128 – Impact of Data Collection Modes and Data Sources
Comparing Data Collection Methods for the June Area Survey
Denise A. Abreu
USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service
Michael Hyman
National Agricultural Statistics Service
Linda A. Lawson
National Agricultural Statistics Service
Sonia Hickman
National Agricultural Statistics Service
The USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service is exploring the use of an electronic mobile mapping instrument in an effort to incorporate newer technologies of its June Area Survey (JAS) data collection. The JAS is based on an area sampling frame comprised of segments of land that make up the sampling units. JAS enumerators use a paper aerial photograph to locate and interview all operators within the segment boundary. Then, they draw off all fields by hand on the aerial photograph and fill out a paper questionnaire. Research conducted in 2014, using a mobile mapping prototype, indicated that drawing fields during the interview took longer than is operationally feasible. Testing in 2016 focused on providing enumerators with pre-delineated fields in the mobile mapping instrument in order to reduce interview time. Completion times were compared to current procedures using the paper aerial photograph. Using a Latin-square design, enumerators recorded previous year's JAS data using a mock interview format in two states. Research results are discussed in this paper.