WERA1010: Improving Data Quality from Sample Surveys to foster Agricultural and Community Development in Rural America

(Multistate Research Coordinating Committee and Information Exchange Group)

Status: Active

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SAES-422 Reports

Annual/Termination Reports:

[08/21/2024]

Date of Annual Report: 08/21/2024

Report Information

Annual Meeting Dates: 02/14/2024 - 02/16/2024
Period the Report Covers: 02/14/2024 - 02/16/2024

Participants

Katherine Dentzman; Iowa State University
Kenneth Wallen; University of Idaho
Katherine Walsh; Cornell University
Anil Chaudhary; Penn State University
Melissa Constantine; Evidera
Jessica Goldberger; Washington State University
Abbey Hammell; University of Minnesota
Glenn Israel; University of Florida
Ginny Lesser: Oregon State University
Katie McLaughlin; Oregon State University
Todd Rockwood; University of Minnesota
Jessica Schad; Utah State University
Zhengyuan Zhu; Iowa State University
Samuel Mindes; Iowa State University
Joseph Hollis; Iowa State University
Anaka Aiyar; University of Vermont

Brief Summary of Minutes

Accomplishments

Short-term Outcomes: Short term outcomes from the project include direct feedback to project participants on the design of surveys for research and Extension purposes, as well as an increased capacity to design and implement effective survey procedures with rural and agricultural stakeholders. Every year at our annual meeting, participants bring current surveys they want feedback on, existing research on survey methodology, and proposals for future research. All are met with a wealth of advice that directly improves survey quality and efficacy, resulting in cost savings and higher quality data.    Outputs: Outputs include, primarily, higher quality surveys and the results of survey experiments. Sometimes, specifics about the survey experiments is included in publications. For instance, in this reporting period, several members reported on the below publication:  Wallen, K. E., Hammell, A. E., & Dentzman, K. E. (2021). Exploratory diary study of survey request frequency among research professionals. Completed as a project for WERA 1010: Improving Data Quality from Sample Surveys to foster Agricultural and Community Development in Rural America. SocArXiv. <a class="Hyperlink SCXW29517887 BCX0" href="http://doi.org/10.31235/osf.io/mrebz" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">http://doi.org/10.31235/osf.io/mrebz</a>  Other recent publications and presentations associated with the project include: Greenberg, P., & Dillman, D. A. 2023. Mail Communications and Survey Response: A Test of Social Exchange Versus Pre-Suasion Theory for Improving Response Rates and Data Quality. Journal of Survey Statistics and Methodology, 11, 1–22    Israel, G. D. When Does Support from Organizational Leaders Improve Survey Response Rates? Studies Comparing of Three Protocols. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Rural Sociological Society, Westminster, Colorado, August 2022.  Schad, Jessica; Braddock, Sadie; and Lancaster, Cole, "2023 Utah People & Environment Poll Descriptive Report" (2023). CANRI Projects. Paper 2. <a class="Hyperlink SCXW30374796 BCX0" href="https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/canri_projects/2" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/canri_projects/2</a>    Ulrich-Schad, Jessica D., Shuang Li, J. G. Arbuckle, Edem Avemegah, Kathryn J. Brasier,Morey Burnham, Anil Kumar Chaudhary, Weston M. Eaton, Wei Gu, Tonya Haigh, Douglas Jackson-Smith, Alexander L. Metcalf, Amit Pradhananga, Linda S. Prokopy, Matthew Sanderson, Emma Wade, & Adam Wilke. 2022. “An Inventory and Assessment of Sample Sources for Survey Research with Agricultural Producers in the U.S.” Society and Natural Resources 35(7): 804-812.  Ulrich-Schad, Jessica D., Jennifer E. Givens, and Mitchell Beacham.  2022. “Preventive Behaviors Along the Rural-Urban Continuum in Utah During the COVID-19 Pandemic.”  Journal of Rural Social Science Special Issue on Space, Place, and COVID-19 37(2):4.  Zhu, T., L. Xue, V.M.Lesser.  Improved population parameter estimation by integrating probability and nonprobability sampling.  To be presented at the American Statistical Association Meetings, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, August, 2023.  Activities: The annual meeting of the team is our main activity, during which advice is given, priorities discussed, research presented, etc. We also, in the past year, have worked together as a group to conduct a survey diary experiment during which team members recorded all survey requests received over a 2 week period (being a follow-up to a similar study we conducted in 2019). Team members also conduct their own individual survey methodology research and experiments throughout the year, reporting on the results during the annual meeting. These experiments have included incentives such as offering a topical sticker (Jessica Schad, Utah State), testing the differences between probability and non-probability samples (Ginny Lesser, Oregon State), experimenting with network recruiting for sensitive populations (Katie McLaughlin, Oregon State), and more.  Milestones: Major milestones for this project include the attraction and retention of new members; we had 2 new member universities and high attendance at our annual meeting, with several other new member universities signing on for 2025.

Publications

*Note--because the meeting occurs in February, I have included the publications from the year prior to that meeting. 2024 isn't over yet, so I hope this is sufficient! Please let me know if not.    Greenberg, P., & Dillman, D. A. 2023. Mail Communications and Survey Response: A Test of Social Exchange Versus Pre-Suasion Theory for Improving Response Rates and Data Quality. Journal of Survey Statistics and Methodology, 11, 1–22  Schad, Jessica; Braddock, Sadie; and Lancaster, Cole, "2023 Utah People & Environment Poll Descriptive Report" (2023). CANRI Projects. Paper 2. <a class="Hyperlink SCXW53237423 BCX0" href="https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/canri_projects/2" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/canri_projects/2</a>    Zhu, T., L. Xue, V.M.Lesser.  Improved population parameter estimation by integrating probability and nonprobability sampling.  To be presented at the American Statistical Association Meetings, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, August, 2023.

Impact Statements

This project provides direct feedback to project participants on the design of surveys for research and Extension purposes, as well as an increased capacity to design and implement effective survey procedures with rural and agricultural stakeholders.
This project increases response rates, improves data quality, and reduces the cost of conducting effective surveys
This project pushes the body of survey methodology knowledge further, improving capacity to conduct academic and other survey types