Spatial-Temporal Multivariate Sampling Design for the June Area Survey

• Activity Number: 251
• Type: Contributed
• Date/Time: Monday, August 10, 2015 : 2:00 PM to 3:50 PM
• Sponsor: Survey Research Methods Section
• Author(s): Stephanie Zimmer* and Zhengyuan Zhu and Sarah Nusser and Jonathan Lisic and Hejian Sang
• Companies: RTI International and Iowa State University and Iowa State University and and Iowa State University
• Keywords: stratification ; agricultural ; area frame ; local pivotal method

Abstract

The June Area Survey is conducted by the National Agricultural Statistics Service each year to estimate agricultural activity in the USA. The survey design is a labor and time intensive process. We develop a sampling design that creates a permanent area frame, stratifies the frame using multivariate auxiliary data to meet specification criteria on estimates, and then spatially balance the sample using the local pivotal method with rotation sampling over time. The new sampling design reduces cost in sampling frame construction and stratification compared with the current method. The coefficients of variation for total estimates are reduced in the new design for all crops in Indiana and North Carolina and most crops in South Dakota for the same sample size.