INCREASING SURVEY RESPONSE THROUGH AGENCY AND SURVEY PROMOTION AND RESPONDENT EDUCATION 

Purpose: To increase survey cooperation by increasing respondents' understanding of the importance of NASS, its survey estimates and data uses.

SQRS will be continuing work in South Dakota on a project aimed at increasing producer survey cooperation. Previous work has indicated that educating the producer about the importance of NASS and survey results is a critical element in increasing survey cooperation. Materials will be developed to promote the message that NASS data are an unbiased source of information which benefits reporters in many ways. These materials and message will be delivered to potential respondents through various points of contact. These may include interviewers (both field and office), SSO staff, survey questionnaires, pre-survey mailings, release mailings, Internet (primarily Web page, perhaps e-mail), via producer groups, extension agents/ FSA offices and other USDA related contacts, media (print, broadcast), public forums (fairs, conventions, etc.), educational channels (school classrooms, vo-ag teachers, marketing classes), and data users. 

During 1999 we will be developing and testing new pre-survey mailings and materials for interviewers. Materials and other changes to procedures to increase response in surveys will be tested in split samples of selected surveys. 

The goal of this project is to increase respondents' overall awareness and opinion of NASS, and to increase survey response rates. Throughout the project, feedback about specific materials developed will be obtained from potential respondents. In addition, respondents' awareness of NASS, familiarity of the work NASS does, and attitudes toward NASS will be explicitly measured. These will be evaluated along with survey response rates and measures of the amount of imputation and non-response adjustment in survey estimates.