Examining the Challenges of Missing Data Analysis in Phase Three of the Agricultural Resource Management Survey

• Activity Number: 229
• Type: Topic Contributed
• Date/Time: Monday, August 2, 2010 : 2:00 PM to 3:50 PM
• Sponsor: Section on Survey Research Methods
• Author(s): Darcy Miller*+
• Companies: National Agricultural Statistics Service
• Keywords: Missing Data ; Imputation ; Item Nonresponse ; Complex Surveys ; Nonresponse ; Agriculture

Abstract

The National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) collaborates with the Economic Research Service (ERS) to conduct the Agricultural Resource Management Survey (ARMS), which provides a source of information for addressing issues relating to agriculture and the rural economy. ARMS is a multi-phase, multi-mode, and dual frame survey. The third phase, ARMS III, collects data which is critical to assessing the relationship of the over-all financial health of the farm household and the farm operation with production practices. Like many surveys, ARMS III is subject to item nonresponse and utilizes imputation to mitigate the effect of the missing information on statistical analysis. Examination of the ARMS III data set and the current imputation method has revealed a rich potential for fruitful investigations into multivariate imputation techniques for a large, semi-continuous data set.