1. Use of Technology for field data capture and compilation
Regional Workshop for Monitoring the SDGs related to the Food and Agriculture Sector and on the WCA 2020
Nadi, Fiji 6-10 November 2017
Use of Technology for field data capture and compilation
Technical session 17b
Jairo Castano
Senior Statistician
Leader, Agricultural Census and Survey Team
FAO Statistics Division

2. Overview
Overview of CAPI: description, advantages, disadvantages, products on the market
Overview of Survey Solutions features
Country examples: Estonia and Latvia

3. Examples of use of technology in the census
Remote sensing (RS) and aerial/ortho-photos: RS and aerial photos can be used for (i) cartography and frame building, (ii) supporting field work, (iii) crop estimation.
Handheld GPS devices: supports field activities such as geo-referencing plots, holding location, or measuring plot areas.
Mobile data collection: Computer Assisted Personal Interview (CAPI) using smartphones, tablets).
Remote data collection: Use of telephone and computers, such as Computer assisted telephone interview (CATI) and internet such as Computer assisted Self Interview (CASI or CAWI).
Online dissemination of results: web pages, social media and other electronic methods. Infographics and thematic GIS maps enhance readability and comprehensibility of census results.
Anonymization of micro-data: protocols, methods and tools available for safe microdata access. New opportunities for census dissemination.
Archiving: electronic preservation of census data.

4. What is CAPI?
Computer Assisted Personal Interview (CAPI) software allows recording responses on a computer or tablet instead of paper.

5. What are the advantages of CAPI?
Easier Survey Management
Reduced variables costs
(No transport costs, no storage costs, no printing costs, no data-entry costs)
Reduced time from data collection to analysis and reporting
Higher quality data
(Enforced skip patterns, validation conditions, look-up tables)

6. What are the advantages of CAPI?
Novel question types
Geo reference, photos, barcodes scanning (for national IDs)
Closer field monitoring
Export paradata for monitoring activities during interviews (e.g. start & end time)
Almost real time export of microdata
Easier to implement changes to questionnaire
No need to send questionnaires back and forth to field

7. What are disadvantages of CAPI?
High fixed cost
Can be reduced by sharing use with other surveys
Requires more preparation time - programming and testing questionnaire, procurement
Time savings on back-end from no data entry compensates
Many times requires connectivity
Risks can be reduced by using 2 sim cards, back-up paper questionnaires, etc.
Others: vulnerability to weather, batteries and access to power for charging

8. CAPI Products
Census and Survey Processing System (CSPro) Developed by the US census bureau and funded primarily by USAID. Widely used, but lacks survey management tools and requires programming knowledge. FREE + programming costs
Open Data Kit (ODK): Core developers at UoW – Dpt. Of Computer Science. Open-sourced, funded partially through donations of users. FREE+ programming costs
My Survey Solutions: Development supported by the Worl Bank GS, and first version released in Closed source, but integrates data management tools, and requires little to no knowledge of programming. FREE

9. FAO and Survey Solutions
Global Strategy has implemented small sample surveys in Tanzania, Indonesia, and Jamaica
World Bank in partnership w/ NSOs have implemented surveys reaching 200K respondents in Malawi, 400K in Uganda, and 2.7 million in South Africa.

10. Survey Solutions Features
User friendly survey management system built right into the software.
Survey designer that requires no programming skills
Cloud based data storage and transfer
Geo references questions (holding location)
Can accommodate any type of question
User-friendly Android application for data entry

11. Survey Solutions Features (cont’d)
Documentation on every part of the system available
E-learning course available online (13 modules)
Data export available in SPSS and STATA formats.
DDI compliant metadata automatically generated.
Automatic paradata tabulation for field monitoring
*DDI: Data Documentation Initiative, an int’l standard for describing statistical data

12. Country Experience Australia - Agricultural Census 2010/2011
For the Agricultural Census 2010/2011, Australia Bureau of Statistics (ABS) used CASI.
The agricultural business were contacted by ABS by the postal service (mail) which included a paper form that they could complete and return to ABS, as well as details that enabled an alternate mode of response to be provided (for the first time for an Agricultural Census) via an electronic form.
The majority of business responded by mail (88%)
Interviewer entered the data in the field at the time of the interview using CAPI software programs, installed on small notebook computer with ten-inch screens and long life batteries. The computers performed well, and proved easy to transport, use and recharge despite some difficult conditions;
A 3G modem connected to the computers was used by the field supervisors to transfer the data files to the central processing operation at the INE HQ. The HQ operation group received the data as an attachment. In places where the technology 3G was available the process went very well, however, where there was no 3G service, the data transmission had to be delayed until the interviewers re-entered the service area.

13. CAPI/GPS/PDA/CATI/CASI
Country experiences on use of CAPI, CATI, CASI and GPS technologies in census
Country name
Year of census
CAPI/GPS/PDA/CATI/CASI
Estonia
2010
CAPI, CASI
France
CAPI
Latvia
CAPI, CATI,CASI,
Malta
Poland
CAPI, CATI,CASI
Slovenia
CAPI, CATI
Lithuania
CASI
Netherlands
Iceland
Austria
Finland
Sweden
CASI, CATI
Mozambique
2009/2010
CAPI, GPS
Venezuela
2008
Argentina
Colombia
2014
Brazil
2006
Mexico
2007
Canada
2011
Uruguay
GPS
USA
2012
Australia
Jordan
Thailand
2013
Iran
Namibia
2015
Countries are increasingly using IT technology in agricultural censuses for:
data collection (CAPI, CASI, CATI);
identification of location for field operation of enumerators (GPS);
online monitoring of the progress in field operations in real time.

14. Thank You