Evaluation

• Develop the sampling frames of households and randomly select households for the survey

• Develop, translate and test the survey instrument

• Recruit and train data collection and data entry staff

• Develop and test the data entry system

• Implement the survey

• Enter the data

• Clean the data through basic analysis

• Document the data sets


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Develop the sampling frames

• Obtain a list of the sites to be included in the evaluation, along with the villages in each site.

• Select a sample of villages in each site (province, region, division, etc.) for the household survey. – It may include random sampling of villages per site.


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Develop the sampling frames

• Obtain or create a list of households in each village.

– Census or other administrative data may be used for this purpose if they are available and it is determined that they can be used to build such a list.

– If the data are not available, you will be required to visit selected villages to identify households for the sample frame.


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Develop the sampling frames– Once the list of households is established, the

researcher will use this list to select a random sample of households in each village for the survey.

– This list must be both ordered and large enough for the households to be screened for eligibility at the time of interview and to achieve the requisite number of eligible households for the study.

– The research team will typically supply the screening criteria, which will allow interviewers to identify farming households.

• Then estimate your potential sample size


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Village/Community selection• Villages may be selected in consultation with

ongoing development programmes and national and local authorities. Some are typically selected on the basis of the following criteria:– Cover the main climate variability related hazards and

choose villages with different levels of exposure (e.g. low drought risk vs. high drought risk).

– Cover the main agricultural systems in the country.

– Choose some villages which are participating in ongoing development programmes.

– Employ appropriate sampling techniques

Develop, translate and test the survey instrument

Questionnaire• Household questionnaire may contain five categories of

questions.

1. First, for creating a household profile (H), questions are raised on household composition, education, occupation, migratory behavior, crops cultivated, livestock owned and assets owned.

2. Outputs and inputs used – quantities and pricesWhy? Q = f(X), where Q is output depending on X

which are various inputs. Prices are used to estimate revenues and costs, total revenues and total costs, so that Net Revenue = Total Revenue – Total Cost.In African mixed cropping systems, revenue is the preferred dependent variable


Questionnaire

3. Information is collected about the effects or types of

hazards (C) the household is facing in order to find out

whether climate related hazards are indeed perceived as

important problems.


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Questionnaire

4. Information is elicited about the choice of adaptation strategies (A). Which strategies have been adopted in the past, for reducing which hazard, and what were the necessary investments for this?

5. Finally, questions are raised about the assistance

institutions (I) provide for adopting adaptation strategies. Which institutions did assist, what type of assistance did they provide and was this assistance helpful?


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Questionnaire

It must contain questions to allow us generate data to estimate output (or revenue) and its determinants, as in the following equations:Revenue = f(H,C,A,I)Assuming a linear relationship:R = k + aHi + bC + cA+ dI + error

Assuming a Ricardian non-linear relationship:Log R = k + aHi + b1R + b2T + b3R2 + b4T2 +

b5R*T + cA + dI + error


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Sample Questionnaire


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Develop, translate and test the survey instrument Questionnaire

• translate the English version into the appropriate local languages, format it, and pretest it in several of the languages.

See French questionnaire– ensure the quality and accuracy of the translations as well

as the cultural relevance, -contract professional translators.

– train field staff to conduct the pretest, and for entering the pretest data into Excel,

– Questionnaires used must be made available by authors upon request.


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Recruit and train data collection and data entry staff

• Recruit data collection and data entry staff. – The ideal interviewer will be proficient in (1)

interacting with all kinds of people, (2) building a rapport with respondents, and (3) dealing with quantitative data.

– Given the complexity of the survey instrument, it is likely that interviewers will, at a minimum, need the equivalent of a primary-level education and a high level of literacy in the language(s) of the instrument.


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• develop and provide interviewers with a training guide that includes an in-depth explanation of the survey questions. Lead researcher will review and provide feedback on the training manual and on all other training materials.

– Data entry clerks should also attend the interviewer training.

– Training participants will be required to attend all sessions and prove competence through a test administered at the end of training.


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Field trips

Locating & Selecting Households• In consultation with local authorities, within each

village, households are randomly selected and institutional stakeholders identified (remember to employ appropriate sampling techniques)

• Moreover, people are selected for the focus group discussion in such a way that different sexes, age classes and wealth classes are present.


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Field trips

Institutional Stakeholder selection

• Institutional stakeholder interviews should focus on the types of services they provide, their role in assisting households with adaptation, their linkages with authorities and the main constraints limiting their activities.


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Field tripsFocus group selection • Focus group discussion can be organized with a group of

between 10 to 20 people. – These group discussions give additional information

about the perceptions on the main (climate) hazards and their changes; about the reasons for adopting strategies; about the advantages, disadvantages, bottlenecks, strong points or weak points of the different adaptation options; about the institutions facilitating the adoption of strategies; and about differences in strategy adoption between socio-economic groups.


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Other data collection strategy

Develop and test the data entry system

• After the survey instrument has been finalized, you develop the data entry system and provide a protocol for data entry and cleaning

• Test the data entry system by entering mock data from surveys filled out by interviewers (e.g. pretests) and fix any problems that are identified.

• Remember to train data entry clerks, manage the double data entry of all questionnaires (and reconcile any differences) and the cleaning of the data.


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Implement the Survey• Logistics must be available (enough questionnaire copies,

transport, accommodation, etc.)

• Field supervisors should be in charge of ensuring the quality of the collected data.

– They should review each questionnaire soon after it is completed and ensure interviewers return to respondents if questions are skipped, answers are ambiguous, or other problems with questionnaires are identified.

– Supervisors will also re-train interviewers or otherwise ameliorate difficulties if systematic problems are found.

• During survey implementation period, submit weekly updates on the number of households contacted, the number of refusals, and the number of completed surveys. 20

Implement the Survey• Data should be entered as it is collected, and provide

feedback to the data collection team as problems are identified.

• Lead researcher should examine thoroughly after the first five percent of cases are entered.

• Conduct random audits of a sample of questionnaires to ensure that the data collected and entered are reliable and accurate.


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Enter, Clean and Document Survey Data• Double-enter the data, compare them, and reconcile any differences. • Check the entered data for logical inconsistencies and return to the

original questionnaires to resolve them.– If inconsistencies found in the original questionnaire data are not

caught by the field supervisor while in the field, re-visiting respondents should be considered. If it is not possible to return to the field for re-interviews, missing values should be coded consistently.

• Lead researcher should also ensure that all variables are named and labeled according to agreed specifications.

• Once the data are cleaned and labeled, the lead researcher should provide a codebook that will include a description of all variables collected.


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Key PersonnelSurvey Director• To guide the data collection effort, ensure that it is

implemented effectively and oversee technical aspects

Field Supervisor• To oversee data collection in the field,

– including assuring proper dispatching of interviewers to the correct survey sites, determining which interviewers will be assigned specific cases, and ensuring cases are completed. Conduct quality assurance checks ideally while interviewers are still in the field and could return to respondents if errors require. Correct any data collection problems, including re-training interviewers when necessary for systematic problems or changes to protocols or instruments.


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Key PersonnelData Entry Manager• To oversee the technical aspects of developing and testing

the data entry system; recruit and train data entry staff; manage data entry, track progress, and monitor quality.

Enumerators / interviewers• About ten, and well trained to obtain and record responses

Data Entry Clerks• About 4, and well trained to transcribe information from

questionnaire into excel sheets


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Documents

Farm Household Surveys - Design and Sampling for Collection of Data