Respondent biases in agricultural household surveys

Abstract

Two sources of respondent bias introduce measurement error into household statistics: asymmetric information between the proxy respondent and the individual on whom they report; and aggregation bias when a proxy respondent reports on a household-level outcome across multiple individuals. We estimate the effects of respondent biases in a survey experiment in Burkina Faso by varying who reports on the agricultural production of household members. We find respondent biases are not solely attributable to asymmetric information. Choosing a household head proxy lowers aggregation biases, but results in both over and under-estimates of agricultural variables relative to random proxies. Random proxies systematically under report agricultural statistics. Self-reporting protocols increase enumerator work days by only 5% indicating a high bias-cost tradeoff in choosing proxy response over self-reports. Survey designers should weight whether proxy bias magnitude or direction of bias are more significant threats to parameter estimation when determining their proxy response protocol.