Assessing an Administrative Data Source as a Sampling Frame

• Activity Number: 617
• Type: Topic Contributed
• Date/Time: Thursday, August 5, 2010 : 8:30 AM to 10:20 AM
• Sponsor: Section on Government Statistics
• Author(s): Wendy J. Barboza*+ and Bill Iwig
• Companies: National Agricultural Statistics Service and National Agricultural Statistics Service
• Keywords: sampling frame ; administrative data ; NASS ; FSA

Abstract

The National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) conducts hundreds of surveys every year and prepares reports covering virtually every aspect of U.S. agriculture. To accomplish this, NASS maintains a list frame of producers (and agribusinesses), which includes previously reported crop data. For many years, NASS has partnered with USDA's Farm Service Agency (FSA) to use their data as an administrative data source because most producers report their planted crop acreages to FSA on an annual basis. Since FSA data are more current than data on NASS' list frame, NASS launched an operational pilot program in the state of Nebraska to investigate using FSA administrative data as a sampling frame. Although results from the pilot program did not meet survey objectives, various operational programs within NASS continue to utilize FSA administrative data, just not as a sampling frame.